Lee Harwood (born 4 October 1960) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a defender for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leath ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

, and

Waterlooville Waterlooville is a market town in the Borough of Havant in Hampshire, England, approximately north northeast of Portsmouth. It is the largest town in the borough. The town has a population of about 64,350 and is surrounded by Purbrook, Blendwort ...

Career

Harwood started his career at

, turning professional at 18 years old after serving as an apprentice. He was

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

ed out to

in the 1978–79 season, although he played just the one

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

game at Plough Lane for

Dario Gradi Dario Gradi, MBE (born 8 July 1941) is an Italian-English former amateur football player, coach and manager. He was associated for more than 36 years with Crewe Alexandra, where he was variously manager, director of football and director of the ...

's "Dons". He was released from The Dell by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Lawrie McMenemy and spent one season in the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

with

. Harwood signed for John McGrath's

in February 1980. He formed an effective partnership with

Phil Sproson Phillip Jess Sproson (born 13 October 1959) is an English former association football, footballer who played as a defender (association football), central defender. He played in 500 matches (426 in the league) for Port Vale F.C., Port Vale and ...

and played 15 Fourth Division games towards the end of the 1979–80 season. He scored his first goal in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

on 1 April, in a 3–2 defeat to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

at Vale Park. He played six league and cup games in the 1980–81 season, but damaged a

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck an ...

in August and endured four

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

operations, forcing him to retire from full-time football in November 1981. He did, however, return to his old club, Leatherhead and later played for Southern League side

, featuring in their three matches against Northampton Town in 1983–84, the only time Ville faced a league team in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. Another serious knee injury forced early retirement from football 1984.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harwood, Lee Footballers from the London Borough of Ealing People from Ealing English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Southampton F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players Leatherhead F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Waterlooville F.C. players English Football League players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players 1960 births Living people