Lee Howey (born 1 April 1969) 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 primarily as a defender. Howey began his career at

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

, before moving to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

where he spent the majority of his career. He later player for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

and

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

. Lee now works for payments company Trust Payments as Head of strategic sales.

Career

Howey was born in

. He started out as an apprentice at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, followed by a brief spell in Belgium with AS Hemptinne. In 1993, he was signed by

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...

from local club

, for

in March 1993. He made his debut for the club in May 1993 against

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 ...

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland A.F.C. from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; ...

. The following two seasons saw him in and out of the squad, making 38 league and cup appearances during the two years, mostly from the substitutes bench. It wasn't until the arrival of manager

Peter Reid Peter Reid (born 20 June 1956) is an English football manager, pundit and former player. A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career. He built his reputation as one of England's brightest midfield tale ...

that Howey began to see regular first team action, playing 30 times during the club's Championship winning season, including 18 starts. Howey scored a late equaliser at

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history. The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect A ...

to secure a 2–2 draw with Portsmouth in February 1996. The goal proved to be a crucial turning point, as it set Sunderland off on an 18-match unbeaten run that won them the league. However, Sunderland struggled to cope with life in the Premiership and Howey was allowed to leave the club following the club's relegation back to

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

on the final day of the season. Howey made just 12 appearances that season. It was

who splashed out £200,000 for the Wearsider. He scored on his debut against Lincoln City in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. However this proved to be his only goal for the club, and Howey's career at the Lancashire club wasn't a success, and he eventually moved on to

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

in February 1999 after a four-month loan period. Howey moved again two years later, completing a free transfer to

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

side

in 2001, before finishing his career at

later in the season. Although primarily a central defender, Howey played up front a number of times during his career, and is considered to be comfortable in either role. He is the older brother of former

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

defender Steve Howey. A well known

football chant A football chant or terrace chant is form of vocalisation performed by supporters of association football, typically during football matches. Football chanting is an expression of collective identity, most often used by fans to express their p ...

is regularly sung by Sunderland fans about Lee and his brother. Howey's writing skills have seen him signed up by

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

based

Biteback Publishing Biteback Publishing is a British publisher based in London concentrating mainly on political titles. It was incorporated, as a private limited company with share capital, in 2009. It was jointly owned by its managing director Iain Dale and by Mi ...

. His humorous memoir, '' Massively Violent and Decidedly Average'', was released in February 2018.

Honours

Player

Sunderland *

: 1995–96

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Howey, Lee 1969 births Living people Footballers from Sunderland Association football defenders English footballers Premier League players Sunderland A.F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Bishop Auckland F.C. players English Football League players