Lee Paul Roche (born 28 October 1980) is an English former professional

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 ...

. He played as a right sided full-back but could also play on the right of midfield.

Club career

Manchester United

Roche started his career as a trainee at

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

but made only one substitute appearance in the league against Newcastle United. He also started a League Cup game against Arsenal and a Champions League tie against Deportivo la Coruna. During his time with the 'Red Devils' the young full-back was loaned out to

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

for the 2000–01 season, and was a key member of the team for the entire season, playing in 41 of the 46 league games.

Burnley

At the end of 2003 Roche was released on a free transfer from Manchester United.

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 ...

were the team to take advantage of this situation with then manager

Stan Ternent Francis Stanley Ternent (born 16 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. He managed Blackpool, Hull City, Bury, Burnley, Gillingham and Huddersfield Town. He was a scout for Hull City until January 2017. As a manager, he won thre ...

using his connections to the

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

club to sign the promising youngster to a two-year deal. In his first season, Roche wasn't a first team regular, despite scoring an outstanding 25-yard volley against Crystal Palace on his debut which although credited to him was a clear own goal. Towards the end of the 2003–04 season though, he began to push the previous right back,

Dean West Dean West (born 5 December 1972) is an English former professional footballer. He is now a coach for Lincoln City youth team and centre of excellence. He is best known as a right sided full-back, but can also play in midfield if needed. Through ...

out of the side. Unfortunately for Roche, Ternent's contract wasn't renewed and Steve Cotterill was appointed as the new manager at Turf Moor. Cotterill did not rate Roche as highly as Ternent had done, and brought in

Mike Duff Michael Duff is the name of: * Michael Duff (physicist) (born 1949), British theoretical physicist * Michael Duff (footballer) (born 1978), Northern Irish international footballer and manager * Sir Michael Duff, 3rd Baronet Sir Charles Michael Ro ...

from

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

instead. Roche still featured in the team fairly regularly though, but out of position on the right side of midfield where he looked much less comfortable. Roche scored his only other Burnley goal in a famous 2–1 victory at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

against Leeds United.

Wrexham

After his two-year contract with Burnley expired, Roche returned to play for Wrexham in the summer of 2005. He scored on his second debut for the club against Boston United. At the end of the 2006–07 season Roche was released by Wrexham after a disappointing season in which they just avoided relegation to the Football Conference.

Later career

He joined

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester city centre and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the ...

in 2007, staying with the club until February 2011.

International career

Roche made one appearance for the England under-21s; he started the 2−2 draw with

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

during

qualifying Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the

2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2002 was the 13th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Switzerland between 16 and 28 May 2002. Czech Republic U-21s won the competition for the first time. Qua ...

Retirement

Following a sequence of injuries and falling out of love with the game, Roche retired from football at age 27. He now works as a plumber and cavity wall remover and also coaches the

Bury F.C. Bury Football Club is an English association football club based in Bury, Greater Manchester, whose team last played in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of English football, in the 2018–19 season. The team are known as "The Shakers", and ...

under-11 side.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roche, Lee 1980 births Living people Footballers from Bolton English footballers Association football defenders Manchester United F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Droylsden F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players