Lee Martyn Naylor (born 19 March 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 ...
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
, joining the club in 1996. He made his debut the following year and soon established himself as the first choice left back.
His first trophy came when Wolves won the 2003 Football League First Division play-off Final, gaining them promotion to the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
in 2006 for a fee of £600,000 plus
Charlie Mulgrew
Charles Patrick Mulgrew (born 6 March 1986) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Scottish Premiership side Dundee United.
Mulgrew began his career at Celtic, during which time he spent time on loan at Dundee U ...
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
as well as the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2007. Naylor moved to Welsh side Cardiff City who play in the
English Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...
in 2010 after his contract expired at Celtic.
Naylor represented England under-21s several times but despite being linked with the full national team, while at Celtic, he never received a call-up.
Early life
Naylor was born in
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield.
Walsall is th ...
Bloxwich
Bloxwich is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. It is located between the towns of Walsall, Cannock, Willenhall and Brownhills.
Early history
Bloxwich has its origins at least as early as t ...
.
Club career
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Naylor joined
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
upon leaving school in 1996. He made his debut on 12 October 1997, in a 1–0 defeat at
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
. Playing left-back, he went on to establish himself as a first team regular in the following years and was part of the team that won promotion to the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
in 2002–03 via the playoffs.
He was the Wolves' only ever present player in their
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
campaign of 2003–04 that saw them relegated. After making the drop, he remained at the club for two further seasons, where he improved further under the management of
Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport.
He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...
and attracted the interests of other clubs.
Celtic
Naylor signed for Celtic on 23 August 2006 for £600,000 plus
Charlie Mulgrew
Charles Patrick Mulgrew (born 6 March 1986) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Scottish Premiership side Dundee United.
Mulgrew began his career at Celtic, during which time he spent time on loan at Dundee U ...
League
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
and
Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...
double in his first season with the club and appeared in all of their
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
games. He scored his first goal for Celtic with his weaker right foot in a 2–0 win against Hibernian on 1 March 2008, and his second just over a year later; a late left-footed volley to give Celtic a 2–2 draw with
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
on 2 March 2009. On 4 May 2010, Naylor scored with an eighth-minute
free kick
A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play.
Association football
In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...
against
Old Firm
The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...
rivals Rangers. He also went on to assist the winning goal, curling a delightful ball into the box to Marc-Antoine Fortuné to head home. Celtic went on to win the match 2–1 with Naylor excelling in his best Old Firm performance. Upon the expiration of his Celtic contract in June, Naylor left Celtic.
Cardiff City
In July 2010, Naylor returned to Wolves to keep fit. He spent a week training with Wolves while searching for a new club. On 19 August, he joined
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
side Cardiff City after training with the side for several weeks. He made his debut in a 4–0 win over
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
, coming on for
Kevin McNaughton
Kevin Paul McNaughton (born 28 August 1982) is a Scottish professional football player and coach. A versatile player able to play anywhere in defence, McNaughton was also used in a defensive midfield role. He began his career in the Scottish P ...
in the 18th minute. He then scored his first goal on 14 September 2010 against
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
, after a cross floated into the back of the net. Naylor scored his second goal, against
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
, from 25 yards. Naylor was selected less during Cardiff's poor run of the season, in November and December, and eventually dropped for the Swansea City game at
Liberty Stadium
The Swansea.com Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Swansea.com; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium opened in 2005 and was named the Liberty Stadium. It ...
. Due to the signing of
Jlloyd Samuel
Jlloyd Tafari Samuel ( , 29 March 1981 – 15 May 2018) was a professional footballer who played as a defender and midfielder. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, he was raised in England and played for England up to under-21 level. He played two ful ...
, Naylor became a last choice left back behind McNaughton and
Darcy Blake
Darcy James Blake (born 13 December 1988) is a Welsh former professional footballer. During his career, he won 14 caps for Wales at international level, scoring once, and made more than 100 appearances in the Football League.
He began his care ...
. On 9 April, Naylor returned to playing, coming on as a half time substitute for Blake, against
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
, then again came on against
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
. He made his last appearance of the season against
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
, coming on for the injured Paul Quinn, in the play-off semi final, first leg.
After a disappointing first season at
Cardiff City Stadium
The Cardiff City Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Dinas Caerdydd) is a stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales. It is the home of Cardiff City Football Club and the Wales national football team.
Following expansion of the Ninian Stand in July 2 ...
, new manager
Malky Mackay
Malcolm George Mackay (born 19 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player, who is currently the manager of Ross County. Mackay, who played as a defender, began his playing career in Scottish football with Quee ...
gave Naylor a fresh chance, starting him in all of Cardiff's pre-season games. However, despite this Naylor found himself behind new left back Andrew Taylor, playing his first competitive game under Mackay against
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
. His first league appearance came in the absence of injured Andrew Taylor, on 4 December 2011 against
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
. However, despite the good performance, he was again dropped when Taylor returned. After only 6 games under Mackay, Naylor was released from the club at the end of his contract.
Following his release, Naylor joined
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
on trial, with a view to a transfer.
Accrington Stanley
On 20 September 2013, Naylor joined
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
side
Accrington Stanley
Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...
on a short-term deal. On 16 January 2014, Naylor had his contract cancelled by mutual consent.
Derby County
On 27 February 2014, Naylor joined
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 188 ...
on short-term deal. With his short-term contract due to expire, he agreed to stay at Derby in a further one-year deal on 25 June 2014.
International career
During his time with Wolves, Naylor also represented the England Under-21s. After his first season with Celtic, England manager
Steve McClaren
Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English former professional footballer and coach who currently serves as an assistant coach for Premier League club Manchester United, in his second spell at the club.
McClaren began his coaching caree ...
considered Naylor with a call up to the England squad, but injury put paid to his chances and Naylor was not called up.
Personal life
Naylor's brother, Martyn Naylor, is a former professional footballer and is currently a coach for Leamington.
Lee Naylor has 2 daughters, born in 2003 and 2012