Olly Lee

Oliver Robert Lee (born 11 July 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for English club Gillingham.

Lee started his career as a youth player with West Ham United, with whom he turned professional in 2009. He made his debut in the Football League during the first of two loan spells at Dagenham & Redbridge in 2011, and also played on loan to League Two club Gillingham in 2012. He never made a senior appearance for West Ham, and moved on to Barnet in July 2012. After nine months and thirteen appearances, he signed for Championship club Birmingham City on loan. Despite not having played first-team football for Birmingham, the loan was converted to a permanent transfer in May 2013. He played 20 matches in 2013–14 but none the following season, and after a spell on loan at League Two Plymouth Argyle in 2015, he was released. In August 2015, Lee signed for League Two club Luton Town on a short-term contract, which was later extended until the end of 2016–17.

Career

Early career

Lee began his football career as a youth team player with West Ham United, for whom he signed professionally in 2009. He captained the under-18 team, played reserve team football, and was an unused substitute for a League Cup match with West Ham before signing on loan for League One club Dagenham & Redbridge in March 2011. He made his debut in their 2–1 away defeat to Exeter City on 2 April. His loan was extended until the end of the season, during which time he played in five league matches, all defeats, as the club failed to avoid relegation to League Two.

In August 2011, Lee returned to Dagenham on a one-month loan to cover for injuries. The loan was later extended for a further two months. He made sixteen appearances in League Two and one in the Football League Trophy, and scored three goals, all in the league. His first senior goal, in the 73rd minute of a 2–1 defeat at home to Morecambe on 17 September, was a free kick into the top corner of the net, which manager John Still described as "a bit of a fluke".

After a two-week trial in February 2012, Lee joined League Two club Gillingham on loan for a month. He made his debut on 21 February in a goalless draw at home to Rotherham United, and played eight matches in all during his loan spell, which was extended for a second month.

West Ham released Lee when his contract expired at the end of 2011–12.

Barnet

Mark Robson signed Lee for League Two club Barnet on 3 July 2012. He played regularly at the start of the season, but increasingly infrequently after the arrival of Edgar Davids as joint head coach, and not at all after Robson left the club.

Birmingham City

Lee joined up with Championship club Birmingham City on trial in February 2013, and signed on loan on 21 March. He made no first-team appearances during his loan spell, but he was an unused substitute on the final day of the season, and captained the under-21 development team. Lee signed a permanent one-year contract in May with the option of a further year, and no transfer fee was involved.

He took part in pre-season friendlies with the first team, scoring against Alfreton Town, and made his competitive debut as a late substitute in the League Cup on 6 August, just seconds before Plymouth Argyle's equaliser took the match into extra time. With Tom Adeyemi unavailable and Callum Reilly unfit to start, both because of illness, Lee made his first appearance in the Championship at Leeds United on 20 October and played the full 90 minutes as Birmingham lost 4–0. He and Peter Løvenkrands entered the League Cup fourth-round match against Stoke City as 79th-minute substitutes with Birmingham 3–1 down. Lee's 85th-minute free kick led to Løvenkrands pulling a goal back, and after the same player's equaliser took the match into extra time, Lee himself scored his first competitive goal for Birmingham, from outside the penalty area in the 118th minute to make the score 4–4, and converted his penalty in the shootout, which Birmingham lost. He scored his first league goal for Birmingham, with a volleyed finish after Nikola Žigić headed the ball down, on 15 February 2014 in a 2–1 defeat at home to Huddersfield Town, and finished the season with 20 appearances, of which 16 were in Championship matches.

Having failed to set foot on the field for the first team in 2014–15, Lee joined League Two club Plymouth Argyle in January 2015 on a month's loan. He went straight into the starting eleven, and came close to scoring an equaliser from a free kick as Plymouth lost 1–0 at home to Luton Town. He played seven matches during the month, scored once, a stoppage-time header with Argyle already 3–1 down at Hartlepool United, and was sent off in the last of the seven for a foul on Exeter City's Tom Nichols. Despite the consequent three-match suspension, Lee's loan was extended to the end of the season. He made a further eight appearances for Argyle, but was forced to miss the end of the regular season, when Argyle qualified for the play-offs, because of a groin injury.

Birmingham confirmed he would be released when his contract expired at the end of the season.

Luton Town

Lee signed for League Two club Luton Town on a short-term contract on 21 August 2015 which included performance-based options to lengthen his stay. He signed an extended contract until June 2017 on 22 September 2015. Lee helped Luton win promotion to League One in 2017–18. On 18 November 2017 he scored a goal from his own half during a 7–0 victory over Cambridge United; the 65-yard strike was voted the Mitre Goal of the Season at the 2018 EFL Awards.

Heart of Midlothian

Lee signed a pre-contract agreement with Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian in May 2018, and joined the club on a three-year contract upon the expiry of his contract with Luton. He scored in the 11th minute of his debut in a 2–1 away victory over Cove Rangers in the Scottish League Cup on 18 July 2018. Lee rejoined Gillingham, now in League One, on 29 August 2019 on loan until 27 January 2020. The loan was extended until the end of the season on 9 January 2020.

Lee returned to Hearts on 3 May 2020, and played regularly for them during the first part of the 2020–21 season. Lee scored in the penalty shoot-out as Hearts were defeated by Celtic in the 2020 Scottish Cup Final. He returned to Gillingham for a third loan spell in January 2021.

Gillingham

In June 2021, Lee signed a permanent contract with Gillingham.

Personal life

Lee was born in Hornchurch, London, the son of former Newcastle and England midfielder Rob Lee. His younger brother, Elliot, also became a professional footballer. Lee attended Brentwood School in Brentwood, Essex, and played for the Independent Schools Football Association (ISFA) under-16 representative team.

Career statistics

Honours

Heart of Midlothian

* Scottish Cup

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