Stuart Lee (born 11 February 1953) is an English former football

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Lee was born in

Manchester 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 Salford to the west. The t ...

, and played professionally in England, Wales and the United States.

Player

In 1971, Lee began his professional career when he signed with Bolton Wanderers. He was seventeen at the time. He spent three season in the second and third Division of

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

with Bolton before transferring to third division

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 ...

At the time, Wrexham experienced considerable success in both 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 ...

and European competitions. In 1976, they went to the quarterfinals of the

Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

where Lee scored the team's lone goal in a 2–1 aggregate loss to

R.S.C. Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer , ...

. He spent two seasons with Wrexham before moving to

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

in 1978. He spent only one season with Stockport before moving to the first division with Manchester City. However, he played only six league games before being sold to the Portland Timbers of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. He spent three seasons with the Timbers. During that time, he played three outdoor seasons and two indoor seasons. The Timbers folded at the end of the 1982 season and Lee signed with the Kansas City Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League. In 1982, he returned to outdoor soccer with the

Carolina Lightnin' The Carolina Lightnin' was an American soccer club based in Charlotte, North Carolina that was a member of the American Soccer League. The Lightnin' played home matches at American Legion Memorial Stadium. Attendance at home games averaged 6,000 ...

of the second division American Soccer League. By this time, outdoor soccer was collapsing in the United States and the ASL ceased operations following the 1983 season. Lee signed with the

Los Angeles Lazers The Los Angeles Lazers were an indoor soccer team that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1982 to 1989. History Jerry Buss, the owner of California Sports, the parent company of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kings and Strings of ...

of the MISL in the fall of 1983. He would play two seasons for the Lazers. He returned to the NASL for the 1984 season, playing for the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

, but the league collapsed at the end of the season. Lee would remain with the indoor game for the remainder of his career. On 6 September 1985, the St. Louis Steamers signed Lee. After one season, he moved to the Kansas City Comets then back to the Lazers. Lee signed as a free agent with the Dallas Sidekicks on 20 October 1987. He spent one season with the Sidekicks, then retired from playing professionally.

Coach

Following his retirement as a player, Lee returned to England, where he became a manager in the

reserves. He would return to Portland during the summers to run youth soccer camps. On 29 November 1989, the Seattle Storm of the American Professional Soccer League hired Lee to replace

Tommy Jenkins Thomas Ernest Jenkins (born 2 December 1947) is an English retired footballer. He played professionally in two continents as a winger and is now a soccer coach in the United States. Early career Born in Bethnal Green, Jenkins played for Ea ...

as head coach. The Storm folded at the end of the 1990 season. In December 1993, he bought the team from Bud Greer and entered it in the amateur Pacific Coast League. Lee is currently coaching at Crossfire in Seattle.Director
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References

Lee is now a coach for Eastside FC.

External links

Seattle Storm coaching profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Stuart 1947 births Living people Footballers from Manchester American soccer chairmen and investors American Soccer League (1933–1983) players American Professional Soccer League coaches Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Carolina Lightnin' players Dallas Sidekicks (original MISL) players English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers Kansas City Comets (original MISL) players Los Angeles Lazers players Manchester City F.C. players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Portland Timbers (1975–1982) players St. Louis Steamers (original MISL) players Stockport County F.C. players Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players Wrexham A.F.C. players Men's association football forwards English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English football managers Seattle Storm (soccer) coaches