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

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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 Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. 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 football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

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 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 in 1978. He spent only one season with Stockport before moving to the first division with

Manchester City 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 tw ...

. However, he played only six league games before being sold to the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

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 Tea ...

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, 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 Stockport County reserves. He would return to Portland during the summers to run youth soccer camps. On 29 November 1989, the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

of the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

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

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 (1979–1991) 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 English Football League players