.jpg) Lee in 2024 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Martin Lee[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1966-02-01)1 February 1966 (age 59)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | West Ham, England[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder[1] | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1981 | Hornchurch | ||
| 1981–1983 | Charlton Athletic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1983–1992 | Charlton Athletic | 298 | (59) |
| 1992–2002 | Newcastle United | 303 | (44) |
| 2002–2003 | Derby County | 48 | (2) |
| 2003–2004 | West Ham United | 16 | (0) |
| 2004 | Oldham Athletic | 0 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | Wycombe Wanderers | 38 | (0) |
| Total | 703 | (105) | |
| International career | |||
| 1986 | England U21 | 2 | (0) |
| 1994 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| 1994–1998 | England | 21 | (2) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Robert Martin Lee (born 1 February 1966) is an English former professionalfootballer and sports co-commentator.
As a player, he was amidfielder who notably played in thePremier League forNewcastle United andWest Ham United. His time atSt James Park saw him win theFootball League First Division in 1993. He also played in theFootball League forCharlton Athletic,Derby County,Oldham Athletic andWycombe Wanderers. He was capped 21 times byEngland, scoring twice and was a member of the1998 FIFA World Cup squad.
Following retirement, he harboured interests of becoming a manager and in 2006 he was interviewed for the vacantAFC Bournemouth job, but ultimately has worked away from the sport with a stint as co-commentator forTEN Sports. He was inducted into the Newcastle United Hall of Fame in 2019.
Lee started his career in the youth team ofHornchurch and actually played for the first team at the age of 15 in a pre-season friendly under manager,Brian Kelly.[4] Hornchurch wanted Lee to sign a contract with them but he was offered an academy place atCharlton Athletic and established himself in the first team by the1984–85 season, when he scored 10 goals in the Second Division. He rapidly became the Addicks' star player playing as a winger and helping Charlton to promotion to theFirst Division at the end of the1985–86 season and gainedinternational recognition at under-21 level. He remained a regular in the top flight over the next four years until Charlton were relegated back to theSecond Division at the end of the1989–90 season.[citation needed]
Lee remained with Charlton for more than two years after relegation, but he was sold shortly after the start of1992–93 season as the club needed money to finance its return toThe Valley. At the time, Charlton were second in the table, and Lee moved to the league leaders,Newcastle United, for a fee of £700,000. He moved to Newcastle after their manager,Kevin Keegan, told him thatNewcastle upon Tyne was closer to London thanMiddlesbrough, the other club interested in signing Lee,[5] and who were already in thePremier League.
.jpg)
Lee who also has ancestral ties to the North East, having relatives who marched in theJarrow March,[6] signed for Newcastle in 1992.[6] Despite his North East connections, Lee noted it was his childhood footballing heroKevin Keegan who influenced him to move to Newcastle United.[6] Keegan also promised Lee that if he moved to Newcastle United he would play for England.[6] Newcastle playerGavin Peacock had first alerted Keegan to the ability of Lee. In passing a comment, Peacock stated to Keegan that there is a player from Charlton who could play at the highest level.[7]
Lee made his Newcastle debut as a substitute in a 1–0 win overPeterborough United. Newcastle were promoted to thePremier League at the end of the season, with Lee scoring 10 goals from 36 matches. Newcastle's first season back in the top division for four years ended well, as they finished third and qualified for theUEFA Cup, although it was top scorerAndy Cole rather than Lee who made the most headlines at the club during this campaign. In the first round againstRoyal Antwerp Lee scored ahat-trick as Newcastle won 5–0 in Belgium in their first European game for 17 years.[8]
Lee finished the1994–95 season with nine goals from 35 matches as Newcastle finished sixth in the table, although they had topped the league early in the season after winning their first six games.[citation needed]
ManagerKevin Keegan refreshed the side over the summer of 1995, shelling out nearly £9million onDavid Ginola andLes Ferdinand, and allowing Lee a more attacking role. He won the Premier League player of the month for November 1995 as Newcastle built up a wide lead at the top of the league and looked increasingly capable of winning their first top division title since 1927. Newcastle finished the season in second place, after being 10 points ahead of Christmas and remaining top until March, but Lee was named in thePFA Team of the Year for the1995–96 season.[citation needed]
After Keegan's shock resignation in January 1997,Kenny Dalglish was named manager, and he made Lee captain as Newcastle again finished runners-up to Manchester United in the Premier League. After Dalglish's sacking early in the 1998–99 season,Ruud Gullit was named Newcastle manager. After a good start, Gullit tried to quickly discard Lee, as well asStuart Pearce andJohn Barnes, forcing them to train with the reserves.[citation needed]. For the start of the1999–2000 season, Lee was not given a squad number by Gullit, and after Gullit had droppedAlan Shearer for theTyne-Wear derby defeat againstSunderland, he resigned and was succeeded by the former England managerBobby Robson.[citation needed]
Robson put Lee and fellow midfielderGary Speed (signed in February 1998) back in the heart of Newcastle's midfield. Lee scored in theFA Cup semi-final againstChelsea, but Newcastle lost 2–1. Lee was awarded a testimonial in 2001, nine years after joining the club, and a crowd of 18,189 turned out as Spanish sideAthletic Bilbao won 1–0 atSt James' Park. Lee's last goal for Newcastle came in a 4–3 win over Manchester United in 2001.[citation needed]
On 7 February 2002, with Newcastle outsiders in the title race for the first time in five seasons, Lee called time on almost 10 years onTyneside to join strugglingDerby County for a transfer fee of £250,000, signing for the club just eight days afterJohn Gregory was appointed as manager.[9][10]
Following a short, unsuccessful spell with Derby, which saw them relegated from the Premier League, Lee was sold toWest Ham United in 2003, after scoring twice in games againstReading[11] and Ipswich Town.[12] However, he played only a handful of games for the Hammers during the2003–04 season. Following this, he signed forOldham Athletic on a free transfer, playing just the 1 game, leaving the club within a month. Following this he was signed by formerArsenal andEngland captainTony Adams, to helpWycombe Wanderers climb out of the newly namedLeague Two. He played two seasons in League Two with the Chairboys, before leaving in June 2006, following the dismissal ofJohn Gorman as the club's manager. This took him past his 40th birthday, and he was among the oldest players still playing professional football in England by the time of his last game.[citation needed]
Lee played forEngland between 1994 and 1998, scoring twice in 21 appearances. He was called up for the first time for afriendly against theUSA in September 1994,[13] and scored on his début the following month againstRomania.[14] He was in thesquad for the1998 World Cup underGlenn Hoddle,[15] and came on once as a substitute againstColombia.[16] He had been surprisingly omitted from the England squad forUEFA Euro 1996 underTerry Venables despite being in arguably better form in 1996 than two years later.[citation needed]
In October 2006, Lee was interviewed for the manager position atAFC Bournemouth,[17] but the job went toKevin Bond. Lee was arrested in July 2007, alongside former teammateWarren Barton, for taking a limousine[18] but was not charged.[19] He also appeared for Newcastle on the charity television showPremier League All Stars in September 2007.[citation needed]
In May 2008, he captainedLegal & General to victory in a charity five-a-side tournament inSt Albans, helping to raise £15,000 for theleukaemia charity theAnthony Nolan Trust.[20]
In 2008, he worked as a regular pundit for Singapore's Football Channel.[21] In 2010 he was also backup commentator alongsideJohn Burridge forTEN Sports'UEFA Champions League fixtures.[22]
On 5 November 2019, Lee was inducted into the Newcastle United Hall of Fame.[23]
In 2019 and 2020, Lee featured in both seasons ofITV showHarry's Heroes, which featured former football managerHarry Redknapp attempting to get a squad of former England international footballers back fit and healthy for a game against Germany legends.[24]
Lee is married to his wife, Anna.[25] The couple have three children,Olly andElliot, both of whom are also footballers, and one daughter Megan.[26]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Charlton Athletic | 1983–84 | Second Division | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 4 | ||
| 1984–85 | Second Division | 39 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 43 | 10 | |||
| 1985–86 | Second Division | 35 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 39 | 8 | ||
| 1986–87 | First Division | 33 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 7[b] | 3 | 43 | 7 | ||
| 1987–88 | First Division | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 28 | 2 | ||
| 1988–89 | First Division | 31 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 36 | 6 | ||
| 1989–90 | First Division | 37 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 44 | 2 | ||
| 1990–91 | Second Division | 43 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 46 | 13 | ||
| 1991–92 | Second Division | 39 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 45 | 12 | ||
| 1992–93 | First Division | 7 | 1 | — | — | — | 1[c] | 0 | 8 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 298 | 59 | 14 | 2 | 19 | 1 | — | 12 | 3 | 343 | 65 | |||
| Newcastle United | 1992–93[28] | First Division | 36 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 43 | 13 | ||
| 1993–94[29] | Premier League | 41 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 47 | 8 | |||
| 1994–95[30] | Premier League | 35 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3[d] | 4 | — | 44 | 14 | ||
| 1995–96[31] | Premier League | 36 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 41 | 9 | |||
| 1996–97[32] | Premier League | 33 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8[d] | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 45 | 6 | |
| 1997–98[33] | Premier League | 28 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6[f] | 0 | — | 42 | 4 | ||
| 1998–99[34] | Premier League | 26 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[g] | 0 | — | 30 | 0 | ||
| 1999–2000[35] | Premier League | 30 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6[d] | 0 | — | 41 | 1 | ||
| 2000–01[36] | Premier League | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 0 | |||
| 2001–02[37] | Premier League | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3[h] | 0 | — | 22 | 1 | ||
| Total | 303 | 44 | 27 | 5 | 23 | 3 | 27 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 381 | 56 | ||
| Derby County | 2001–02[38] | Premier League | 13 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||||
| 2002–03[39] | First Division | 35 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 2 | |||
| Total | 48 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 50 | 2 | ||||
| West Ham United | 2003–04[40] | First Division | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | |
| Oldham Athletic | 2004–05[41] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1[i] | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Wycombe Wanderers | 2004–05[41] | League Two | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||||
| 2005–06[42] | League Two | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 3[j] | 0 | 36 | 0 | ||
| Total | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | 43 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 703 | 105 | 43 | 7 | 47 | 4 | 27 | 4 | 17 | 3 | 837 | 123 | ||
Newcastle United
England[44]
Individual
 | ||
