Lee Wilkie

Football player infobox
playername= Lee Wilkie
fullname = Lee Wilkie
nickname =


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1980|4|20|df=y
cityofbirth = Dundee
countryofbirth = Scotland
height = height|ft=6|in=4
currentclub = Dundee United
clubnumber = 4
position = Centre back
youthyears =
youthclubs = Dundee
years = 1998–2006
2001
2001
2001–2002
2006–
2006–2007
clubs = Dundee
→ Plymouth Argyle (loan)
→ Notts County (loan)
→ Falkirk (loan)
Dundee United
→ Ross County (loan)
caps(goals) = 134 (6)
002 (0)
002 (0)
009 (2)
053 (6)
002 (0)
nationalyears = 2002–2003
2003
1999–2000
nationalteam = Scotland
Scotland B
Scotland under-21
nationalcaps(goals) = 011 (1)
001 (0)
008 (0)
pcupdate = 16:05, 13 September 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 19:27, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Lee Wilkie (born April 20, 1980 in Dundee) is a Scottish footballer who currently plays for (and captains) Dundee United. His usual position is centre back.

Playing career

Wilkie had been with city rivals Dundee for his entire professional career, having ended his contract with them in August 2006. During his time at Dens Park, he had short loan spells in England with Plymouth Argyle and Notts County, plus nine games with Falkirk.

Wilkie suffered serious anterior cruciate ligament injuries in January 2004 (ironically, against United) and in April 2005, which have left him without the ligament. Unable to receive an operation, he hoped to continue playing professional football by strengthening the knee muscles to compensate for the lack of ligament.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee/4823440.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Surgery won't save Wilkie career|date=April 3, 2006]

Despite interest from other clubs, Wilkie announced his intention to give first option on a contract to the team he has supported all his life, Dundee United.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee_utd/5321182.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=United have first option - Wilkie|date=September 8, 2006] In October 2006, it was announced that Dundee United would offer Wilkie a 'pay as you play' contract,cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee_utd/5409050.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Wilkie set to win Tannadice deal|date=October 5, 2006] with Wilkie's signing confirmed on 10 October 2006.

In early-November 2006, new manager Craig Levein stated his intention to send Wilkie out on loan for "about a month", feeling he was "not ready to play first-team matches at this [SPL] level."cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee_utd/6109340.stm|title=Wilkie set up for spell on loan|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=November 2, 2006] Subsequently, in December 2006, Lee joined Scottish First Division side Ross County on a one month loan deal.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee_utd/6182255.stm|title=Wilkie goes on loan to Dingwall|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=December 15, 2006]

Following his spell at Ross County, Wilkie returned to Dundee United and played in a 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on 20 January 2007. After the match, Wilkie cast doubt on his future at Tannadice by expressing doubts over his ability to play in the SPL due to his ongoing injury and fitness issues, and stated he will review his situation in the near future.cite news|url=http://sport.scotsman.com/football.cfm?id=106822007|title=Kilmarnock 1 Dundee United 0|publisher=Scotsman|date=January 21, 2007] Wilkie, like defensive colleagues David McCracken and Lee Mair, was to be out of contract at the end of 2006-07, but signed a two-year deal in March 2007 to take him to summer 2009.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee_utd/6473513.stm|title=Wilkie signs new Tannadice deal|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=March 20 2007]

On 1 February 2008, following Barry Robson's move to Celtic, Wilkie was named captain; six weeks later, he led the team out at Hampden Park for the 2008 Scottish League Cup Final, where he was one of three players to miss a penalty in the defeat to Rangers.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_cups/7296157.stm|title=Dundee Utd 2-2 Rangers|author=McGuigan, Thomas|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=2008-03-16]

International career

Prior to his injury problems, Wilkie had been establishing himself as a regular in the Scottish national team. He was given his international debut by Berti Vogts against South Africa at the Reunification Cup in Hong Kong in May 2002. His only international goal to date secured a 2–1 victory over Iceland at Hampden in March 2003. Wilkie's most recent international appearance was an unhappy experience as the Scots suffered a 6–0 defeat against the Netherlands in November 2003 that ended their hopes of reaching the 2004 European Championships. To date he is credited with 11 caps by the Scottish Football Association, although only 10 of these were in full international matches. [SFA awarded caps for match against Hong Kong Select in 2003, which was not a FIFA-recognised international match]

Lee Wilkie was offered a return to international football in November 2007 through the Scotland B team but declined to take part, claiming he needed more games to be ready to compete at international level. After playing regularly for the whole of season 2007-2008 and completing pre-season training for 2008-2009, without any serious injury problems, Wilkie announced his desire to work his way back into contention.cite news|url=http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/output/2008/06/06/story11468111t0.shtm|publisher=Evening Telegraph|title=Wilkie wants national recall|date=June 6, 2008]

tatistics

Honours

Dundee

*

Dundee United

*
*

References

ee also

* Dundee United F.C. season 2006-07
* Dundee United F.C. season 2007-08
* Dundee United F.C. season 2008-09

External links

* [http://www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/index.asp?tm=124&ID=296 Official website profile]
*
* [http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/player_details.cfm?playerid=20798&CFID=2259475&CFTOKEN=65008486 International career stats] at [http://www.scottishfa.co.uk SFA official website]

Persondata
NAME=Wilkie, Lee
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH=20 April 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH=Dundee, Scotland
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=