Rob Lee

Football player infobox
playername = Rob Lee
fullname = Robert Martin Lee


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1966|2|1|df=y
cityofbirth = West Ham, London
countryofbirth = England
height =
nickname =
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1983–1992
1992–2002
2002–2003
2003–2004
2004
2005–2006
clubs = Charlton Athletic
Newcastle United
Derby County
West Ham United
Oldham Athletic
Wycombe Wanderers
caps(goals) = 298 (59)
303 (44)
048 0(2)
016 0(0)
000 0(0)
038 0(0)
nationalyears = 1986
1994
1994–1998
nationalteam = England U21
England B
England
nationalcaps(goals) = 002 0(0)
001 0(0)
021 0(2)
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Robert Martin "Rob" Lee (born 1 February 1966 in West Ham, London) is a retired English football player.

Playing career

Charlton Athletic

Lee came through the academy of Charlton Athletic and established himself in the first team by the 1984–85 season. He rapidly became the Addicks' star player playing as a winger and helping Charlton to promotion to the First Division at the end of the 1985–86 season. He remained a regular in the top-flight over the next four years until Charlton were relegated back to Division Two at the end of the 1989–90 season.

Lee remained with Charlton for over two years, but he was sold after the beginning of 1992–93 season as the club needed money to finance the return to The Valley. At the time, Charlton were second in the table, and Lee moved to the team above them, Newcastle United, for a fee of £700,000. Allegedly, he moved to Newcastle after Newcastle's manager, Kevin Keegan, told him that Newcastle-upon-Tyne was closer to London than Middlesbrough, the other club interested in signing Lee. This was a reference not to distance, but transport time, as there were more flights between London and Newcastle than there were between London and Middlesbrough.

Newcastle United

In his first season, Lee helped Newcastle gain promotion to the Premier League for the 1993–94 season. The following few years, Lee was a key component of Keegan's team which challenged for several Premier League titles, achieving runners-up position in the 1996–97 season, earning the reputation as The Entertainers. Such was Lee's form, Keegan gave him the title of 'Best Midfielder in Britain'. After Keegan was replaced by Kenny Dalglish in early 1997, Lee was named captain of Newcastle, but Dalglish's reign failed to bring success and he was fired shortly after the start of the 1998–99 season.

Lee failed to get on with new manager Ruud Gullit, and had his captaincy taken away from him, and didn't even receive a squad number. Gullit resigned shortly after the start of the following season, and under Sir Bobby Robson Lee reclaimed his place in the side. Lee's old squad number 7, taken away by Gullit, had previously been given to Kieron Dyer, Dyer gave Lee the number 7 shirt back and Dyer played with the number 8 shirt, previously worn by franck Dumas. With Robson as manager, Lee turned into a more of a defending midfielder that held up the play and allowed others to get forward rather than the attacking midfielder that he had been in the mid 1990s.

In the 2001–02 season, Lee wanted to extend his contract with the club, but Newcastle insisted that they waited until January 2002 before negotiating. Lee was unhappy with the way the contract talks were being handled, so he handed in a transfer request. The supporters and the players were surprised at his decision, and manager Robson was sorry about the situation but respected Lee's decision. By February 2002, Lee had been sold to Derby County for £250,000. However, his 10 years at the club meant he became a hero at Newcastle, despite his decision to leave.

Later career

After a short, unsuccessful spell with Derby, which saw them relegated from the Premier League, Lee was sold to West Ham United, the club he had supported as a boy, in 2003. However, he played only a handful of games for the Hammers during the 2003–04 season. Following this, he was released on a free transfer, and had trials with Oldham Athletic and Wycombe Wanderers, and was later signed full time by the latter. He played two seasons in League Two with the Chairboys, before leaving in June 2006, following the dismissal of John Gorman as the club's manager.

Honours

* Premier League Runners-up medal: 1995-96, 1996-97.
* Football League Second Division Champions medal: 1992-93
* FA Cup Runners-up medal: 1998 & 1999.
* Charlton Athletic Player of the year medal: 1991

International career

Lee played for England between 1994 and 1998, scoring twice in twenty one appearances. He was in the squad for the 1998 World Cup under Glenn Hoddle, and came on once as a substitute.

Post-playing career

In October 2006, Lee was interviewed for the manager position at Bournemouth, [ [http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,1886083,00.html Shepherd denies he wants to sell stake in Newcastle] , The Guardian.] but the job went to Kevin Bond. Lee was arrested in July 2007, alongside former team-mate Warren Barton, for taking a limousine [Cite news
title = Footballers in limo theft arrest
work = BBC
accessdate = 2007-11-23
date = 2007-07-25
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6915778.stm] but was not charged. [Cite news
title = No limo theft charges for players
work = BBC
accessdate = 2007-11-23
date = 2007-09-21
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7006115.stm] He also appeared for Newcastle on the charity television show "Premier League All Stars" in September 2007.

In May 2008 he captained Legal & General to victory in a charity five-a-side tournament in St Albans, helping to raise £15,000 for the leucemia charity the Anthony Nolan Trust. [Cite news
title = Soccer stars help raise £15K
work = St Albans Observer
accessdate = 2008-05-12
date = 2008-07-09
url = http://www.stalbansobserver.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.2260463.0.soccer_stars_help_raise_15k.php]

Currently, he works as a regular pundit for Singapore's [http://www.footballchannel.com.sg Football Channel] . He is also backup commentator alongside John Burridge for Ten Sports UEFA Champions League fixtures.

His son is a talented young player in a very promising West Ham United age group, among other players with a lot of potential according to the West Ham United academy coaches.

References