David Lee (footballer, born 1967)

For other people named David Lee, see David Lee (disambiguation).

David Mark Lee (born 5 November 1967 in Whitefield, Lancashire) is an English former professional footballer.

David Lee

Personal information
Full name	David Mark Lee[1]
Date of birth	(1967-11-05) 5 November 1967 (age 57)
Place of birth	Whitefield, England
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1986–1991	Bury	208	(35)
1991–1992	Southampton	20	(0)
1992	→ Bolton Wanderers (loan)	7	(3)
1992–1997	Bolton Wanderers	148	(14)
1997–2000	Wigan Athletic	83	(11)
1999	→ Blackpool (loan)	9	(1)
2000–2001	Carlisle United	13	(0)
2001	Morecambe	12	(0)
Total		500	(64)
Managerial career
2016–2020	Bolton Wanderers Reserves
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Lee, a right winger, began his career with Bury in 1986. In five years at Gigg Lane, he made just over 200 league appearances and scored 35 goals.

Southampton came in for his services in 1991 with a successful £350,000 bid. Lee's stay on the south coast was short-lived, however; after only twenty appearances he returned to the north-west with Bolton Wanderers in a one-month loan deal. In December 1992, Bolton made the move permanent in a £275,000 deal.^[2]

Lee remained at Burnden Park for five years, clocking up 147 appearances and scoring sixteen goals. Whilst at Bolton he played in the 1995 League Cup Final.

In 1997, he joined Wigan Athletic for £250,000, and he maintained his goalscoring touch, netting eleven goals during his three years with the Latics. Whilst at Wigan he played in the final as a substitute as they won the 1998–99 Football League Trophy.^[3]

Lee joined Blackpool on loan in 1999, before making a permanent move to Carlisle United on a non-contract basis.

A year later, the midfielder joined non-league side Morecambe, with whom he finished his career.

Coaching

After retiring, he turned his hand to coaching and former club Wigan gave him his first opportunity on the ladder by naming him as their youth coach. He stayed in this position until 2007 when accepting the offer to return to Bolton as their Assistant Academy Director. He left his Bolton role after 14 years on 29 January 2021.^[4]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bury
	1985–86[5]	Third Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	1[a]	0	2	0
	1986–87[5]	Third Division	30	4	0	0	0	0	3[a]	1	33	5
	1987–88[5]	Third Division	40	3	1	0	6	0	4[a]	1	51	4
	1988–89[5]	Third Division	45	4	2	0	4	1	2[a]	0	53	5
	1989–90}[5]	Third Division	45	8	2	0	2	0	5[b]	1	54	9
	1990–91[5]	Third Division	45	15	1	0	2	0	5[c]	1	53	16
	1991–92[5]	Third Division	2	1	0	0	1	0	—		3	1
	Total		208	35	6	0	15	1	20	4	249	40
Southampton
	1991–92[6]	First Division	19	0	1	0	0	0	2[d]	0	22	0
	1992–93[6]	Premier League	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
	Total		20	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	23	0
Bolton Wanderers (loan)	1992–93[5]	Second Division	7	3	0	0	0	0	2[e]	0	9	3
Bolton Wanderers
	1992–93[5]	Second Division	25	2	4	0	0	0	2[e]	1	31	3
	1993–94[5]	First Division	41	5	7	0	4	0	4[f]	0	56	5
	1994–95[5]	First Division	39	4	1	0	8	2	1[g]	0	49	6
	1995–96[5]	Premier League	18	1	1	0	4	0	—		23	1
	1996–97[7]	First Division	25	2	2	0	4	0	—		31	2
	Total		155	17	15	0	20	2	9	1	199	20
Wigan Athletic
	1997–98[8]	Second Division	43	5	3	2	2	1	3[e]	0	51	8
	1998–99[9]	Second Division	36	6	3	0	4	1	6[h]	1	49	8
	1999–2000[10]	Second Division	4	0	0	0	3	0	—		7	0
	Total		83	11	6	2	9	2	9	1	107	16
Blackpool (loan)	1999–2000[10]	Second Division	9	1	2	0	0	0	1[e]	0	12	1
Carlisle United	2000–01[11]	Third Division	13	0	0	0	2	0	—		15	0
Morecambe	2000–01[11]	Conference Premier	12	0	0	0	0	0	2[i]	0	14	0
Career total			500	64	30	2	46	5	43	6	619	77

1. Appearances in Associate Members' Cup
2. Appearances in Associate Members' Cup (3 appearances, 1 goal) and play-offs (2 appearances)
3. Appearances in Associate Members' Cup (3 appearances) and play-offs (2 appearances, 1 goal)
4. Appearances in Full Members' Cup
5. Appearances in EFL Trophy
6. Appearances in Anglo-Italian Cup
7. Appearances in play-offs
8. Appearances in EFL Trophy (4 appearances, 1 goal) and play-offs (2 appearances)
9. Appearances in EFL Trophy (1 appearance) and FA Trophy (1 appearance)

Honours

Southampton

• Full Members Cup runner-up: 1991–92^[12]

Bolton Wanderers

• First Division: 1996–97
• Football League Cup runner-up: 1994–95^[13]

Wigan Athletic

• Football League Trophy: 1998–99

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 1989–90 Third Division^[14]