Tommy Lee (footballer)

Not to be confused with Tom Lees.

Thomas Edward Lee (born 3 January 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He began his career with Manchester United, but was unable to break into the first team and was loaned to Macclesfield Town in 2006. He joined Macclesfield permanently later that year, spending two years there before first joining Rochdale on loan and then Chesterfield on a permanent basis. He played for Chesterfield for nine seasons, appearing in more than 350 matches before his retirement due to a shoulder injury in 2017.

Tommy Lee

Lee playing for Chesterfield in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Thomas Edward Lee[1]
Date of birth	(1986-01-03) 3 January 1986 (age 38)[1]
Place of birth	Keighley, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Sheffield United (Academy Goalkeeping Coach)
Youth career
2002–2005	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2006	Manchester United	0	(0)
2006	→ Macclesfield Town (loan)	11	(0)
2006–2008	Macclesfield Town	52	(0)
2008	→ Rochdale (loan)	11	(0)
2008–2017	Chesterfield	328	(0)
Total		402	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Manchester United

Lee was born in Keighley, West Yorkshire.^[1] Playing for local team Oakworth Juniors, he then went to Manchester United as a junior player in 2002. In 2005, he helped United's reserve team win the quadruple. In the 2005–06 season he was loaned to Macclesfield Town for what was originally going to be a month, but was extended to three months.

Macclesfield Town

Lee made his league debut away at Oxford United. During his loan period, Macclesfield boss Brian Horton told the Macclesfield Express: "Tommy has been excellent since joining us in January. I spoke to Tony Coton, United's goalkeeping coach, and Sir Alex Ferguson. Both were happy to extend Tommy's loan spell."

In August 2006, he signed a contract with Macclesfield, arriving on a free transfer from Manchester United.

On 6 January 2007, Lee kept goal for Macclesfield Town against English champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Despite suffering an injury to his arm while making a save from Salomon Kalou,^{[citation needed]} he played on until he was sent off for a foul on Andriy Shevchenko. Macclesfield were already 2–1 down by this point, and conceded another four goals after going down to 10 men.^[2]

On 22 March 2008, Lee joined Rochdale on loan from Macclesfield Town and played in Rochdale's Play Off Final appearance at Wembley Stadium against Stockport County. Lee was released by Macclesfield in May 2008, before joining Chesterfield on 1 August on a one-year contract.^[3]

Chesterfield

In September 2008, Lee was attacked during a night out in Sheffield and required surgery after his jaw was broken.^[4] After returning to action, Lee became a fan favourite at Saltergate.

At the end of the season, Lee won the club's Young Spireites Player of the Season award,^{[citation needed]} before signing a two-year deal to keep him at Chesterfield until June 2011.^{[citation needed]} In May 2011, Lee was offered and signed a two-year extension, keeping him at the club until June 2013.^{[citation needed]} Lee has been a firm favourite with the Chesterfield fans, his popularity easily notable as the goalkeeper picked up the fan-voted Player of the Year Award two years running.^[5]

Lee played every minute of the Spireites' championship-winning 2010–11 season. His fine form was rewarded as he was placed in the PFA Team of the Year for that season. In September 2011, Lee was injured in a game against Bury. The side missed him to the extent that without him they began a long series of matches without winning and slumped to the bottom of the League One table.

In January 2012, Lee was named man of the match in both legs of the Football League Trophy Northern Final, helping Chesterfield to a 3–1 win and their first trip to the new Wembley Stadium. In the final on 25 March 2012, Lee helped his team keep a clean sheet in a 2–0 win over the much fancied Swindon Town, making a crucial flying save to tip a header over the bar in the final minutes of the game.^[6]

In January 2013 Lee signed a three-year contract keeping him at Chesterfield until 2016.

Tommy Lee again found himself in the League 2 PFA Team of the Year, on the same day he kept a clean sheet against Burton Albion to take the Spireites back to League 1 on 27 April 2014.

On 22 July 2015, Lee signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until 2018. On 2 January 2016, Lee made his 300th league appearance for the Spireites in a 7–1 victory at home against Shrewsbury Town.

On 6 November 2017, Lee announced his retirement from football with immediate effect, aged 31, due to a recurring shoulder injury.^[7]

On 25 July 2018, Lee was honoured with a testimonial match against Wigan Athletic, managed by former Chesterfield manager Paul Cook. Lee started the match and played the opening six minutes before being substituted to a standing ovation. The match finished 1–1.^[8]

Coaching career

On 24 August 2018, Lee joined the academy of Sheffield Wednesday as a goalkeeping coach.^[9] In August 2020, he moved across the city to join Sheffield United as their academy goalkeeping coach.^[10]

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
Manchester United	2005–06[11]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Macclesfield Town (loan)	2005–06[11]	League Two	11	0	—		—		1[a]	0	12	0
Macclesfield Town	2006–07[12]	League Two	34	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	35	0
	2007–08[13]	League Two	18	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	20	0
	Total		63	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	67	0
Rochdale (loan)	2007–08[13]	League Two	11	0	—		—		3[b]	0	14	0
Chesterfield	2008–09[14]	League Two	28	0	2	0	1	0	1[a]	0	32	0
	2009–10[15]	League Two	42	0	1	0	1	0	3[a]	0	47	0
	2010–11[16]	League Two	46	0	2	0	1	0	2[a]	0	51	0
	2011–12[17]	League One	35	0	0	0	1	0	4[a]	0	40	0
	2012–13[18]	League Two	32	0	1	0	1	0	1[a]	0	35	0
	2013–14[19]	League Two	46	0	2	0	1	0	6[a]	0	55	0
	2014–15[20]	League One	46	0	6	0	1	0	2[c]	0	55	0
	2015–16[21]	League One	46	0	3	0	1	0	1[a]	0	51	0
	2016–17[22]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2017–18[23]	League Two	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
	Total		328	0	17	0	8	0	20	0	373	0
Career total			402	0	19	0	9	0	24	0	454	0

1. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in League Two play-offs
3. One appearance in Football League Trophy, one in League One play-offs

Honours

Chesterfield

• Football League Two: 2010–11, 2013–14^[24]
• Football League Trophy: 2011–12;^[17] runner-up: 2013–14^[25]

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 2010–11 League Two,^[26] 2013–14 League Two^[27]
• PFA Fans' Player of the Year: 2013–14 League Two^[28]

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 248. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
2. Cheese, Caroline (6 January 2007). "Chelsea 6–1 Macclesfield". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
3. "Spireites snap up keeper". Sky Sports. 1 August 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
4. "Spireite keeper's jaw broken in city attack". Derbyshire Times. Chesterfield. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 11 September 2008.
5. "Chesterfield | Team | Profiles | Tommy Lee". Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2012., Chesterfield team profiles.
6. "Chesterfield 2-0 Swindon Town". BBC Sport. 25 March 2012.
7. "COLUMN: Tommy Lee retires at 31...a good guy but a great Spireite".
8. "Spireites draw against Wigan". Chesterfield FC. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
9. "Tommy Lee joins Owls academy". Sheffield Wednesday FC. 24 August 2018.
10. Howson, Dom (5 August 2020). "Sheffield United confirm the capture of Tommy Lee from Sheffield Wednesday". Yorkshire Live. Reach. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
11. "Games played by Tommy Lee in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
12. "Games played by Tommy Lee in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
13. "Games played by Tommy Lee in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
14. "Games played by Tommy Lee in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
15. "Games played by Tommy Lee in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
16. "Games played by Tommy Lee in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
17. "Games played by Tommy Lee in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
18. "Games played by Tommy Lee in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
19. "Games played by Tommy Lee in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
20. "Games played by Tommy Lee in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
21. "Games played by Tommy Lee in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
22. "Games played by Tommy Lee in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
23. "Games played by Tommy Lee in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
24. "T. Lee: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
25. Woodcock, Ian (30 March 2014). "Chesterfield 1–3 Peterborough United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
26. "Spurs' Gareth Bale wins PFA player of the year award". BBC Sport. 17 April 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
27. "Luis Suarez: Liverpool striker wins PFA Player of the Year award". BBC Sport. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
28. "League Two FTBpro PFA Fan Player of The Year: Tommy Lee - Chesterfield". Sport co UK. 28 May 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2023.

External links

• Tommy Lee profile at the Chesterfield F.C. website
• Tommy Lee at Soccerbase