Lee Harvey (footballer)

Lee Derek Harvey (born 21 December 1966) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender and midfielder. He is best remembered for his long spells in the Football League with Leyton Orient and Brentford.

Lee Harvey
Harvey warming up at the Bescot Stadium in 1996
Personal information
Full name Lee Derek Harvey[1]
Date of birth (1966-12-21) 21 December 1966
Place of birth Harlow, England
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Defender, midfielder
Youth career
Peterswood
1982–1983 Leyton Orient
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1993 Leyton Orient 184 (23)
1993 Nottingham Forest 2 (0)
1993–1998 Brentford 105 (6)
1998–2000 Stevenage Borough 75 (0)
2000–2001 St Albans City 11 (0)
2001–2003 Bedford Town 49 (0)
Total 426 (29)
International career
England Youth
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Leyton Orient

Growing up in Harlow,[3] Harvey began his career with youth club Peterswood and turned down the chance to join Tottenham Hotspur to move into the youth system at Third Division club Leyton Orient (then named 'Orient').[4] He made his debut during the 1983–84 season and finished the campaign with four league appearances. Another four league appearances followed in 1984–95, a season in which Orient suffered relegation to the Fourth Division. Harvey scored his first goal for the club during the 1985–86 season. Harvey achieved his breakthrough into the first team in the 1987–88 season, making 23 league appearances.

Following a sixth-place finish in the Fourth Division in 1988–89, Orient saw off Scarborough in the play-off semi-finals to secure a place in the final against Wrexham. After a 0–0 draw in the first leg, Harvey scored the opening goal in the second leg to send Orient to a 2–1 aggregate win and seal promotion back to the Third Division.[5] Back in the Third Division, Harvey made 37 appearances and scored six goals during the 1989–90 season. Harvey's appearances slowly tapered off during the early 1990s and he was released by the club in August 1993,[4] having made 237 appearances in all competitions and scored 29 goals.[2]

Nottingham Forest

Harvey reunited with his former Leyton Orient manager Frank Clark to sign for First Division club Nottingham Forest on a three-month trial on 4 August 1993.[6] He managed only three substitute appearances in all competitions during his time at the City Ground,[7] before departing in November 1993.[6]

Brentford

Harvey joined Second Division club Brentford on a one-month contract on 18 November 1993.[6] During what remained of the 1993–94 season, he made 29 appearances, scored four goals and signed a new 18-month contract.[8] Harvey scored his first goal of the 1994–95 season in a famous 7–0 win over Plymouth Argyle at Griffin Park on 17 December 1994, which was Brentford's biggest win of the season.[8] He scored his second goal of the season in a 3–2 league win over Cardiff City on 2 January 1995.[8] Harvey suffered playoff heartbreak at the end of the season, as the restructuring of the Premier League and the Football League consigned Brentford to the Second Division playoffs, despite a second-place finish in the league.[9] The Bees went out on penalties in the semi-finals to the eventual promoted team, Huddersfield Town.[10] Harvey made 33 appearances during the 1994–95 season and scored two goals.[8]

Harvey scored his only goal of the 1995–96 season with a header in a 2–2 League Cup first round first leg draw with Walsall on 15 August 1996.[11] Despite Brentford's poor form in the league, Harvey was ever-present in Brentford's run to the FA Cup fourth round, beating non-league Farnborough Town, Second Division AFC Bournemouth, First Division Norwich City at Carrow Road, before narrowly losing 3–2 to First Division club Charlton Athletic at The Valley in the fourth round.[12] Harvey made 49 appearances during the 1995–96 season and scored one goal.[8]

Harvey found himself relegated to a substitute role during the 1996–97 season and made 19 appearances before suffering a cruciate ligament injury in December 1996.[13] In his absence, Brentford suffered heartbreak in the 1997 Second Division play-off final, which was lost 1–0 to Crewe Alexandra.[8] Harvey was not called into the first team squad at all during the 1997–98 season and was released in February 1998.[2][14] Harvey made 130 appearances for the Bees in all competitions and scored seven goals.[2] In May 1998, Harvey received a testimonial at Griffin Park, played between Brentford and a Lee Harvey Select XI.[15]

Stevenage Borough

Harvey signed for Conference club Stevenage Borough on 28 February 1998 and made 12 appearances in what remained of the 1997–98 season.[2][16] Harvey had a successful 1998–99 season, making 46 appearances and winning the club's Player Of The Season award,[17] helping the club to a sixth-place finish and to the second round of the FA Cup.[16] Harvey departed Broadhall Way at the end of the 1999–00 season, having made 95 appearances during two-and-a-half seasons with the club.[16]

St Albans City

Harvey joined Isthmian League Premier Division club St Albans City during the 2000 off-season.[18] He managed only 17 appearances during the 2000–01 season, the last of which coming in a 3–1 win over Maidenhead United on 9 December 2000.[19]

Bedford Town

Harvey signed for Isthmian League Premier Division club Bedford Town on 1 August 2001.[2] He played a part in Bedford's run to the first round proper of the FA Cup, where the Eagles took Second Division club Peterborough United to a replay.[20] Harvey made 32 league appearances during the 2001–02 season won the Players' Player Of The Year award.[21][22] He played on into the 2002–03 season, making 17 appearances.[23]

International career

Harvey was capped by England Youth at international level.[1]

Personal life

As of 1999, Harvey was working for a plant hire company in Cambridgeshire.[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
Nottingham Forest 1993–94[7] First Division 2 0 — 1 0 — 3 0
Brentford 1993–94[8] Second Division 26 4 1 0 — 2[lower-alpha 1] 0 29 4
1994–95[8] 25 2 2 0 4 0 2[lower-alpha 1] 0 33 2
1995–96[8] 40 0 5 0 3 1 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 49 1
1996–97[24] 14 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 19 0
Total 105 6 10 0 9 1 6 0 130 7
Stevenage Borough 1997–98[16] Conference 10 0 — — 2[lower-alpha 2] 0 12 0
1998–99[16] 35 0 5 0 — 6[lower-alpha 3] 0 46 0
1999–00[16] 33 0 2 0 — 2[lower-alpha 2] 0 37 0
Total 78 0 7 0 — 10 0 95 0
St Albans City 2000–01[19] Isthmian League Premier Division 11 0 0 0 — 6[lower-alpha 4] 0 17 0
Bedford Town 2001–02[21] Isthmian League Premier Division 31 0 0 0 — 0 0 31 0
2002–03[23] 17 0 0 0 — 0 0 17 0
Total 48 0 0 0 — 0 0 48 0
Career total 244 6 17 0 10 1 22 0 293 7
  1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearances in FA Trophy
  3. 4 appearances in FA Trophy, 2 appearances in Conference League Cup
  4. 2 appearances in FA Trophy, 2 appearances in Isthmian League Cup, 1 appearance in Isthmian League Full Members Cup, 1 appearance in Herts Senior Cup

Honours

References
  1. "Lee Harvey". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  2. Lee Harvey at Soccerbase
  3. Simpson, Matt (17 November 2011). "View from the West Stand: The 10 worst Leyton Orient haircuts". Leytonorientblog.com. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  4. "Lee Harvey; Hero Of Our Time" (PDF). Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  5. "Best Of Times, Worst Of Times | Wrexham vs Leyton Orient". www.wrexhamafc.co.uk. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  6. Croxford, Lane & Waterman 2013, p. 406-407.
  7. "Lee Harvey". The City Ground. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  8. Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2013). The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. pp. 479–481. ISBN 9781906796723.
  9. "Brentford League Table 1994-1995". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  10. Thomson, Doug (2 March 2015). "Good and bad memories of Brentford for Huddersfield Town legend Andy Booth". huddersfieldexaminer. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  11. Croxford, Lane & Waterman 2013, p. 182.
  12. "Brentford results for the 1995–1996 season". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  13. Brentford Matchday Magazine versus Chesterfield. Quay Design of Poole. 16 August 1997. p. 7.
  14. Brentford Matchday Magazine versus Northampton Town. Quay Design of Poole. 21 March 1998. pp. 30–31.
  15. "Around the Hive". Archived from the original on 10 June 1998. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  16. "Stevenage Players | Lee Harvey". BoroGuide. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  17. "Player of the Season 1998–1999". Stevenage FC History. 21 December 1966. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  18. "Lee D Harvey". St Albans City F.C. Statistics. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  19. "Season 2000–01 appearances". St Albans City F.C. Statistics. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  20. "Lee Harvey". Ipswich Town Mad. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  21. "Player Details: Season 2001–2002 Lee Harvey". SoccerFacts UK. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  22. "Lee Harvey". NonLeagueDaily.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  23. "Player Details: Season 2002–2003 Lee Harvey". SoccerFacts UK. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  24. "Games played by Lee Harvey in 1996/1997". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
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