Rob Lee

Lee started his career in the youth team of Hornchurch and actually played for the first team at the age of 15 in a pre-season friendly under manager, Brian Kelly.[5] Hornchurch wanted Lee to sign a contract with them but he was offered an academy place at Charlton Athletic and established himself in the first team by the 1984–85 season, when he scored 10 goals in the Second Division. 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 and gained international recognition at under-21 level. He remained a regular in the top flight over the next four years until Charlton were relegated back to the Second Division at the end of the 1989–90 season.

Lee remained with Charlton for more than two years after relegation, but he was sold shortly after the start of 1992–93 season as the club needed money to finance its return to The Valley. At the time, Charlton were second in the table, and Lee moved to the league leaders, Newcastle United, for a fee of £700,000. He moved to Newcastle after their manager, Kevin Keegan, told him that Newcastle upon Tyne was closer to London than Middlesbrough, the other club interested in signing Lee,[6] and who were already in the Premier League.

Lee who also has ancestral ties to the North East, having relatives who marched in the Jarrow March,[7] signed for Newcastle in 1992.[7] Despite his North East connections, Lee noted it was his childhood footballing hero Kevin Keegan who influenced him to move to Newcastle United.[7] Keegan also promised Lee that if he moved to Newcastle United he would play for England.[7] Newcastle player Gavin Peacock had first alerted Keegan to the ability of Lee. In passing a comment, Peacock stated to Keegan that there is a player from Charlton who could play at the highest level.[8]

Lee made his Newcastle début as a substitute in a 1–0 win over Peterborough United. Newcastle were promoted to the Premier League at the end of the season, with Lee scoring 10 goals from 36 matches. Newcastle's first season back in the top division for four years ended well, as they finished third and qualified for the UEFA Cup, although it was top scorer Andy Cole rather than Lee who made the most headlines at the club during this campaign. In the first round against Royal Antwerp Lee scored a hat-trick as Newcastle won 5–0 in Belgium in their first European game for 17 years.[9]

Lee finished the 1994–95 season with nine goals from 35 matches as Newcastle finished sixth in the table, although they had topped the league early in the season after winning their first six games.

Manager Kevin Keegan refreshed the side over the summer of 1995, shelling out nearly £9million on David Ginola and Les Ferdinand, and allowing Lee a more attacking role. He won the Premier League player of the month for November 1995 as Newcastle built up a wide lead at the top of the league and looked increasingly capable of winning their first top division title since 1927. Newcastle finished the season in second place, after being 10 points ahead of Christmas and remaining top until March, but Lee was named in the PFA Team of the Year for the 1995–96 season.

After Keegan's shock resignation in January 1997, Kenny Dalglish was named manager, and he made Lee captain as Newcastle again finished runners-up to Manchester United in the Premier League. After Dalglish's sacking early in the 1998–99 season, Ruud Gullit was named Newcastle manager. After a good start, Gullit tried to quickly discard Lee, as well as Stuart Pearce and John Barnes, forcing them to train with the reserves.. For the start of the 1999–2000 season, Lee was not given a squad number by Gullit, and after Gullit had dropped Alan Shearer for the Tyne-Wear derby defeat against Sunderland, he resigned and was succeeded by the former England manager Bobby Robson.

Robson put Lee and fellow midfielder Gary Speed (signed in February 1998) back in the heart of Newcastle's midfield. Lee scored in the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, but Newcastle lost 2–1. Lee was awarded a testimonial in 2001, nine years after joining the club, and a crowd of 18,189 turned out as Spanish side Athletic Bilbao won 1–0 at St James' Park. Lee's last goal for Newcastle came in a 4–3 win over Manchester United in 2001.

On 7 February 2002, with Newcastle outsiders in the title race for the first time in five seasons, Lee called time on almost 10 years on Tyneside to join struggling Derby County for a transfer fee of £250,000, signing for the club just eight days after John Gregory was appointed as manager.[10][11]

After a short, unsuccessful spell with Derby, which saw them relegated from the Premier League, Lee was sold to West Ham United in 2003, after scoring twice in games against Reading[12] and Ipswich Town.[13] However, he played only a handful of games for the Hammers during the 2003–04 season. Following this, he signed for Oldham Athletic on a free transfer, playing just the 1 game, leaving the club within a month. Following this he was signed by former Arsenal and England captain Tony Adams, to help Wycombe Wanderers climb out of the newly named League Two. 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. This took him past his 40th birthday, and he was among the oldest players still playing professional football in England by the time of his last game.