Lee playing for Ipswich Town |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alan Desmond Lee[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 21 August 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Galway, Republic of Ireland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Huddersfield Town | ||
| Number | 19 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Aston Villa | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1995–1999 | Aston Villa | 0 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | → Torquay United (loan) | 4 | (2) |
| 1999 | → Port Vale (loan) | 11 | (2) |
| 1999–2000 | Burnley | 15 | (0) |
| 2000–2003 | Rotherham United | 111 | (37) |
| 2003–2006 | Cardiff City | 86 | (10) |
| 2006–2008 | Ipswich Town | 103 | (31) |
| 2008–2010 | Crystal Palace | 61 | (10) |
| 2009 | → Norwich City (loan) | 7 | (2) |
| 2010– | Huddersfield Town | 44 | (4) |
| National team | |||
| Republic of Ireland under-21 | 5 | (0) | |
| 2003–2006 | Republic of Ireland | 10 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of January 2, 2012. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Alan Desmond Lee (born 21 August 1978) is an Irish footballer who plays as a striker for League One club Huddersfield Town. He has also won ten caps for the Republic of Ireland.
He started his career with Aston Villa, also playing on loan at Torquay United and Port Vale. Following a season with Burnley, he signed with Rotherham United in 2000. He is considered something of a cult hero at the club,[2] for whom he made 122 appearances for in all competitions over a three year spell. He was then bought by Cardiff City, and made almost 100 appearances for the Welsh side between 2003 and 2006. Then purchased by Ipswich Town, he made over 100 appearances for the club before earning a big money move to Crystal Palace. After returning from a loan spell at Norwich City, he wrote himself into the club's folklore by scoring in the final game of the 2009–10 season against Sheffield Wednesday, saving the Eagles from relegation and ultimately administration. Following these heroics he moved on to Huddersfield Town.
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Born in Galway, Republic of Ireland, Lee began his career as a trainee with Aston Villa after leaving his youth side Bohemians of Waterford City (Rep of Ireland), turning professional in August 1995, although was never quite good enough for the first team at Villa Park. His league debut came after joining Torquay United on loan in November 1998, scoring three times in nine games. In March 1999 he joined Port Vale on a two month loan. He left Villa in July 1999 when Burnley signed him for £200,000. He scored once for Burnley, in a 2–1 Football League Trophy defeat at Wigan Athletic.[3]
He moved to Rotherham United for £150,000 in November 2000 after a short loan spell. He scored 36 times in 114 games for the Millmoor side before moving Cardiff City in August 2003 for a fee of £850,000, just days after impressing Cardiff manager Lennie Lawrence in a goalless draw on the opening day of the season. Rotherham's manager Ronnie Moore prophesied that "Alan Lee can and will do better than Cardiff".[4]
Lee found himself struggling with injuries at Ninian Park and largely out of first team contention.[5] In January 2006 joined Ipswich Town for £100,000.[6] He scored his second career hat-trick in a 5–0 win against Luton Town on 29 October 2006. He penned a new deal with the club in August 2007,[7] but in January 2008 there was speculation of a move back to Burnley for £900,000 but the Ipswich chairman[8] and Lee himself denied these rumours. He completed his his season tally of 12 goals with the winner in Ipswich's 1–0 win against Hull City on the final day of the season.
In August 2008, Lee moved again, leaving Ipswich for Crystal Palace for a fee of around £640,000.[9] In March 2009, he moved out on loan to Norwich City,[10] his spell lasting for the rest of the season. Norwich went close to signing Lee permanently six years previously, but lost out to Cardiff.[11] His performances at Norwich earned him public praise from skipper Gary Doherty.[12]
After returning to Palace, Lee became a fan's favourite and a cult hero due to the tremendous effort he displayed throughout his second season at Palace, culminating in him scoring a bullet header in Palace's 2–2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday on the last day of the season, saving Palace from relegation.
In August 2010, Lee transferred to Huddersfield Town for an undisclosed fee.[13] He made his debut for the Terriers in a 3–1 win over Charlton Athletic at the Galpharm Stadium on 28 August 2010. He quickly established a reputation cult hero with the Huddersfield supporters.[14] On 30 October he was sent off in a league match against Walsall at the Galpharm, where Town won 1–0. On 30 January 2011, he scored his first goal for Huddersfield in an FA Cup Fourth Round 2–1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. He added to his tally with a brace against Carlisle United in the Football League Trophy, though he remained goalless throughout 28 league games. He was a late substitute in the club's play-off final defeat to Peterborough United at Old Trafford.[15]
Lee scored his first league goals for the "Terriers" during a 3–0 win over Wycombe Wanderers on 27 August 2011. The first goal came from his first touch of the game 40 seconds after making it onto the pitch as a second half substitute, before he finished the game with a brace.[16]
An Irish under-21 international, Lee was said to have been overlooked whilst at Rotherham.[17] He was though utilised for his country whilst with Cardiff.[18]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[19] | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Torquay United (loan) | 1998–99[20] | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 3 |
| Port Vale (loan) | 1998–99[20] | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| Total | 1998–1999 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 5 |
| Burnley | 1999–2000[21] | 15 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 1 |
| Total | 1999–2000 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 1 |
| Rotherham United | 2000–01[22] | 31 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 35 | 15 |
| Rotherham United | 2001–02[23] | 38 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 41 | 10 |
| Rotherham United | 2002–03[24] | 41 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 44 | 16 |
| Rotherham United | 2003–04[25] | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 2000–2003 | 111 | 37 | 11 | 4 | 122 | 41 |
| Cardiff City | 2003–04[25] | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 3 |
| Cardiff City | 2004–05[26] | 38 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 43 | 7 |
| Cardiff City | 2005–06[27] | 25 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 29 | 2 |
| Total | 2003–2006 | 86 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 96 | 12 |
| Ipswich Town | 2005–06[27] | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 |
| Ipswich Town | 2006–07[28] | 41 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 44 | 17 |
| Ipswich Town | 2007–08[29] | 45 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 47 | 12 |
| Ipswich Town | 2008–09[30] | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Total | 2006–08 | 103 | 31 | 6 | 3 | 109 | 34 |
| Crystal Palace | 2008–09[30] | 16 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 3 |
| Crystal Palace | 2009–10[31] | 42 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 48 | 7 |
| Crystal Palace | 2010–11[32] | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Total | 2008–11 | 61 | 10 | 11 | 2 | 72 | 12 |
| Norwich City (loan) | 2008–09[30] | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| Total | 2009 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| Huddersfield Town | 2010–11[32] | 28 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 38 | 3 |
| Huddersfield Town | 2011–12[33] | 10 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 4 |
| Total | 2010– | 38 | 4 | 14 | 3 | 52 | 7 |
| Career totals | 430 | 96 | 57 | 16 | 487 | 112 | |
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