| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lee Michael Power | ||
| Date of birth | June 30, 1972 | ||
| Place of birth | Lewisham, London, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1990 | Norwich City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1990–1994 | Norwich City | 44 | (10) |
| 1992 | → Charlton Athletic (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 1993 | → Sunderland (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1993 | → Portsmouth (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 1994–1995 | Bradford City | 30 | (5) |
| 1995 | → Millwall (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 1995–1996 | Peterborough United | 38 | (6) |
| 1996–1997 | Dundee | 10 | (4) |
| 1997–1998 | Hibernian | 11 | (2) |
| 1998 | Ayr United | 4 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | Plymouth Argyle | 16 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | Halifax Town | 25 | (5) |
| 1999–2000 | Boston United | ||
| National team | |||
| 1990–1993 | Republic of Ireland U-21 | 13 | (2) |
| 1992 | Republic of Ireland B | 1 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2006 | Cambridge United | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
Lee Michael Power (born June 30, 1972 in Lewisham, London) is a former professional footballer and a former chairman of Cambridge United. Despite being born in London, his Irish ancestry allowed him to be capped by Republic of Ireland at Youth, Under-21 and B level. He played at the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship [1].
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Power began his career as a trainee with Norwich City, making his first team debut against Aston Villa in April 1990, prior to turning professional in June the same year. His initial form was good enough to earn a call up to the Republic of Ireland Under-21 side and he went on to make a record number of appearances (13) for them.
Despite a promising start to his Norwich career, Power struggled to maintain a regular place in the first team, particularly with competition from the likes of Chris Sutton and Efan Ekoku. He requested a transfer and moved to Charlton Athletic on loan in December 1992. Further loan spells with Sunderland (in August 1993) and Portsmouth (in October 1993) followed before a £200,000 move to Bradford City in March 1994.
He scored on his Bradford debut, a 2–1 win at home to Swansea City on March 12, 1994, but his progress was impeded by a virus which threatened his career.
In July 1995 he moved to Peterborough United for a fee of £80,000, moving to Scottish Premier League side Dundee in December 1996. He scored twice on his Dundee debut, a 6–0 victory over East Fife in the Scottish Cup and his form soon attracted the attention of other clubs.
In March 1997, Power moved to Hibernian, Hibs paying Dundee a combined fee of £200,000 for Power and his teammate Paul Tosh. He was a regular for the remainder of the 1996–97 season, but lost his place when Alex McLeish took over as manager and was allowed to join Ayr United on a free transfer in March 1998 until the end of the season.
In July 1998, Power had a trial with Carlisle United, playing in friendly against Rangers, but joined Plymouth Argyle later that month. He struggled to settle at Plymouth and in December 1998 joined Halifax Town on loan, the move becoming permanent in January 1999.
His final footballing move, on the playing side, came in November 1999 when he joined Southern League side Boston United for a fee of £25,000. He also coached Boston, but left in January 2001. His early retirement from football coming at the relatively early age of 28, but not entirely surprising after two broken legs.
Power worked as a football agent, before joining forces with Lenny Drake and setting up the sports publishing company CRE8.
In May 2003, Power was part of a consortium aiming to take over Luton Town. The proposed move was not well received by Luton fans, particularly as it involved sacking the popular manager Joe Kinnear.
He subsequently joined the board at Cambridge United and took over as chairman of the Conference National side in August 2006. In September 2006 he acted as caretaker manager following the dismissal of Cambridge manager Rob Newman and his assistant Tony Spearing.
On the 22 January 2008, on the same night that Cambridge United beat Droylsdon 5–0, Power resigned as chairman of the club, citing personal differences with fellow board members as the chief reason.[1] In April 2008, Power joined the board of Cambridge's Conference rivals Rushden and Diamonds.[2]
Power is also a racehorse owner.[3]