Arran Lee-Barrett

Arran Lee-Barrett
Personal information
Full nameArran Lee-Barrett
Date of birth28 February 1984
Place of birthIpswich, England
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing positionGoalkeeper
Youth career
2000–2003Norwich City
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2003–2005Cardiff City1(0)
2005–2007Weymouth19(0)
2007Coventry City0(0)
2007–2009Hartlepool United55(0)
2009–2013Ipswich Town38(0)
2013Millwall0(0)
2013-2014Bolton Wanderers0(0)
National team‡
2006England C1(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:52, 16 August 2013 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:15, 03 September 2009 (UTC)

Arran Lee-Barrett (born 28 February 1984 in Ipswich) is an English footballer who last played for Bolton Wanderers.

Career

When he was 10, Lee-Barrett joined his local club Whitton Sports Centre and took the position of goalkeeper.[1] Shortly after he was offered a place at Ipswich Town’s academy where he played alongside later-England international Darren Bent.[1]

After leaving Ipswich he was offered an apprenticeship at Fulham and Norwich, he chose Norwich as he preferred the atmosphere there.[1] However, he failed to break into the reserve team and was second choice reserve keeper behind future England international Robert Green.[1] He was released by Norwich and had a trial at Chelsea. He was offered a one-year contract with Cardiff after impressing during a trial and was coached by George Wood.[2] He spent most of his time at Cardiff as third choice keeper, mainly playing for the reserves. While playing for the reserves Lee-Barrett helped Cardiff win the Pontins Holiday Combination.[3] Cardiff manager Lennie Lawrence decided to release the young keeper believing that he was better off getting games.[1][4]

Torquay, Doncaster and Shrewsbury all showed an interest in Lee-Barrett.[1] Although he trained with Torquay,[5] he moved to Weymouth due to the offer of first team football.[1][6] He made 19 league appearances and 2 appearances in the FA Cup, helping Weymouth to win the Nationwide Conference South.[6] While at Weymouth Lee-Barrett was selected for the England National Game team, which consisted of England’s best non-league players and made his debut for them against Holland in November 2006.[7]

In January 2007, Lee-Barrett signed for Coventry City on loan as emergency cover for Luke Steele due to the injury of other Coventry keeper Andy Marshall.[6] After his loan spell he signed permanently after being offered a temporary contract.[8] However at the end of the season he was not offered a new contract and was released after failing to break into the first team. After releasing Lee-Barrett, Coventry City manager Iain Dowie revealed that he was impressed with his “attitude and professionalism” and wished him all the best.[9]

Hartlepool United

Shortly after Lee-Barrett was signed by Hartlepool after being recommended by Hartlepool’s goalkeeping coach George Wood who had previously coached him at Cardiff.[10] For his first season at Hartlepool he was given the number 21 shirt.[11] On his debut Lee-Barrett performed well against Newcastle, making some impressive saves and keeping a clean sheet in the half that he played.[12][13]

After playing Harlepool's first game of the season, a 2–1 loss to Luton Town, he was dropped, with Danny Wilson picking Jan Budtz over him for the Pools next fixtures. He was released from his contract on 6 May 2009 after being deemed surplus to requirements.[14]

Ipswich Town

On 21 August 2009, it was announced that Lee-Barrett had signed for the Championship team Ipswich Town, on a short term deal.[15] This came a day after Shane Supple had retired from the game aged 22. Lee-Barrett covered first-choice goalkeeper Richard Wright and was included in the squad that travelled to West Brom the next day.[16] He made his debut for Ipswich on 29 November against Cardiff City, coming off the bench in the 25th minute for the injured Richard Wright. Ipswich won the game 2–1. Following that game, Ipswich enquired into the possibility of bringing in a keeper on loan to replace Wright, despite the loan window not being open. This request was denied, leaving Lee-Barrett and Ian McLoughlin, the youth team goalkeeper, as the only two goalkeepers on professional contracts at the club. Ipswich's next game was away at Bristol City where Lee-Barrett kept a clean sheet. In January 2010, Lee-Barrett was rewarded with a new 18-month contract at Ipswich.[17] He was offered a further contract extension in April 2011.[18]

Millwall

On 16 August 2013, he made the move to Millwall covering for Stephen Bywater and Andy Marshall after David Forde had picked up an injury. He did not make a first team appearance whilst with the Lions but did act as an unused substitute for Steve Lomas team.[19]

Bolton Wanderers

On 24 October 2013, he signed a short term contract with Bolton Wanderers to provide competition for Andy Lonergan after both Ádám Bogdán and Jay Lynch had been ruled out of action with knee and back injuries respectively.[20] He linked up again with his former manager Lennie Lawrence, an assistant manager to Dougie Freedman at Bolton. He later signed a contract extension until the end of the season. Following the conclusion of the season, Bolton Wanderers offered Lee-Barrett a new one-year deal but on 1 July Bolton confirmed that he had left the club.[21]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Arran Lee-Barrett Interview 2006–2007". theterras.co.uk, Weymouth FC Official Site. Archived from the original on 3 April 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  2. ↑ "Bluebirds to Sign Young Keeper?". Sky Sports News. 20 March 2003. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  3. ↑ "Reserves secure Pontins Holiday Combination". Cardiff City Online, Cardiff City fansite. 5 April 2005. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  4. ↑ "Cardiff Release Eleven". Sky Sports News. 19 May 2005. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  5. ↑ "Gulls Look at Keeper". Sky Sports News. 9 March 2005. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Sky Blues look to sign loan 'keeper". Cardiff City Official Site. 11 January 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  7. ↑ "Latest NGXI Squad". thefa.com, The Football Association Official Site. 11 January 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  8. ↑ "Two In For Sky Blues". Sky Sports News. 31 January 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  9. ↑ "Trio To Exit Coventry". Sky Sports News. 13 April 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  10. ↑ "Turner Pleased To Welcome New Keeper". Hartlepool United – Official Site. 11 January 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2007.
  11. ↑ "New Squad Numbers Released". Hartlepool United- Official Site. 17 July 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  12. ↑ "Keeper's job is up for grabs". The Northern Echo. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  13. ↑ "Owen and Ameobia Secure Magpies Win". Hartlepool United – Official Site. 11 January 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
  14. ↑ "Pools part with quintet". Sky Sports. 6 May 2009. Archived from the original on 9 May 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  15. ↑ Arran Back At Town. ITFC.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
  16. ↑ Arran Back At Town ITFC.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
  17. ↑ "New deal for Ipswich keeper Arran Lee-Barrett". BBC Sport. 21 January 2010. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  18. ↑ Marston, Carl (11 April 2011). "Lee-Barrett offered new deal". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  19. ↑ Millwall FC. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  20. ↑ BBC Sport. Retrieved 2013-10-24.
  21. ↑ "Bolton Wanderers: Andre Moritz and Arran Lee-Barrett leave club". BBC Sport. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.

External links