Kieran Lee
{{Short description|English footballer}}
{{distinguish|Keiran Lee|Kieran Lee (TV personality)}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Kieran Lee
| image =
| fullname = Kieran Christopher Lee{{cite book |editor-first=Barry J. |editor-last=Hugman |title=The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10 |year=2009 |publisher=Mainstream Publishing |isbn=978-1-84596-474-0 }}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1988|6|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = Stalybridge, England
| height = {{height|ft=6|in=1}}
| position = Midfielder
| currentclub =
| clubnumber =
| youthyears1 = 2004–2006
| youthclubs1 = Manchester United
| years1 = 2006–2008
| clubs1 = Manchester United
| caps1 = 1
| goals1 = 0
| years2 = 2008
| clubs2 = → Queens Park Rangers (loan)
| caps2 = 7
| goals2 = 0
| years3 = 2008–2012
| clubs3 = Oldham Athletic
| caps3 = 117
| goals3 = 5
| years4 = 2012–2020
| clubs4 = Sheffield Wednesday
| caps4 = 196
| goals4 = 20
| years5 = 2021–2023
| clubs5 = Bolton Wanderers
| caps5 = 77
| goals5 = 10
| club-update = 16:37, 7 May 2023 (UTC)
}}
Kieran Christopher Lee (born 22 June 1988) is an English footballer who plays as a central midfielder.
Lee began his career with Manchester United, before moving on to play for Oldham Athletic, Sheffield Wednesday, and Bolton Wanderers.
Career
=Manchester United=
A central midfielder earlier in his career, he was deployed more often by Manchester United as a full back, either on the left or on the right. He signed for the club on a youth contract in July 2004, after impressing in the club's Under-17 team for the past two years. He continued to progress up the youth system, playing 25 times for the Under-18s in 2004–05, and making another 23 appearances in 2005–06. He also played in 16 matches for the Reserves that season, in various competitions.
His performances that season earned him a two-year professional contract with the club and, just three days after signing it, he was given his first taste of first team football, coming on as a second-half substitute for Wes Brown in Roy Keane's testimonial against Celtic at Old Trafford. In addition to this, he also made appearances in first team friendlies prior to the 2006–07 season, first coming on as a substitute for Phil Bardsley away to Preston North End, and then playing the full 90 minutes of a 2–1 victory over Macclesfield Town.
Lee's Reserve team performances were rewarded in the 2006–07 season by him being given the captain's armband. In between his 25 appearances for the Reserves that season, Lee also made his first team debut. He was named as a substitute in the League Cup Third Round tie against Crewe Alexandra and, with the score at 1–1, he came on for David Gray in the 77th minute. The match went to extra time and, with less than two minutes remaining, Lee made a charging run up from right back to latch onto an Alan Smith through-ball. He composed himself, and slid the ball coolly past Crewe's former Manchester United goalkeeper, Ben Williams.{{cite news |title=Crewe 1–2 Man Utd (aet) |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/6072610.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=25 October 2006 |access-date=31 December 2007 }}
This appearance was followed up by another in the Fourth Round of the League Cup, this time against Southend United. Lee came on for John O'Shea in the 75th minute, but was unable to rescue the team from a 1–0 loss. Towards the end of the season, United suffered a dearth of defenders, with Mikaël Silvestre, Patrice Evra, Gary Neville and Nemanja Vidić all out through injury at one time or another, so Lee was called into the squad for the matches against Milan and Everton, although he did not play in either game. He finally made his Premier League debut against Chelsea on 9 May 2007. Since the title race had been sewn up the game before, United manager Alex Ferguson was able to select a team of fringe players for the game, including Lee. At the end of the season, in recognition of his fine performances over the preceding 12 months, Lee was awarded the Denzil Haroun Reserve Team Player of the Year award.{{cite journal |date=July 2007 |title=And the award goes to... |journal=Inside United |issue=180 |pages=34–38 |publisher=Future Publishing |location=Manchester }}
On 12 December 2007, Lee was again named as a substitute for the Champions League game against Roma, but did not get to play. It was announced on 28 December 2007 that Lee would be joining Queens Park Rangers on loan from 2 January 2008. He would then be eligible to play for QPR against Chelsea in the FA Cup on 5 January.{{cite news |title=QPR swoop for Man Utd starlet Lee |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/q/qpr/7163355.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=28 December 2007 |access-date=31 December 2007 }}
=Oldham Athletic=
After spending four months on loan at QPR, making seven appearances, Lee became Oldham Athletic's first signing of summer 2008. Moving on a free transfer, Lee signed a two-year contract with the Latics, beginning on 1 July 2008.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/o/oldham_athletic/7393838.stm|title=Oldham swoop for Fleming and Lee|publisher=BBC Sport|date=22 May 2008|access-date=11 April 2009}} His first game with Oldham came in the League Cup second round in a 3–0 loss to Burnley.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/league_cup/7576354.stm|title=Burnley 3–0 Oldham|publisher=BBC Sport|date=26 August 2008|access-date=11 April 2009}} On 26 December, he made his league debut for Oldham in a 3–0 win versus Crewe Alexandra, assisting in the final goal by Lee Hughes.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_2/7787715.stm|title=Crewe 0–3 Oldham|publisher=BBC Sport|date=26 December 2008|access-date=26 December 2008}}
His first goal for Oldham was a 95th-minute equaliser against Swindon Town on 22 August 2009,{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8207696.stm |title=Oldham 2–2 Swindon |work=BBC Sport |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |date=22 August 2009 |access-date=8 September 2009 }} and after struggling to make an impression in the previous season, he appeared far more regularly from then on, becoming the regular choice at right back as the season progressed. He maintained this progress under new manager Paul Dickov, and for the rest of his career at Boundary Park he made the right back position his own. He signed a new one-year contract with Oldham Athletic on 4 March 2011.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/12645612.stm |work=BBC News |title=Lee handed fresh Oldham contract |date=4 March 2011 }} and on 27 April 2011, he won four Player of the Year awards for Oldham including Players' Player of the Year and Fans' Player of the Year, as well as the honours from Boundary Blues and Oldham Athletic Supporters Association.
Kieran Lee scored his first goal of the 2011–12 season against Chesterfield with a 25-yard strike to the bottom left hand corner in a 5–2 win for the Latics.{{cite web |url=http://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0,,10337~58288,00.html |title=19 November 2011, Oldham 5 - 2 Chesterfield|website=oldhamathletic.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111222183051/http://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0%2C%2C10337~58288%2C00.html |archive-date=22 December 2011}} He also dominated the end-of-season awards presentation in May 2012, again winning the Latics' 4 'Player of the Year' awards.[https://archive.today/20120805164500/http://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/page/NewsUpdate/0,,10337~2756327,00.html Oldham Athletic]
=Sheffield Wednesday=
On 28 May 2012, Lee signed a three-year deal with Sheffield Wednesday, after rejecting the offer of a new contract with the Latics.{{cite news |title=Sheffield Wednesday bring in full-back Lee |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18236603 |work=BBC Sport |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |date=28 May 2012 |access-date=14 September 2012 }}
In July 2019, he signed a new one-year contract with Sheffield Wednesday.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49125940|title=Kieran Lee: Sheffield Wednesday midfielder signs new one-year contract|date=26 July 2019|publisher=BBC Sport}}
On 24 June 2020, he signed a one-month extension to cover the rest of the 2019–20 season which was delayed due to the coronavirus.{{cite news|title=Owls 2019/20 player update|url=https://www.swfc.co.uk/news/2020/june/owls-201920-player-update/|access-date=24 June 2020|publisher=Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|date=24 June 2020}}
=Bolton Wanderers=
On 8 January 2021, Lee signed an 18-month contract with EFL League Two side Bolton Wanderers after spending the previous few weeks training at the University of Bolton Stadium.{{cite news|title=Lee makes Wanderers move|url=https://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/2021/january/lee-makes-wanderers-move/|access-date=8 January 2021|publisher=Bolton Wanderers FC|date=8 January 2021}} He
made his debut 13 January 2021, starting and playing 71 minutes in a 1–1 draw against Exeter City.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/55540630|title=Exeter City 1-1 Bolton Wanderers|accessdate=15 August 2023|via=www.bbc.co.uk}} He scored his first goal in the 2-1 win against Walsall on 20 March. This was his first goal since scoring against Bolton for Sheffield Wednesday in October 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/56383396|title=Bolton Wanderers 2-1 Walsall|accessdate=15 August 2023|via=www.bbc.co.uk}} On 5 November, he signed a one-year contract extension extending it to 2023.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/2021/november/new-deals-for-key-quartet|title=New Deals For Key Quartet | Bolton Wanderers FC|website=www.bwfc.co.uk|accessdate=15 August 2023}} On 2 April, he came on as a substitute in the 2023 EFL Trophy final against Plymouth Argyle. Bolton went on to win 4–0.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65088981|title=Bolton Wanderers 4-0 Plymouth Argyle|work=BBC Sport }} On 23 May the club confirmed that Lee would be leaving at the end of his contract in June.{{cite web|url=https://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/2023/may/wanderers-confirm-retained-list/|title=Wanderers Confirm Retained List|publisher=bwfc.co.uk|date=23 May 2023|accessdate=23 May 2023}}
Career statistics
{{updated|match played 13 May 2023}}
| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | ||||||||||
| rowspan=2|Club
!rowspan=2|Season !colspan=3|League !colspan=2|FA Cup !colspan=2|League Cup !colspan=2|Other !colspan=2|Total | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| rowspan="3"|Manchester United
|2006–07{{soccerbase season|45103|2006|access-date=5 November 2017}} |1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| 2007–08{{soccerbase season|45103|2007|access-date=5 November 2017}}
|Premier League |0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| colspan=2|Total
!1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| Queens Park Rangers (loan)
|7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 8 | 0 | |||
| rowspan="5"|Oldham Athletic
|2008–09{{soccerbase season|45103|2008|access-date=5 November 2017}} |7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1{{efn|name=EFT|Appearances in Football League Trophy}} | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2009–10{{soccerbase season|45103|2009|access-date=5 November 2017}}
|League One |24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1{{efn|name=EFT}} | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
| 2010–11{{soccerbase season|45103|2010|access-date=5 November 2017}}
|League One |43 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1{{efn|name=EFT}} | 0 | 45 | 2 | |
| 2011–12{{soccerbase season|45103|2011|access-date=5 November 2017}}
|League One |43 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5{{efn|name=EFT}} | 0 | 53 | 2 | |
| colspan=2|Total
!117 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 134 | 5 | |
| rowspan="9"|Sheffield Wednesday
|2012–13{{soccerbase season|45103|2012|access-date=5 November 2017}} |Championship |23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | 26 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14{{soccerbase season|45103|2013|access-date=5 November 2017}}
|Championship |26 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | 29 | 1 | ||
| 2014–15{{soccerbase season|45103|2014|access-date=5 November 2017}}
|Championship |33 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | 34 | 6 | ||
| 2015–16{{soccerbase season|45103|2015|access-date=5 November 2017}}
|Championship |43 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3{{efn|name=EFP|Appearances in Championship play-offs}} | 1 | 52 | 7|7 | |
| 2016–17{{soccerbase season|45103|2016|access-date=5 November 2017}}
|Championship |26 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2{{efn|name=EFP}} | 0 | 28 | 5 | |
| 2017–18{{soccerbase season|45103|2017|access-date=5 November 2017}}
|Championship |15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | 15 | 3 | ||
| 2018–19
|Championship |2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20
|Championship |28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | 30 | 0 | ||
| colspan=2|Total
!196 | 20 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 216 | 22 | |
| rowspan="4"|Bolton Wanderers
|2020–21{{soccerbase season|45103|2020|access-date=5 November 2017}} |20 | 2 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 20 | 2 | ||||
| 2021–22{{soccerbase season|45103|2021|access-date=3 July 2021}}
|League One |25 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1{{efn|name=EFT}} | 1 | 31 | 6 | |
| 2022–23{{soccerbase season|45103|2022|access-date=3 July 2022}}
|League One |32 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6{{Efn|Five appearances in EFL Trophy, one appearance in League One play-offs}} | 0 | 41 | 3 | |
| colspan=2|Total
!77 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 91 | 11 | |
| colspan="3"|Career totals
!398 | 36 | 20 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 20 | 2 | 452 | 40 |
;Notes
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
Honours
Bolton Wanderers
- EFL League Two third-place promotion: 2020–21{{Cite web|url=https://www.soccerbase.com/tournaments/tournament.sd?comp_id=4|title=League Two Betting | 2023/24 | Soccer Base|website=www.soccerbase.com|accessdate=15 August 2023}}
- EFL Trophy: 2022–23
Individual
- Denzil Haroun Reserve Team Player of the Year: 2006–07{{cite news |first=Adam |last=Bostock |title=De Laet's delight |url=http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2010/May/De-Laets-delight.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013055232/http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2010/May/De-Laets-delight.aspx |archive-date=13 October 2012 |website=ManUtd.com |publisher=Manchester United Football Club |date=4 May 2010 |access-date=4 May 2020}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090322171636/http://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10337~37691,00.html Kieran Lee biography] at OldhamAthletic.co.uk
- {{Soccerbase}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Kieran}}
Category:Footballers from Stalybridge
Category:English men's footballers
Category:Men's association football defenders
Category:Manchester United F.C. players
Category:Premier League players
Category:Queens Park Rangers F.C. players
Category:Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players
Category:Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players
Category:Bolton Wanderers F.C. players
Category:Men's association football utility players