View source for Colin Lee

{{Short description|English football manager and footballer}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name                = Colin Lee
| image               =
| fullname            =
| height              = 6 ft 1 in<ref>{{cite book |title=Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88 |editor-first=Peter |editor-last=Dunk |publisher=Queen Anne Press |location=London |date=1987 |page=122 |isbn=978-0-356-14354-5}}</ref>
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|df=y|1956|6|12}}
| birth_place         = [[Torquay]], England
| position            =  [[Midfielder]]
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 =
| years1 = 1974–1977
| years2 = 1974–1975
| years3 = 1977
| years4 = 1977–1980
| years5 = 1980–1987
| years6 = 1987–1989
| clubs1 = [[Bristol City F.C.|Bristol City]]
| clubs2 = → [[Hereford United F.C.|Hereford United]] (loan)
| clubs3 = [[Torquay United F.C.|Torquay United]]
| clubs4 = [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]]
| clubs5 = [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]]
| clubs6 = [[Brentford F.C.|Brentford]]
| caps1 = 0
| caps2 = 9
| caps3 = 35
| caps4 = 62
| caps5 = 185
| caps6 = 24
| goals1 = 0
| goals2 = 0
| goals3 = 14
| goals4 = 18
| goals5 = 36
| goals6 = 1
| totalcaps = 315
| totalgoals = 69
| manageryears1 = 1990
| manageryears2 = 1998–2000
| manageryears3 = 2001
| manageryears4 = 2002–2004
| manageryears5 = 2005–2006
| managerclubs1 = [[Watford F.C.|Watford]]
| managerclubs2 = [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers]]
| managerclubs3 = [[Torquay United F.C.|Torquay United]]
| managerclubs4 = [[Walsall F.C.|Walsall]]
| managerclubs5 = [[Millwall F.C.|Millwall]]
}}
'''Colin Lee''' (born 12 June 1956) is an English [[association football|football]] manager and former [[association football|footballer]]. He is head of football at [[South Dartmoor Community College]] in Ashburton, Devon along with Chris Beard.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

==Playing career==

Lee began his football career with Buckfastleigh Rangers and then as an apprentice with [[Bristol City F.C.|Bristol City]], turning professional in July 1974, but failed to break into the first team. He joined [[Hereford United F.C.|Hereford United]] on loan in November 1974, playing 9 times before returning to the reserves at Ashton Gate. He moved to [[Torquay United F.C.|Torquay United]] in January 1977, quickly establishing himself in [[Frank O'Farrell]]'s side and attracting attention from higher-level clubs.

In October 1977, after 14 goals in 35 games he left [[Plainmoor]] to join [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] for £60,000, making an immediate impact by scoring 4 goals on his debut in a 9–0 win over [[Bristol Rovers F.C.|Bristol Rovers]] in the [[Football League Second Division]], helping Spurs win promotion at the end of [[1977-78 in English football|that season]].

In January 1980, he moved back down to the Second Division and signed for [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] for a fee of £200,000, having scored 18 times in 62 games for Spurs. He stayed at Stamford Bridge for over seven years, scoring 36 goals in 185 league games, playing as a central defender towards the end of his time there. He helped them win promotion to the First Division as Second Division champions in 1984, playing at right full-back in the latter part of that season,<ref name="autogenerated1905">Chelsea Football Club The Full Statistical Story 1905-1986 by Scott Cheshire and Ron Hockings {{ISBN|0-9511640-0-7}}</ref> followed by seventh and sixth-place finishes – the peak sixth-place finish coming in the [[1985-86 in English football|1985–86 season]].

In [[1985-86 in English football|1985–86]] Chelsea won the [[Full Members Cup]], with Lee scoring twice in the 5–4 win over [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] at [[Wembley Stadium|Wembley]].<ref name="autogenerated1905"/>

In July 1987 a fee of £17,500 took him to [[Football League Third Division|Third Division]] side [[Brentford F.C.|Brentford]] where he combined his playing duties with that of his position of youth development officer. He retired from playing in the summer of 1989 after scoring once in 24 games.

==Managerial career==

===Watford===
He was appointed youth coach at [[Watford F.C.|Watford]] before taking over as manager in March 1990. However, he was sacked in November the following season after a dismal start had seen Watford win only two games when they had been hoping for a promotion challenge in the Second Division.

In 1991, Lee returned to the game as youth coach at [[Reading F.C.|Reading]], later becoming assistant manager to [[Mark McGhee]]. He helped them win the Division Two championship in 1994 and followed McGhee to [[Leicester]] a few months later. When McGhee ended his year-long reign at Filbert Street to take charge of [[Wolverhampton Wanderers|Wolves]], Lee again followed.

===Wolves===
During Lee's time as assistant manager, Wolves were semi-finalists in the Division One play-offs and the FA Cup, and Lee was promoted to the manager's seat in November 1998, after McGhee was sacked.<ref>{{cite news |title=Caretaker Lee gets Wolves job |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/football/223665.stm |work=BBC News |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |date=28 November 1998 |access-date=12 April 2012 }}</ref> His initial caretaker spell beginning with a 6–1 win against Bristol City at Ashton Gate. The next two seasons saw Wolves just miss out on the Division One play-offs, and he was sacked in December 2000 with the Midlanders struggling in the bottom half of the division. His task was not helped by the sale of several key players, including top scorer [[Ade Akinbiyi]], towards the end of his spell as Wolves manager.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thewolvessite.co.uk/clee.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202171405/http://www.thewolvessite.co.uk/clee.htm|title=Colin Lee|archive-date=2 December 2014|work=thewolvessite.co.uk|access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref>

After leaving Molineux, he joined [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]] as a scout, a job he held until March 2001, when he was called in by [[Torquay United F.C.|Torquay United]] chairman Mike Bateson as a consultant to the under pressure manager Wes Saunders in a desperate battle to keep Torquay out of the [[Conference National|Conference]]. When Saunders was sacked soon after (on 28 March 2001), Lee took over as caretaker manager until the end of the season, and guided the side to the heights of 21st place and safety thanks to a nerve-wracking win at [[Barnet F.C.|Barnet]] on the final day of the season which saw Barnet relegated.

===Torquay United===
After much negotiating at the end of the season, Lee verbally agreed to become the new manager of Torquay.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lee staying to season's end |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/t/torquay_united/1273607.stm |work=BBC Sport |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |date=12 April 2001 |access-date=12 April 2012 }}</ref> However, on 2 July, the day on which he was expected to formally sign his contract, he turned down the offer,<ref>{{cite news |title=Lee leaves Gulls nest |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/t/torquay_united/1418888.stm |work=BBC Sport |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |date=2 July 2001 |access-date=12 April 2012 }}</ref> leaving Torquay managerless less than a week before the start of pre-season training. The reason he gave that he was still looking for a job at a higher level, although in November 2001, he was still scouting for Leeds United, as well as working for both television and radio. The following month, he was appointed first team coach at Second Division club [[Wigan Athletic F.C.|Wigan Athletic]].

===Walsall===
In January 2002, Lee was named as manager of Division One strugglers [[Walsall F.C.|Walsall]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Lee is new Bescot boss |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/w/walsall/1778356.stm |work=BBC Sport |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |date=24 January 2002 |access-date=12 April 2012 }}</ref> and kept them clear of relegation for the next two seasons. However, he was sacked in March 2004 after allegedly talking to [[Plymouth Argyle F.C.|Plymouth Argyle]] about the possibility of replacing [[Paul Sturrock]] as manager. While Walsall actually gave permission for Lee to speak to Plymouth, and Lee publicly turned the job down, Walsall owner Jeff Bonser claimed that if Lee was truly committed then he wouldn't have even spoken to Plymouth, and that as his actions were tantamount to misconduct, he would not receive any compensation (though Bonser eventually paid up Lee's contract after intervention from the League Managers Association). Lee's last game in charge was an ultimately crucial 3-0 defeat away at Gillingham, the Kent side eventually surviving at the expense of the Saddlers with a goal difference that was better by a single goal.

===Millwall===
Lee began his fourth full-time manager's job in July 2005 with [[Millwall F.C.|Millwall]], succeeding [[Steve Claridge]] who had been sacked after just 36 days at the helm by the club's new owners. Millwall were bottom for much of the first half of the 2005–06 Championship campaign, and just before Christmas he became Director of Football. Defender [[David Tuttle]] took over the managerial duties, with Lee leaving Millwall in January 2006.

===Torquay United===
In January 2007, he returned to the coaching staff at [[Torquay United F.C.|Torquay United]], taking temporary control of playing matters with the departure of Lubos Kubik in early February, he was then appointed [[Director of Football]] on 6 February on a three-year contract,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2007/02/07/colin_lee_feature.shtml|title=BBC - Devon - Sport - Lee comes home to Torquay|work=bbc.co.uk|access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref> making his first act the appointment of former Torquay United and England player [[Keith Curle]] as the replacement for Kubik. Lee and Curle were unable to save Torquay from relegation and Lee was made redundant on 14 May 2007 after club owner [[Mike Bateson]] stood down as chairman.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/torquay_united/6655039.stm|title=BBC SPORT - Football - My Club - Torquay United - Bateson replaced as Torquay chief|work=bbc.co.uk|date=14 May 2007 |access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref> However, Lee returned to Torquay United, this time as Chief Executive, on 25 May 2007 after Bateson's sale of the club to a local consortium headed by Cris Boyce. On 2 June 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/torquay_united/6692997.stm|title=BBC SPORT - Football - My Club - Torquay United - Lee back in new role at Torquay|work=bbc.co.uk|date=25 May 2007 |access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref> He appointed former Torquay player [[Paul Buckle]] as the new team manager.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/torquay_united/6714703.stm|title=BBC SPORT - Football - My Club - Torquay United - Buckle named as new Torquay boss|work=bbc.co.uk|date=2 June 2007 |access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref> After a near-miss in 2008, the club were promoted in 2009 through the play-offs and stayed up in their first season back in League Two. In the summer of 2010 Torquay decided to axe the Chief Executive's role, and Lee subsequently left the club.

===Notts County===
Following Keith Curle's appointment as Notts County manager, Colin Lee was re-united with the former Torquay manager, at the East Midlands club on 20 February 2012.

==Managerial statistics==

As of 7 March 2015

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Team
!rowspan="2"|Nat
!rowspan="2"|From
!rowspan="2"|To
!colspan="5"|Record
|-
!G!!W!!D!!L!!Win %
|-
|align=left|[[Watford F.C.|Watford]]
|{{flagicon|England}}
|align=left|1 March 1990
|align=left|27 November 1990
{{WDL|35|7|10|18}}
|-
|align=left|[[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers]]
|{{flagicon|England}}
|align=left|5 November 1998
|align=left|18 December 2000
{{WDL|111|44|33|34}}
|-
|align=left|[[Torquay United F.C.|Torquay United]]
|{{flagicon|England}}
|align=left|28 March 2001
|align=left|2 July 2001
{{WDL|9|3|4|2}}
|-
|align=left|[[Walsall F.C.|Walsall]]
|{{flagicon|England}}
|align=left|24 January 2002
|align=left|16 April 2004
{{WDL|116|38|30|48}}
|-
|align=left|[[Millwall F.C.|Millwall]]
|{{flagicon|England}}
|align=left|27 July 2005
|align=left|21 December 2005
{{WDL|28|6|9|13}}
|-
!colspan="4"|Total
{{WDLtot|299|98|86|115}}
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Watford F.C. managers}}
{{Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. managers}}
{{Torquay United F.C. managers}}
{{Millwall F.C. managers}}
{{Walsall F.C. managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Colin}}
[[Category:Footballers from Torquay]]
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:English men's footballers]]
[[Category:Bristol City F.C. players]]
[[Category:Hereford United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Torquay United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players]]
[[Category:Chelsea F.C. players]]
[[Category:English football managers]]
[[Category:Brentford F.C. players]]
[[Category:Watford F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Torquay United F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Walsall F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Millwall F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Brentford F.C. non-playing staff]]
[[Category:Men's association football midfielders]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]