Norman Lees
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Norman Lees[1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 17 November 1948||
Place of birth | Newcastle upon Tyne, England | ||
Position(s) | Mid fielder | ||
Youth career | |||
- | Hull City | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1966–1971 | Hull City | 5 | (0) |
1970–1971 | → Hartlepool (loan) | 20 | (1) |
1971–1977 | Darlington | 120 | (5) |
198?–198? | Beograd-Woodville | ||
Managerial career | |||
1986 | Parafield Gardens | ||
1986–1987 | Beograd-Woodville | ||
1988–1989 | Modbury | ||
1990–1992 | Cumberland United | ||
1998–1999 | White City Woodville | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Norman Lees (born 17 November 1948) is an English former footballer who made 145 appearances in the Football League playing as a defender for Hull City, Hartlepool and Darlington in the 1960s and 1970s.[2] He continued his career in Australia as player and coach.
Life and career
[edit]Lees was born in Newcastle upon Tyne.[1] He began his football career as an apprentice with Hull City, and made his first-team debut for the club on the last day of the 1966–67 Football League season, in a 4–1 defeat away to Crystal Palace in the Second Division. Over the next three and a half years, he made just five more senior appearances for Hull,[3] and in December 1970, he joined Fourth Division club Hartlepool on loan. He scored Hartlepool's first goal in his debut match, a 2–1 win at home to York City, and played regularly for the remainder of the season, finishing with 20 appearances, all in league competition.[4]
In the 1971 close season, Lees moved on to Darlington, also a Fourth Division club. He was involved in one potentially disastrous incident while playing in a floodlit match at the Darlington's Feethams ground. While retrieving the ball, which had gone out of play, he noticed that rubbish beneath a wooden stand had caught fire. Fortunately the fire had not taken hold and was quickly extinguished.[5] Over six seasons he scored 5 goals from 120 league appearances before his contract was cancelled in 1977.[2][6]
Lees continued his football career with 15 years in Australia, first as a player and later,[5] after taking courses under the auspices both of the Australian Soccer Federation[7] and the English Football Association, as a coach. After coaching amateur team Parafield Gardens, he was appointed head coach of South Australia State League team Beograd-Woodville in December 1986,[8] but was dismissed in mid-season after the club committee disagreed with his selection policy.[9]
After his successor resigned early the following season, Lees was offered an apology and his old job back. He was by then committed to a junior coaching role at West Adelaide Hellas,[10] but a couple of months later was appointed head coach of Modbury, newly promoted to the State League.[11] Ahead of the 1990 season, he was appointed assistant to Arthur Ruttley at Port Adelaide;[12] three months later, Ruttley was sacked and Lees "resigned in protest", again over a matter of team selection.[13] Appointed head coach of Cumberland United ahead of the 1991 season,[14] Lees resigned his post in March 1992[15] and returned to England.
He remained in England for a six-year period, then resumed his coaching career in 1998 with a year as head coach of White City Woodville.[16][17] After making a final return to England, he worked for a printing firm on Tyneside.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Norman Lees". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
- ^ a b "Hull City: 1946/47–2012/13". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Players Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
"Darlington: 1946/47–1988/89 & 1990/91–2009/10". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Players Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 5 April 2014. - ^ "Players". TigerBase. Matt Wales. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ "Norman Lees". In The Mad Crowd. John Phillips. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ a b c Amos, Mike (2 May 2003). "Lees' Feethams farewell rekindles old fireworks". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
- ^ "Miscellaneous documents – Darlington: Records of Darlington Football Club: Players' contracts with the club". Darlington F.C. 1 July 1971. Ref: D/XD 97/35/42. Retrieved 21 February 2018 – via Durham County Records Office.
- ^ "Rothmans National Director of Coaching Report". 21st Annual Report (PDF). Australian Soccer Federation. 1982. p. 19. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ Both, Andrew (2 December 1986). "Beograd appoints Lee as coach for one year". The Advertiser. Adelaide.
- ^ Crisp, Allan (26 June 1987). "Beograd axes coach Lees". The Advertiser. Adelaide.
- ^ Crisp, Allan (31 March 1988). "Dusan quits Beograd after 6–0 rout". The Advertiser. Adelaide.
- ^ Crisp, Allan (19 May 1988). "Lees succeeds Gray as coach of Modbury". The Advertiser. Adelaide.
- ^ Klaric, Paul (19 December 1989). "untitled". The Advertiser. Adelaide.
- ^ "Soccer sensations: coaches axed". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 16 March 1990.
- ^ Munday, Sean (3 September 1990). "Lees new coach of Foxes". The Advertiser. Adelaide.
- ^ Crisp, Allan (26 March 1992). "Final program under fire". The Advertiser. Adelaide.
- ^ Clancy, Brett (17 November 1998). "Aloisi in charge". The Advertiser. Adelaide. p. 71 – via Newsbank.
- ^ Clancy, Brett (25 November 1999). "Delnido in charge". The Advertiser. Adelaide. p. 105 – via Newsbank.
- 1948 births
- Living people
- Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne
- English men's footballers
- Men's association football defenders
- Hull City A.F.C. players
- Hartlepool United F.C. players
- Darlington F.C. players
- FK Beograd (Australia) players
- English Football League players
- English football managers
- Expatriate soccer managers in Australia
- FK Beograd (Australia) managers