Lee George Image 1 West Bromwich Albion 1954

Description

York born winger George Lee represented York City Schools, Yorkshire County Boys and Acomb F.C. in 1934 as a teenager, before a trial at Tottenham Hotspur and a brief spell at Scarborough in 1935. He signed for his first senior team York City in June 1936. He put pen to paper on the stroke of midnight on his seventeenth birthday, seventeen being the youngest age that a player could sign a professional contract at the time. He made his Football League debut against Oldham Athletic in April 1937 and became a regular in the team in 1938-39, playing 31 games that season His career at York City blossomed during the Second World War when he was York’s leading scorer for four consecutive seasons. In April 1943 Lee became the first player to score 100 goals for York City, reaching the milestone with a converted penalty in a World War Two match against Sheffield Wednesday.

In 1946, after serving his country in the War, Lee returned to Bootham Crescent and was selected to play for England in the European Championships, scoring six goals in 10 appearances. He signed for Second Division Nottingham Forest in August 1947 for a fee of £7,500 after 12 goals in 41 peacetime appearances for The Minstermen, staying two seasons and scoring 20 goals in 79 appearances before a £12,000 move to West Bromwich Albion in July 1949. He made his debut for Albion in a 1-0 win against Charlton Athletic on the opening day of the 1949-50 season, and scored his first goal for the club in a 2-1 defeat away to Liverpool on 18th February 1950. He became a regular in the no. 11 shirt in his first seven seasons at the club, only losing his place in 1956 when relegated to more of a fringe role. Lee played in the 1954 FA Cup Final, setting up Ronnie Allen for the opening goal and picking up a winner’s medal as the Baggies beat Preston North End 3-2 at Wembley, in a season when Albion also finished runners up in the League Championship and arguably should have been Champions, losing 6 of their last 9 matches having led the League for most of the season until defeat at eventual Champions Wolves in early April. After scoring 65 goals in 295 appearances for Albion, Lee joined non-league Lockheed Leamington on a free transfer in June 1958, before a short period at Vauxhall Motors of Luton in 1959.

After retiring as a player, Lee returned to West Bromwich Albion as a coach/trainer in 1959. He then became a coach at Norwich City in 1963, serving the East Anglian club until 1987. He had 2 spells briefly as caretaker manager of The Canaries, in April 1969 and in November 1973 he took charge for 2 matches per spell.