Lee Thorpe

Lee Thorpe
Personal information
Full name Lee Anthony Thorpe
Date of birth (1975-12-14) 14 December 1975
Place of birth Wolverhampton, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
0000–1994 Blackpool
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1994–1997 Blackpool 12 (0)
1995 → Bangor (loan) 3 (1)
1997–2002 Lincoln City 192 (57)
2002–2004 Leyton Orient 55 (12)
2004 → Grimsby Town (loan) 6 (0)
2004–2005 Bristol Rovers 35 (4)
2005–2006 Swansea City 18 (3)
2005 → Peterborough United (loan) 6 (0)
2006 → Torquay United (loan) 10 (3)
2006–2007 Torquay United 41 (8)
2007–2008 Brentford 19 (4)
2008–2009 Rochdale 32 (6)
2009–2010 Darlington 8 (0)
2010–2011 Fleetwood Town 28 (3)
2011 AFC Fylde 13 (7)
Total 478 (105)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:22, 14 March 2012 (UTC).

† Appearances (goals)

Lee Anthony Thorpe (born 14 December 1975) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward from 1994 to 2011.

He made over 400 appearances, in a career spanning 18 years, in the Football League with Blackpool, Lincoln City, Leyton Orient, Grimsby Town, Bristol Rovers, Swansea City, Peterborough United, Torquay United, Rochdale and Darlington. Whilst with Blackpool, he also had a spell with Northern Irish Premier League side Bangor, and later finished his career in Non-league football with Fleetwood Town and AFC Fylde.

Career

Thorpe was born in Wolverhampton and began his career as a trainee with Blackpool, turning professional in July 1994. He joined Bangor on loan in September 1995, scoring once in three games during his loan spell.

After failing to establish himself at Blackpool, he was allowed to leave, joining Lincoln City on a free transfer in August 1997. He had a successful time at Sincil Bank, scoring 57 times in 192 league games, before moving to Leyton Orient on a free transfer in May 2002. He joined Grimsby Town on loan in February 2004,[1] having been placed on the transfer list and told his contract would not be renewed in the summer.[2] He moved to Bristol Rovers on a free transfer the following month.

In February 2005 he joined Swansea City, initially on loan, but signing on a free transfer a week later. He played a role in their promotion to Football League One.[3] The next season he was loaned out to Peterborough United in October 2005 and Torquay United on loan in February 2006.[4] He remained at Torquay on loan for the remainder of the season, playing first under John Cornforth and then under Ian Atkins as Torquay successfully fought off relegation to the Conference. On 25 April 2006, Thorpe scored a fantastic overhead kick in a 4–0 win over Stockport County; in November 2012 it was named as Torquay's best goal of all time by FourFourTwo magazine.[5]

He signed for Torquay United on a free transfer in May 2006, one of Ian Atkins' first signings after confirming himself as manager for the following season. Although he has played most of his career as a centre-forward, Thorpe also played as a central defender when required at Torquay. He was still under contract when Torquay were relegated to the Conference National, but left 'by mutual consent' on 27 June 2007. He signed a two-year contract with Brentford on 3 July 2007. He was sent off on his debut for Brentford after 45 minutes for a serious foul.

After losing his place in the Brentford first eleven under new manager Andy Scott, Thorpe joined Rochdale on a free transfer on 31 January 2008. He scored his first goal for his new club against his former club in a 2–0 win at Griffin Park.

He joined Darlington in 2009, and was released in March 2010,[6] joining Fleetwood Town completing a move back to the Fylde coast where he began his career at Blackpool.[7] During his period at Fleetwood, he scored the winning goal in Town's 2–1 win over Alfreton Town in Conference North Play-off Final 2010.

He was not offered a new contract at the end of the 2010/11 season and was released, along with a number of other players.[8]

In July 2011 he agreed to join A.F.C. Fylde, signing a one-year contract with the club.[9]

Thorpe was released by Fylde in December 2011, having been left out of more recent matchday squads due to budget issues as he was "one of the bigger earners" at the club.[10] In total, Thorpe had made 13 appearances for the club, scoring 7 goals.

After his release by Fylde, Thorpe stated that he was planning to retire from playing football to focus on coaching.[11] He is now an under-13s coach at Blackpool.

Honours

As a player

External links

References

  1. ↑ Grimsby seal Thorpe deal
  2. ↑ Thorpe heads for Orient exit
  3. ↑ Thorpe accepts Swansea contract
  4. ↑ Torquay sign Swans striker Thorpe
  5. ↑ Our Best Goal part 5: Southend to York FourFourTwo. 7 November 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "Darlington release Steve Foster and Lee Thorpe". BBC Sport. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  7. ↑ "Fleetwood sign Thorpe". NonLeagueDaily.com. 3 March 2010. Archived from the original on 2012-09-28. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  8. ↑ "Town players not offered new contracts". Fleetwood Town FC. 13 May 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-09-30. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  9. ↑ "Thorpe coup for A.F.C. Fylde". NonLeague.pitchero.com. 2 July 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  10. ↑ News Story | A.F.C. Fylde
  11. ↑ Thorpe Plans to Retire
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