Watford 2002–2004 Born in
Oxford, Lee joined the academy at
Watford at the age of 11 from Bedgrove Dynamos and progressed through the ranks to become a
reserve team regular during the
2001–02 season, learning from player-
goalkeeping coach
Kevin Hitchcock. Lee received his maiden first team call up for a
First Division match versus
Barnsley on 23 March 2002 and he remained an unused substitute during the 2–0 defeat. He made three further appearances (keeping a
clean sheet in each match) before the Hornets closed out a mid-table season.
2004–2007 Lee went on to establish himself as Watford's first choice goalkeeper during the
2004–05 Championship season, making 38 appearances and signing a new -year contract, before a ruptured
biceps and a
torn cartilage prematurely ended his season. He played in every match of the Hornets' run to the
League Cup semi-finals, but he missed the two-legged tie against
Liverpool due to a broken cheekbone suffered in a defeat to
Coventry City a month previously. Out of favour with Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd, Lee joined Premier League club
Blackburn Rovers on loan until the end of the
2005–06 season on 25 August 2005. He was only called into the first team squad once, when he was unused substitute for a 4–1 victory over
Charlton Athletic on 5 November 2005. In his absence, In January 2007, Lee signed a one-year extension to his contract, which would keep him at
Vicarage Road until the end of the
2008–09 season. though Watford fell to
Hull City in the
playoff semi-finals. Save for a run of 11 matches from September through to November 2008, Lee spent the 2008–09 season battling with
Mart Poom for the position of second-choice goalkeeper behind
Scott Loach. He signed a new one-year contract extension in May 2009, but spent the entire
2009–10 season behind Scott Loach in the pecking order and made just two League Cup appearances in August 2009. Lee turned down the offer of a new contract and departed Vicarage Road on 31 May 2010, after making 110 appearances in eight years as a first team player with Watford. In 2015, Lee stated that failure to be seen as a consistent first-choice at Watford was down to being "seen as a good back up. I backed up Alec Chamberlain and he won player of the season, I backed up Ben Foster and he won an
England cap, I backed up Scott Loach and he got an England cap. I guess because I never kicked up much of a fuss and I wanted those guys to do well, it didn't help my cause".
Brentford 2010–2012 On 31 May 2010, Lee signed for a two-year contract with
League One club
Brentford on a
free transfer. He had a "car crash" beginning to the
2010–11 season, He spent the early months of the season behind
Simon Moore and loanees
Alex McCarthy and
Ben Hamer in the pecking order and appeared only in cup matches. After starting his first league game of the season against
Bournemouth on 2 November 2010, he cemented his place in the team. He missed the
Football League Trophy Final at
Wembley Stadium and the rest of the season with a
dislocated right shoulder suffered in March 2011. but his season ended early after further problems with his right shoulder.
2012–2015 Lee began the 2012–13 season out injured and due to the form of Simon Moore, he made just six appearances. He signed a new one-year contract extension in December 2012 and underwent a shoulder reconstruction operation in March 2013, He made just five appearances during Brentford's promotion-winning
2013–14 season and spent much of the season as backup to new signing
David Button, Lee signed a new one-year contract extension in February 2014, but after just one appearance during the first month of the
2014–15 season, he made the decision to retire at the end of the campaign. Lee spent the 2014–15 season as third-choice goalkeeper behind David Button and
Jack Bonham and after falling to fourth-choice behind
Development Squad goalkeeper Mark Smith, he joined Brentford's West London Championship
rivals Fulham on loan in late March 2015. The move provoked a
Twitter spat between the two clubs and Lee moved to tell a Brentford fan blog that he made the move in a search for first team football in the final months of his career. He failed to win a call into a Fulham squad before the end of the season. At the 2014–15 end-of-season awards dinner, Lee was presented with a long-service award for his five seasons at the club. He made 87 appearances during his time at Griffin Park. He stated that the move was purely on an emergency basis and manager
Alan Dowson later commented that Lee had "not committed to training and is just looking after himself in his spare time".
Dunstable Town In late November 2017, Lee came out of retirement to join
Southern League Premier Division club
Dunstable Town as one-match cover for loan goalkeeper Nick Hayes. Lee's single appearance ended in a 4–1 defeat to
Bishop's Stortford. == International career ==