Sammy Lee

An energetic 5 ft. 4 in. (163 cm.) midfielder who gained England recognition and was a great servant to the club on and off the pitch, immortalised in the song: “He’s fat, he’s round, he bounces on the ground. Sammy Lee, Sammy Lee.” It was a loving tribute to the local lad about whom Bob Paisley said: "With the character and attitude he shows they’d make him Mayor of Liverpool if he was a few inches taller." Two years after signing a professional contract with Liverpool the 19-year-old made his debut against Leicester in the First Division on 8 April 1978. He came on in the sixth minute for David Johnson who tore his knee ligaments. It turned out to be a memorable game for Lee who scored Liverpool's second goal in a 3-2 win with a fortuitous shot which the Leicester goalkeeper allowed to creep under his body, but they all count! He only made one more substitute appearance that season and he hardly got a look-in in the impregnable Liverpool side of 1978/79. An injury to Terry McDermott finally gave him the breakthrough he had been looking for at the end of the 1979/80 season. He featured in all four FA Cup semi-finals against Arsenal that ultimately ended in defeat but played at Anfield when Liverpool clinched the League Championship against Aston Villa. Lee was back in the reserves at the start of the following 1980/81 season but nine games into the campaign Jimmy Case lost his place on the wide right of midfield to the enthusiastic youngster. Liverpool lost the League title to Aston Villa but received ample compensation in the knock-out competitions, winning the League Cup for the first time and then defeating Real Madrid at the Parc des Princes in Paris to take the European Cup for the third time. Lee played in both finals and his progress in his first full season didn't go unnoticed by Reds' fans as he was the overwhelming winner in Liverpool FC Supporters Club’s Player of the Year poll. The prize was presented to him by none other than Bill Shankly.

Lee won three successive League Championships during the next three years culminating in the glorious 1983/84 season when he played every single game, 67 in total. After the heady achievements of 1984, Lee's form dipped from its usual high standards and he was called on only rarely during the second half of the 1984/85 season with Craig Johnston and Kevin MacDonald both preferred in his role. He was also in and out of the team in the double season and it was not too much of a surprise when he agreed to join Queens Park Rangers in the summer of 1986. He left with the best wishes of his teammates as he had been a big part of the great camaraderie in the Liverpool dressing-room. He has a bubbly personality and is never lost for words as proven when he created the biggest laugh on-board the plane that carried Liverpool and Everton back home from their 1986 FA Cup final at Wembley where the Reds won the Cup after taking the League title from Everton a week earlier. "During the flight, there was a light-hearted disagreement between the players about the amount of room on the plane," Jan Mølby remembers. "'Move your fat arse,' Everton full-back Pat Van Den Hauwe shouted at little Sammy Lee. 'Sorry,' replied Sammy, 'but what do you expect? I've got two medals in my pocket!" Lee only had a year in London before seeking a change of fortune in the Spanish first division with Osasuna where he stayed two years before moving back to England.

Lee returned to Liverpool as Phil Thompson's replacement as reserve team coach in 1992. With Houllier's arrival in 1998 Lee moved up to first-team trainer. Following Houllier's dismissal and Benítez' arrival in the summer of 2004 Lee felt a clean break was best for all concerned and he joined England's coaching staff full-time. In June 2005 he joined Bolton as assistant manager to Sam Allardyce and continued coaching the England team on part-time basis. He turned down the full-time England u-21 job in 2006 to concentrate on Bolton and took over as the club's manager when Allardyce resigned in April 2007. However, Lee only lasted 14 games in the job after results were well below expectations. Reds rejoiced when Lee returned home to Liverpool once more in May 2008 as Benítez' assistant manager. Lee survived the managerial changes that saw Hodgson replace Benítez, then Dalglish replace Hodgson. However, as pre-season training began ahead of the 2011/12 season, it was announced that Lee would be leaving the club despite Dalglish saying as recently as May 2011 that Lee was "a key part of his team". In February 2012 Lee returned to Bolton as head of coaching at the club's academy. Bolton manager Owen Coyle said: "I know Sammy will bring a great deal of top-level coaching experience and enthusiasm, and that can only be of huge benefit for our youth players."

Towards the end of June 2014 Sammy Lee was named as assistant to the recently-appointed Brighton & Hove Albion manager, Sami Hyypia. Bizarrely, on the penultimate day of June it was then announced that Sammy would not be joining Brighton & Hove Albion after all but would instead be taking up a post at Southampton working with their new manager Ronald Koeman. After the Dutchman left for Everton in the summer of 2016 Lee rejoined England as part of Sam Allardyce's coaching staff which reigned during a brief period. A few weeks after Allardyce took over Premier League side Crystal Palace, Lee was appointed his assistant on 10 January 2017, but then left in the summer when Allardyce surprisingly resigned saying he needed some time out from the game. On 1st December 2017 Lee was confirmed as Allardyce's assistant when he took over as Everton manager, remaining there until Allardyce's dismissal at the end of the season.

"If they are to get into the top three every side needs its hardworking bees. And Sammy was one of those bees," Phil Neal said. "He played just in front of me and we formed a really good partnership. I remember Bob Paisley telling him to mark Paul Breitner when we played in the Munich Stadium and Sammy did a magnificent job. He was always the one who started the singing after we had picked up a trophy - all the old Liverpool songs. We had some great sing-a-longs. He created a really joyous arena. But he was always a very apologetic person. He always apologised for almost anything he did. He is a lovely natured person. I love him to bits."