Playing Career
Lee was a full-back who began at Hednesford Town and joined Aston Villa in October 1955, who were then struggling to survive in the First Division under the stewardship of Eric Houghton. They avoided relegation in 1955–56 on virtue of their superior goal average to Huddersfield Town. Villa finished tenth in the 1956–57 and won the FA Cup, though Lee did not feature in the final. After a 14th place finish in the 1957–58 campaign, the club were bottom of the league by December of the 1958–59 season, and new boss Joe Mercer could not prevent the drop.
In 1959–60, the "Villans" were crowned Second Division champions, finishing one points above runners-up Cardiff City. They posted a ninth place finish in the 1960–61 season and won the League Cup. Lee played in both legs of the 1961 final, which saw Villa defeat Rotherham United 3–2 on aggregate to become the inaugural winners of the competition. Villa finished seventh in 1961–62, before dropping to 15th in 1962–63. They again reached the League Cup final in 1963, and Lee played in both legs of the 3–1 aggregate defeat to rival's Birmingham City. They dropped to 19th in 1963–64, though still managed to finish ahead of Birmingham and to avoid relegation by a six points margin. They then finished 16th in both the 1964–65 and 1965–66 campaigns under new manager Dick Taylor. Lee made 142 appearances in all competitions before he left Villa Park for Shrewsbury Town in July 1966. He featured in two Third Division games for the "Shrews" in 1966–67 season, before becoming a trainer-coach at the Gay Meadow, later serving as Arthur Rowley's assistant manager.
Read more about this topic: Gordon Lee (footballer)
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