Date / Year of birth: 2nd April 1959

Position: Striker

Season of first appearance: 1977/78

Season of last appearance: 1992/93

Also played for: Folkestone Town, Ramsgate, Herne Bay and Dover Athletic

6' 0" tall, pacy striker born in Westgate who began his career playing for Monkton in the Thanet Premier Sunday League as a youngster and then joined Margate for the 1977/78 season.

After impressing in his early reserve team outings Lennie made his first team debut when he came on as a substitute in a 6-0 win over Romford at Hartsdown on 22.10.77. Margate manager Dennis Hunt said at the time "he has considerable natural ability." On 12.11.77 Lennie scored his first goal for the club with a neat lob in a 2-1 win at Basingstoke and he went on to make a total of 11 appearances, six of them as a substitute, before the end of the 1977/78 campaign. He also scored 16 reserve team goals.

During the 1978/79 season Lennie made a further 18 appearances (four as a substitute) and scored four goals. They included a solo effort in a 5-2 win over Ashford on 13.11.78 when he ran 30 yards before scoring with an angled drive. On 7.5.79 the Thanet Times said that Lennie "could develop into a fine prospect once he masters the basic essentials of ball control and positioning".

The 1979/80 campaign saw Lennie really establish himself and he played in 55 of Margate's 56 matches. He scored 14 goals which were more than enough to make him the club's top goalscorer as no other player managed a double figure tally. His best goals were what the Isle of Thanet Gazette described as "an amazing cross-shot from the far confines of the right wing" in a 1-0 over Canterbury on 6.11.79 and a solo effort during a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Dorchester on 1.3.80.

During the season Lennie won almost constant praise from the local press and he was variously described as "ice-cool", "lion-hearted" and "an inspiration to his team-mates". He was also referred to as "galloping" as well as "industrious and uncompromising" and the Thanet Times said "he has learned a lot since his early days with Margate and has become a most capable player". The same paper showed sympathy for Lennie's efforts as the only striker during a 3-0 defeat at Hastings on 1.12.79 and said that he was "a latter day Lone Ranger, but with no back-up from a faithful Tonto".

Lennie began the 1980/81 campaign by scoring from what the Thanet Times said was "a seemingly impossible angle" on the opening day of the season as Margate went down 3-1 at home to Tonbridge. It was the first of another 14 goals, a tally which came from 52 appearances, and they were enough to make Lennie the club's leading goalscorer once again, although this time he had to share the honour with Vic Pain. Lennie's goals included an excellent drive from the edge of the penalty area in the 3-1 FA Cup defeat at Epsom on 4.10.80 and two full-length diving headers - against Waterlooville on 11.11.80 and at Andover on 25.4.81. He also scored direct from a free-kick in an amazing 5-4 defeat at Dunstable on 25.10.80 and found the net with a memorable half-volley from outside the area in a 2-1 win at Chelmsford on 4.4.81. However despite his goals the Isle of Thanet Gazette described Lennie as being "strangely inconsistent" during the season. However the paper also said that he could potentially "blossom like a magnolia in May" if he were a full-time player.

During the summer of 1981 Lennie joined Folkestone and scored on his debut in a Southern League Cup tie at Ashford on 18.8.81. It turned out to be his only goal for the club and in September 1981 his contract was cancelled by mutual consent. Lennie then returned to Thanet to play for Ramsgate having made only six appearances for Folkestone, four of them as a substitute.

He scored 13 goals in 23 appearances for the Rams during the 1981/82 season but when the Kent League campaign finished in April 1982 Lennie returned to Hartsdown, joining Thanet United on loan.

He marked his return with a goal in a 1-1 draw at Basingstoke on 17.4.82 and played in Thanet's four remaining games too, scoring once more.

Lennie then rejoined United on a permanent basis in the summer of 1982 and Ramsgate manager Phil Gilbert said "we have lost a good player." Lennie began the 1982/83 season in sparkling form and scored three goals in his first seven appearances. However early in 1983 he found himself a central figure in an ongoing row about United players also turning out for local Sunday League sides. Lennie played for Monkton on Sundays and matters came to a head when he picked up an injury in a match for them. It was a thigh strain that hampered his next few Thanet performances and the Isle of Thanet Gazette's Dave Cooper said "I regard it as being thoroughly unfair on the club that pays his wages." The fact that Lennie then carried on playing two games every weekend also prompted Cooper to say "it will certainly do nothing to help his return to peak fitness." United's caretaker manager Peter Donnelly also voiced similar sentiments and in February 1983 Lennie left the club to join Herne Bay having scored ten goals in 27 appearances. The last of his goals was a cheeky lob in a 3-1 win over Cambridge City at Hartsdown on 22.1.83 and Lennie finished the season as Thanet's top scorer, despite leaving three months before it finished. Peter Donnelly said of Lennie's departure "no-one is bigger than the club and there was no way I would try to prevent him leaving once he had made up his mind."

With Alan Fagan now in charge of United, Lennie returned to the club in the summer of 1983 for his fourth spell at Hartsdown. He quickly showed he'd lost none of his sharpness by scoring a hat-trick in a 7-0 pre-season friendly win over Deal. During the early part of the 1983/84 campaign the Thanet Times praised Lennie for his "whole-hearted endeavour" and "tremendous pace" and on 21.9.83 he scored his 50th goal for the club in a 1-0 over Pagham in the FA Cup. He also hit the target with a 35 yard effort in a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Ashford on 08.10.83 and had scored seven goals in 20 appearances before the arrival of new manager John Wickens in November 1983. Wickens had signed Lennie for Herne Bay during the 1982/83 season and the two men hadn't seen eye-to-eye during Lennie's spell there so he decided to leave United and moved on to Dover. On 21.1.84 Lennie scored for Dover in their 1-1 draw with United at Hartsdown Park and the Thanet Times referred to him as Lennie 'Lionheart' Lee.

Towards the end of August 1984 Dover decided to release Lennie and he returned to Hartsdown Park yet again, although John Wickens was still Thanet's boss at the time. Ironically Lennie's first game back was a Southern League Cup tie at Dover on 12.9.84 and it was a memorable night as Thanet won 6-2 against his former club. He played as a striker but as the 1984/85 season progressed he was generally used a winger. Initially Lennie played on the left flank but when he was later switched to the right wing he found his best form and, in the eyes of the Isle of Thanet Gazette, "his best position". The paper praised Lennie's "tremendous pace and ability to put over a telling cross". Apart from a couple of enforced lay-offs due to injury, including a knee problem that kept him out for six games in December 1984, Lennie was a regular in United's line-up throughout the campaign. He made a total of 43 appearances (four as sub) and took his overall career tally for the club past 200 games. He scored five goals, one with what the Thanet Times called a "thunderous shot" from well outside the penalty area in a 4-0 win at Erith & Belvedere on 22.9.84. Lennie also scored with a superb effort in United's 4-2 win over Chatham at Hartsdown on 27.10.84, the Thanet Times said that he "volleyed home expertly". His last goal of the season came in the first leg of the Eastern Floodlight Cup Final as Thanet went down 2-1 at Bishop's Stortford.

In the summer of 1985 Lennie rejoined Dover and he went on to become a legendary figure at Crabble as Dover enjoyed a meteoric rise under manager Chris Kinnear.

On 28.1.86 he scored in a 2-2 draw with Thanet at Crabble and Lennie was Dover's 'Player of the Year' for 1986/87, a season in which he scored a late equaliser to secure a 1-1 draw in an FA Trophy tie at Thanet. Lennie then scored the only goal in the replay at Crabble, a match played on 7.10.86. The local press reports for those two games aptly described Lennie as being a "former Hartsdown favourite" with "a nimble turn of foot". He was on the scoresheet again as Dover trounced Thanet 5-1 on Boxing Day 1986 and in February 1987 the Thanet local press linked Lennie with a return to Hartsdown, angering Kinnear.

Lennie scored 34 goals for Dover during the 1987/88 season and in seven games from 26.3.88 to 30.4.88 inclusive he scored 16 times including three hat-tricks. The last of those goals came in a 2-0 win at Thanet United. Lennie again won the club's 'Player of the Year' award for the campaign.

The 1988/89 season was another good one for Lennie and on 8.11.88 he scored what the Isle of Thanet Gazette said was "his statutory goal" against Thanet as Dover won 5-0 in a Southern League Cup tie at Hartsdown. In the second leg at Crabble on 15.11.88 he got two more as Dover cruised to a 4-0 win. Soon after that the Thanet Times said that Lennie was "possibly the most talented striker ever to pull on a United shirt in the last decade". He ended the 1988/89 campaign having scored a total of 34 goals to match his 1987/88 tally.

During the 1989/90 season Lennie found the net 29 times and on 14.3.90 he made a guest appearance for Margate in Joe Radford's testimonial match against a Charlton X1. He scored twice in a 4-1 win.

Lennie carried his goalscoring form into the 1990/91 campaign and managed 16 goals before breaking his leg in a Kent Floodlight Cup tie at Hythe on 28.3.91. By September 1991 he was back in training but on 26.10.91 Lennie broke his leg once more in a reserve team game only days after Margate had enquired about signing him. The Isle of Thanet Gazette had reported that the fee requested by Dover "went into the stratosphere" and said "a fully fit Lee would make a world of difference to Margate".

Lennie was released by Dover at the end of the 1991/92 season having scored an all-time club record 160 goals in 363 appearances and he was awarded a testimonial match against Crystal Palace on 3.8.92. The Eagles beat a Dover side featuring several guest players 3-2 in front of a crowd of 1,769 and it was fitting end to Lennie's career at Crabble.

On 8.8.92, a few days after his testimonial, Lennie played for Margate in a friendly against Corinthian at Hartsdown Park and scored twice in a 7-0 win. He was signed for the start of the 1992/93 campaign and made his first appearance as a substitute in a 4-1 win over Wealdstone at Watford on 22.8.92, the opening day of the season. It was Lennie's first game for Margate since 4.5.81 and it had been over seven years since his last appearance for Thanet United on 9.5.85. On 25.8.92 Lennie again came on as a sub as Margate beat Erith & Belvedere 2-0 at Hartsdown and on 5.9.92 he came off the bench once more during a 5-0 win over at Bury. It turned out to be his last ever appearance for the club and before the end of September 1992 Lennie rejoined Ramsgate having played for them 11 years before.

He went on to score over 25 goals for the Rams before the end of 1992/93 and Lennie's tally included hat-tricks in a 4-3 win at Corinthian in January 1993 and a 5-1 win at Folkestone in February 1993. He was the club's top scorer and in April 1993 Lennie became the Rams' joint caretaker manager alongside Lester Smith.

Lennie became Ramsgate's player-manager in his own right for the start of the 1993/94 season and continued in the role whilst gradually winding down his playing career. He resigned at the end of the 1995/96 campaign during which he'd made a handful of appearances as a player.

Lennie then dropped into local amateur football before returning to Ramsgate as reserve team manager in February 2003. He stepped down at the end of November 2003 and was replaced by his former Margate, Thanet and Dover team-mate Mark Harrop.

Lennie continued playing Sunday football for Lloyds for the next couple of years and by 2004/05 he was player-manager of Sunday club Birchington USC where his team-mates included veteran former Thanet / Margate players Paul Jefcoate and Joe Radford.

Lennie carried on playing for Birchington during the 2005/06 season and then joined Thanet Sunday Football League club Victoria Stores as a player for the 2006/07 campaign.

Lennie was playing for Birchington side Thanet Fascias during 2007/08 and celebrated his 49th birthday towards the end of the season. A match report on the Thanet Sunday Football League's website for Thanet Fascias' 4-3 win over Lloyds McCarthy in February 2008 said they "were superbly marshalled and prompted throughout by 'poacher turned gamekeeper' Lennie Lee". He was player-manager of Thanet Fascias during the 2008/09 campaign.

Lennie started the 2009/10 season as player-manager of Birchington USC but in November 2009 he broke his leg, for the third time in his career, and announced his retirement. An article about his injury in the Isle of Thanet Gazette quoted Lennie as saying "that's it for me now - 32 years of football all over. I'll miss it. I've always kept myself fit and have clocked up loads of games." He recalled his first goal for Margate back in 1977 and told the Gazette "I still remember it now. Vic Pain put me through, I chipped the keeper and it took forever to go in." Lennie also looked back on his time with Dover saying "They were great days at Dover. The crowd were so partisan it was unbelievable. The lads were really good, too. We were always out drinking together, staying at each other's houses and going on holidays."

Lennie worked as a toolmaker during his first spell with Margate.

In 2011 he was coaching the Thanet Galaxy Pan Disability Under-16's side who trained at Chatham House School in Ramsgate.