Lee Payne

Lee John Payne (born 12 December 1966) is an English former professional footballer and currently a football agent. He played as a left-winger in both England and the Netherlands.

For the British musician, see Lee Payne (bassist).

Lee Payne
Personal information
Full name Lee John Payne[1]
Date of birth (1966-12-12) 12 December 1966[2]
Place of birth Luton, England
Playing position(s) Left winger
Youth career
1982–1985 Luton Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1987 Hitchin Town
1987–1988 Barnet 5 (0)
1988–1989 Newcastle United 7 (0)
1989–1990 Reading 34 (3)
1990–1991 BV Veendam 32 (10)
1991–1993 FC Emmen 25 (2)
1993 Gateshead 1 (0)
1994–1995 BV Veendam 6 (1)
1995–1996 WKE
1996–1997 HHC Hardenberg
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Payne joined Luton Town as a schoolboy, but was later released as an eighteen-year-old. His first senior appearance in football came with Hitchin Town in 1985 and after a successful spell there he moved on to Barnet, for whom he played twice in the Conference[3] as they finished in second place at the end of the 1987-88 season.

After three more appearances for Barnet the following season,[3] Payne was sold to Newcastle United for a non league record transfer fee of £125,000 and in October of that season made his football league debut against Middlesbrough in a 3–1 victory at St James Park. He went on to make seven appearances for the Magpies before moving to Reading in March 1989 for a transfer fee of £60,000.

After making 34 appearances and scoring 3 goals Payne moved to the Netherlands to play for Eerste Divisie (second-tier) club BV Veendam in 1990. In his first season, he became BV Veendam's player of the year making 32 appearances and scoring 12 goals. In 1991/92 Payne was transferred for a sum of around £100,000 to rival Dutch club FC Emmen where he spent three seasons before returning to BV Veendam for a further season only to be forced to end his professional playing career in 1995/6 through a serious knee injury after a short spell back in England in 1993, during which he played once in the Conference for Gateshead[4] – although Payne continued playing for another few years back in amateur football in the Netherlands.

After fully retiring, he subsequently became a scout for a number of clubs throughout Europe, including West Ham, before later becoming a football agent, holding a FIFA agent's license and represents a number of high-profile footballers in England.[5] Payne's father was a manager in non-league football in England, notably Wealdstone. Payne who has a strong Christian faith is also Ambassador for Sports Chaplaincy uk .

References
  1. "Lee Payne". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  2. "Lee Payne". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  3. Harman, John, ed. (2005). Alliance to Conference 1979–2004: The first 25 years. Tony Williams Publications. p. 293. ISBN 978-1-869833-52-7.
  4. Harman ed., Alliance to Conference, p. 293.
  5. "The agent's view". The Guardian. 21 September 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2016.


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