[2] He joined Celtic in 1892, and made his debut on 1 October 1892 against Clyde in the Scottish League.
[4][5] Lees moved to England to play for Lincoln City, and was ever-present and the club's leading scorer with 17 goals in the 1893–94 Football League season,[3] a total which includes a hat-trick against Rotherham Town in an 8–2 win which remains (as of 2010) the club's record Football League away win.
The consequent financial loss meant Celtic allowed Lees to return to Lincoln in October 1894,[4] by which time he had scored three goals from the first three Scottish League games of the 1894–95 season.
[7] He remained with Lincoln for the rest of the season,[3] then went on to play in the Football League for Darwen,[2] a club in financial difficulties with low morale, where he missed a month of the season when suspended by the club for misconduct.
[8] He then moved on to Barnsley, playing nearly 200 Football League games for the club over six seasons, and also played for Southern League club Watford, before moving into non-League football in the Barnsley area.