Lee made 142 appearances in all competitions, playing his final game for the club against West Ham United in March 1965, before he left Villa Park.
[6] The club were a poor outfit Fourth Division when he took charge, and to boost the squad he signed 'tenacious' wing-half John King and Wales international winger Graham Williams from Tranmere Rovers, as well as Walsall's teenage Bobby Gough.
[6] He solved his goalkeeping problems by signing Keith Ball from Walsall for 'a small fee', and his side put together a five-game unbeaten run in November.
[7] Despite this, the club's dire finances meant that he was only able to bring in three new attackers on free transfers: Ken Wookey (Newport County); Stuart Shaw (Southport); and Eric Magee (Oldham Athletic).
[7] Vale started the season with a club-record unbeaten 18 matches, and Lee began playing midfielder Tommy McLaren on a regular basis.
[7][8] Vale's financial situation was highlighted by the fact that they could not afford the £500 registration fee for Ian Buxton following the player's departure from Notts County.
[7] The "Valiants" were knocked off the top of the table following a bout of injuries, and Lee was forced to sign wing-half Tony Lacey on loan from Stoke City, and also bought Bill Summerscales from Leek Town for £400.
[7] As promotion was secured with a nine-game unbeaten run, Lee signed Lacey permanently for £2,500 and also brought Sammy Morgan in on a free transfer from Gorleston.
[7] Pre-season did not run smoothly, however, as Lee fell out with Sammy Morgan and had to contend with injuries to Roy Sproson, Stuart Sharratt, and top-scorer John James.
[7] On 8 May, Sproson made his farewell competitive appearance for the club in front of only 2,743 supporters, and Lee angrily declared that "the attendance was nothing short of a disgrace to mark the end of a legend".
[7] Lee's team was criticized for foul play, particularly on 10 March, when Blackburn Rovers manager Ken Furphy branded them "a brutal and physical side".
[7] In the FA Cup, West Ham United manager Ron Greenwood claimed that the Vale players attempted "the most blatant calculated intimidation I have ever seen anywhere in the world".
He built for the 1973–74 campaign by drafting in tall young players David Harris and John Ridley from the youth set-up, as well as versatile Keith Chadwick from Crewe Alexandra.
[7] After a spate of injuries, he signed Keith Leonard on loan from Aston Villa, and bought left-back Neil Griffiths from Chester for a £5,000 fee.
[7] In January 1974, Lee left Port Vale for the vacant management post at Blackburn Rovers, succeeding Ken Furphy.
During his time at St James' Park, Lee signed Burnley apprentice Kevin Carr and striker Alan Gowling from Huddersfield Town.
Though he maintained a respectable record on Tyneside, his functional, workmanlike approach to the game and his "no stars" policy, particularly his decision to sell "Supermac" Macdonald, made him unpopular with many supporters.
[15] He led the club to a fourth-place finish in 1978–79, and though they ended up some 17 points behind Liverpool, they did record a 1–0 victory over their rivals, their first Merseyside derby win in close to seven years.
[17] Lee swapped Mickey Walsh to Queens Park Rangers for Peter Eastoe, and also bought midfielder Asa Hartford for £400,000.
He did, though lead the club to the FA Cup semi-finals, where they were beaten at Elland Road 2–1 by West Ham United in a replay, Frank Lampard scoring the winning goal in extra time.
[19][20] Well respected by the players, Lee was sacked by chairman Philip Carter on 6 May 1981,[21] having led the team to a 15th-place finish in 1980–81, five places but only three points above relegated Norwich City.
As far as I'm concerned you find stars in the sky and flair at the bottom of your trousers.Lee was appointed manager at Preston North End on 9 December 1981, taking the post vacated by Tommy Docherty.
[3] He steered them away from relegation on the last day of the 1990–91 season, with a 1–0 victory over Oxford United at Filbert Street enough to save the club at the expense of West Bromwich Albion.