Following two loan spells, back at his first club Charlton and at Grimsby Town, Lee was transferred to Watford in 1997 for £200,000 – the same fee paid by Forest three years earlier – and played in their 1997–98 Second Division championship-winning side, scoring ten goals.

However, Lee's refusal to uproot his family from Nottingham caused tension with manager Graham Taylor, who sold him to Chesterfield early in the 1998–99 season for £250,000.

[2] He was part of the Northampton side that won promotion from League Two, appearing 11 times for the Cobblers and scoring one goal against Notts County.

[7] He joined Ilkeston Town of the Conference North on 1 April 2010, scoring on his début in a 2–1 victory over AFC Telford United.

[10] The same week he was announced as the Matchday VIP Host for former club Lincoln City,[11] a role which would limit his availability for Arnold.

His second, and final, league appearance for the club saw him sent-off for two yellow cards, the second for the use of the elbow, in the 4–2 defeat to Pickering Town on 19 March 2011.

Jason Lee was sacked as manager in December 2012 after a run of poor results in the 2012/13 season leaving the Pilgrims in 10th place.

In a series of sketches, Lee was lampooned for his perceived poor footballing ability and his distinctive hairstyle, described as resembling a "pineapple".