Welcome to Last Word on Football’s ‘Families in Football’ series. Over the next few weeks, we take a look at siblings, cousins and even parents and children that have played the beautiful game. Some have played cup finals together while others have been on opposing sides. Today, we focus on brothers Olly and Elliot Lee along with their father Rob.
Families in Football: Brothers Olly and Elliot Lee and Father Rob Lee
Rob Lee
Former England international Rob Lee came through the ranks at Charlton Athletic and went on to make well over 300 appearances for the South London club.
Rob stayed with the Addicks for ten seasons, helping them secure promotion to the First Division on two separate occasions. However, with the club struggling financially, he was sold to Newcastle United.
Like the Valley, St. James’ Park would be another venue in which the midfielder would spend a large part of his career with Lee racking up just shy of 400 appearances in ten years.
In his first season on Tyneside, Lee and Newcastle won promotion from the First Division under Kevin Keegan. The midfielder would also later be named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for the 1995/96 season.
Lee, who scored twice from 21 England appearances, also played for Derby County, West Ham United and Wycombe Wanderers before his retirement in 2006.
Olly Lee
The oldest son of Rob, midfielder Olly Lee came through the ranks at West Ham. The now 30-year-old spent time on loan at Dagenham & Redbridge and Gillingham before joining Barnet in 2012.
The midfielder then joined Championship club Birmingham City having failed to make an appearance for the Hammers before another loan spell away with Plymouth Argyle.
Olly signed for Luton Town in 2015 and scored 11 times from 124 appearances as the Hatters won promotion from League Two.
Rather than staying with the club in the third tier, he joined Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Premiership. During his time north of the border, Olly was runner up in back to back Scottish Cup finals before leaving to join former club Gillingham on a permanent basis.
Elliot Lee
Younger brother to Olly, Elliot Lee also came through the academy at West Ham. However, unlike his brother, Elliot did feature for the first team on seven occasions, scoring twice.
During his time at Upton Park, Elliot spent time on loan at Colchester United, Southend United, Luton Town and Blackpool before joining Championship club Barnsley on a permanent deal.
However, Lee only made six substitute appearances for the Tykes and joined former club Luton on a permanent basis having left Oakwell by mutual consent.
Elliot has been with the Hatters since 2017 and has made 123 appearances. During his time at Kenilworth Road, the midfielder has won back to back promotions from League Two to the Championship.
Last season, Lee enjoyed a fruitful loan spell at Oxford United where he netted six times in 18 League One outings, while this season he has been sent on loan to his father’s former club Charlton.
Games That Olly and Elliot Lee Played Together and Against
Olly and Elliot played together 28 times and scored a combined 15 goals as Luton won promotion from League Two in the 2017/18 season.
The brothers have also been on opposing sides on just two occasions. The first time they met came last season as Oxford scored two late goals to win 3-2 against Gillingham, while the pair also faced off when Charlton and the Gills shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw, with Elliot opening the scoring for the Addicks.
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