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53 Facts About Lee Bradbury

1.

Lee Michael Bradbury was born on 3 July 1975 and is an English football manager and former player who is a coach at EFL League Two club Port Vale.

2.

Lee Bradbury was discharged from military service to sign with Portsmouth in 1995.

3.

Lee Bradbury played 106 games in just over four seasons in his second spell at the club.

4.

Lee Bradbury spent time on loan at Sheffield Wednesday and Derby County.

5.

Lee Bradbury joined Walsall on a free transfer in March 1999 and then moved on to Oxford United three months later.

6.

Lee Bradbury retired as a player after being appointed manager of AFC Bournemouth, where he worked from January 2011 to March 2012.

7.

Lee Bradbury took charge of Eastbourne Borough in May 2019 but left in October 2019 and became assistant head coach at Crawley Town.

8.

Lee Bradbury returned to management at Eastleigh in February 2022, though he was sacked in August 2023.

9.

Lee Michael Bradbury was born in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight on 3 July 1975.

10.

Lee Bradbury left Cowes High School two days before his 16th birthday and joined the British Army the day after his birthday.

11.

Lee Bradbury became a frontline rifleman and toured Northern Ireland for two years.

12.

Lee Bradbury was a key player for the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and Warrant Officier Bob Jeffrey quipped that "his accuracy with a football is better than with a rifle".

13.

Lee Bradbury played B division football for Ballinamallard United and turned out for Halstead Town and Fivemiletown United.

14.

Lee Bradbury patrolled Omagh for two years after turning 18, performing searches for terrorist activity.

15.

Lee Bradbury married Hayley, from Newport, Isle of Wight, and had two children: Harvey and Nellie.

16.

Lee Bradbury stood trial for assault in 2001 following an alleged fracas outside a nightclub.

17.

Lee Bradbury launched a clothing brand, Bridge, to raise money for PTSD charities.

18.

Lee Bradbury started his professional career following a successful trial at Portsmouth after his army coach recommended him to the club.

19.

Lee Bradbury moved out on loan to Exeter City of the Third Division to play first-team football in December 1995.

20.

Lee Bradbury scored a brace against Leyton Orient in his home debut at St James Park.

21.

Lee Bradbury scored five goals in 14 league starts for Exeter.

22.

Lee Bradbury was recalled to Portsmouth to cover for Paul Walsh, who had picked up an injury.

23.

Lee Bradbury failed to score in his first six games for the club.

24.

Lee Bradbury scored four goals from 17 games before being sold early in the season.

25.

Lee Bradbury played eight First Division games during a short stay at St Andrew's, helping Birmingham to qualify for the play-offs, where they were beaten by Watford on a penalty shoot-out despite Bradbury successfully converting his penalty kick.

26.

Lee Bradbury signed a five-year contract upon rejoining Portsmouth, who were managed by Alan Ball.

27.

On 3 February 2001, Lee Bradbury was sent off for stamping on Preston North End defender Colin Murdock in what manager Steve Claridge described as "a stupid thing to do".

28.

Lee Bradbury was sidelined halfway through the campaign after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury; the injury would keep him out of action for a year.

29.

On 26 December 2002, Lee Bradbury was loaned out to First Division rivals Sheffield Wednesday for one month after manager Chris Turner needed cover for the injured Lloyd Owusu.

30.

Lee Bradbury instead returned to Derby after three months spent recovering at Portsmouth.

31.

Lee Bradbury played a total of seven games for the club.

32.

On 25 March 2004, Bradbury joined First Division Walsall on a free transfer, with manager Colin Lee seeing him as a target man to play off Jermaine McSporran.

33.

Lee Bradbury scored one goal, against Derby County at Pride Park, in eight games for the club, which was not enough to prevent relegation into the third tier under the stewardship of Paul Merson.

34.

Lee Bradbury left the club amidst a contractual dispute, having scored nine goals in 63 League Two games.

35.

Lee Bradbury signed a four-month contract with Southend United on 1 February 2006.

36.

Lee Bradbury left Roots Hall after asking manager Steve Tilson to let him join a club closer to his home on the South Coast.

37.

On 24 August 2007, Lee Bradbury signed for AFC Bournemouth on a four-month loan deal.

38.

Lee Bradbury signed a contract until the end of the season.

39.

Lee Bradbury went on to feature for the club in midfield and at right-back, as well as in his usual position as a striker.

40.

Lee Bradbury then scored six goals from 41 appearances as the club finished just two places above relegation out of the Football League.

41.

On 15 January 2011, Lee Bradbury was appointed as caretaker manager at AFC Bournemouth after the departure of Eddie Howe to Burnley.

42.

In January 2012, Lee Bradbury signed an improved three-and-a-half-year contract to keep him at Bournemouth until the summer of 2015.

43.

Lee Bradbury was named as Conference South Manager of the Month for March 2013.

44.

Lee Bradbury aimed to secure an immediate promotion by signing a squad full of locally based players such as Bradley Tarbuck and Jason Prior.

45.

Lee Bradbury earned the Manager of the Year award for winning the league and signed a new two-year contract in April 2017.

46.

Lee Bradbury signed prominent non-League striker Matt Tubbs in May 2017.

47.

Lee Bradbury later said that "I think the club were surprised to go up and were not quite ready".

48.

On 7 May 2019, Lee Bradbury was appointed as manager of National League South club Eastbourne Borough.

49.

Lee Bradbury left the club after agreeing to cancel his contract on 22 October 2019 as the club faced an acute financial crisis.

50.

Lee Bradbury remained with Crawley until February 2022, becoming a popular figure at Broadfield Stadium as Crawley underwent a giantkilling run in the FA Cup, which included a win over Premier League Leeds United.

51.

On 28 February 2022, Lee Bradbury was appointed manager of National League club Eastleigh.

52.

Lee Bradbury said he wanted to play "aggressive, attacking football".

53.

Lee Bradbury then joined Darren Moore at Port Vale in February 2024.