ONE-TIME Liverpool triallist Lee Steele was part of the Albion squad which won back-to-back promotions from the fourth and third tiers.
Unfortunately for him, a certain Bobby Zamora was almost always ahead of him in the pecking order, along with Gary Hart, so the diminutive striker often had to be content with involvement off the subs bench.
Nonetheless, he contributed important goals as the Seagulls under Micky Adams went up from League Two in 2001 and from League One in 2002 under Peter Taylor.
His first season at Brighton was marred by a drink-driving incident which, in hindsight, he believed tainted the rest of his time at the club. Indeed, as the season drew to a close, he was put on the transfer list and was at loggerheads with Adams.
“I told him I’d prove him wrong, and he said that only one player had said that to him before and gone ahead and done it,” Steele told Spencer Vignes in a matchday programme article. After shedding a few pounds and improving his fitness, he said: “I scored loads of goals in pre-season and worked my way into the side.
“I got a few more as the season began, and then he left and I was back to square one with Peter Taylor.” Steele said Taylor was easier to get on with than the “totally demanding and driven Adams” although he reckoned: “The intensity went from our game a fair bit.”
Nevertheless, in the 2001-02 season, he made 25 starts plus 19 appearances off the bench and the most important of his 10 goals was the 91st-minute winner in an Easter Monday 2-1 win over Bristol City at the Withdean after he’d gone on as a 30th-minute sub for Paul Brooker, who’d turned an ankle.
Argus reporter Andy Naylor pointed out how Steele had gone from villain to hero after getting himself sent off in a reserve game just as Zamora was ruled out for three games with a shoulder injury. As it turned out, that goal against City was his last in an Albion shirt.
In its end of season play-by-player analysis, the Argus said of Steele: “An enigma. More to offer than he has showed, although he would argue a regular run in the side would help. Still managed to finish with ten goals and has the pace and power to trouble defenders.”
However, there was no more to offer Brighton because Taylor’s departure that summer coincided with Steele’s Albion exit too.
Reflecting on his time at the Albion in another Vignes interview for the matchday programme, Steele said: “I wasn’t used to playing substitute all the time, which I found hard to adjust to. Then when I did come on, I used to put myself under so much pressure that I wouldn’t deliver the goods. It still haunts me actually. OK I was in Bobby’s shadow, but I was at a massive club and should have done better.”
He moved to Oxford United on a two-year deal, but didn’t enjoy a happy time under Ian Atkins, and then joined Leyton Orient where some vital goals – including one that earned the Os promotion while simultaneously relegating his old club out of the league – helped earn him a ‘fans favourite’ tag.
After the Os, he had a season with Chester City, then dropped out of the league to return to Northwich Victoria.
He moved on to semi-pro side Oxford City but was sacked for a homophobic tweet about Gareth Thomas, which he said was tongue-in-cheek. Northern Premier League side Nantwich took him on, although he only played one game for them.
Born in the Garston district of Liverpool on 2 December 1973, Steele was a ‘Red’ from an early age, first being taken to watch them aged six and idolising Ian Rush. He was educated at St Austin’s Catholic Primary School, Liverpool, Holmwood School and then St Mary’s College.
The young Steele harboured ambitions of becoming a professional golfer rather than a footballer but, when that didn’t work out, he started playing football with non-league Bootle while working for his uncle as a bricklayer.
“I managed to get a trial for Liverpool,” he told Andy Heryet in the Albion matchday programme. “I hoped they would ask me back, but I didn’t hear anything from them, which was disappointing as they promised me that I’d hear either way, but they never got back to me.”
It was Northwich Victoria who propelled him towards a career as a professional, signing him as cover ahead of a FA Trophy final against Macclesfield.
Steele scored five goals in three end of season games, earned a place on the bench at Wembley and got on for the last 20 minutes, although Victoria lost.
In his second season at Northwich, his reputation was growing as a prolific striker and Third Division Shrewsbury Town snapped him up for £40,000 – a decent-sized fee for a non-league player.
“I wanted to go. I’d always wanted to be a professional footballer, ever since it became clear I wasn’t going to make it as a golfer,” Steele told Heryet.
He spent the next three seasons with the Shrews although the club’s struggles at the wrong end of the league prompted him to look for a move.
While he was keen to go to Tranmere Rovers, who’d shown an interest, no deal was forthcoming, but Brighton went in for him and, having played against them the season before, he liked what he saw.
Steele has had several strings to his bow since finishing his playing career: he’s a qualified licensed UEFA B coach, a personal trainer and a nutrition advisor. Clients have included pro footballers, elite junior tennis players, 16-times PDC World Darts Champion Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor and Team GB age group triathletes.
He also spent a year as a fitness coach with Oldham Athletic during Lee Johnson’s reign as manager and two years as a scout for his old club, Leyton Orient.
Since 2008 he has been operations manager for Kickback Tax (a tax advisor agency for footballers) and, since December 2021, has been senior scout for Northampton Town.
In parallel lines 