| Lee Thorpe | |
| Nationality: | 
|
| Rovers apps (gls)1: | 35 (4) |
| Date of birth: | 14 December 1975 |
| Place of birth: | Wolverhampton |
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in |
| Position: | Forward |
| Date joined: | March 2004 |
| Joined from: | Leyton Orient |
| Date left: | February 2005 |
| 1 League appearances and goals only. | |
Lee Thorpe is a forward who spent just under a year at Rovers between March 2004 and February 2005. He joined on a free transfer from Leyton Orient near the end of the 2003-04 season, and played in ten of Rovers' last eleven games of that campaign. He began the following season as a regular in the first team, but in February 2005 he joined Swansea City, initially on loan, but he soon signed an 18-month contract with the Swans.
In all he played 41 games for Rovers, 35 of those in the league, and scored six goals, four of which came in League competition. He was also a teammate of Kevin Austin at three different clubs; Lincoln City, Rovers and Swansea.
Career[]
Lee began his career as a youth player with Blackpool, and progressed through to there first team where he played twelve league games. While at Blackpool he was sent out on loan to Welsh side Bangor City for whom he played three games in the league, scoring once.
He left Blackpool in the summer of 1997, whereupon he joined Lincoln City, the club for whom he played more games than any other in his career. He made a grand total of 192 league appearances for the Imps, netting 57 times in that spell. After five years at Sincil Bank he was picked up by Leyton Orient in 2002, where he signed a two-year contract. Towards the end of his time at Orient he was informed that his contract would not be renewed and that he could leave the club on a free transfer. He joined Grimsby Town for a month's loan in February 2004, before signing a permanent deal with Rovers in March.
After joining Swansea City from Rovers, he was loaned out to Peterborough United and Torquay United, before signing a one-year deal with Torquay. He then spent a year at Brentford before signing for Rochdale in 2008, and then for Darlington in the 2009 off-season. He was released by Darlington in March 2010, having made just eight league appearances for them, and spent the end of the 2009–10 season with Fleetwood Town, with whom he won promotion from the Conference North to the Conference Premier. He was released by Fleetwood at the end of the 2010–11 season.
He joined AFC Fylde in the summer of 2011, but was released in December that year as part of cost-cutting measures by the Northern Premier League side, leading him to finally retire from playing. He stated that he planned to earn his coaching qualifications so that he could remain in the game.
Career stats[]
| Season | Club | League | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | ||
| 1993–94 | Blackpool | 1 | 0 |
| 1994–95 | Blackpool | 1 | 0 |
| 1995–96 | Blackpool | 1 | 0 |
| 1996–97 | Blackpool | 9 | 0 |
| 1997–98 | Lincoln City | 44 | 14 |
| 1998–99 | Lincoln City | 38 | 8 |
| 1999–00 | Lincoln City | 42 | 16 |
| 2000–01 | Lincoln City | 31 | 7 |
| 2001–02 | Lincoln City | 37 | 13 |
| 2001–02 | Leyton Orient | 0 | 0 |
| 2002–03 | Leyton Orient | 38 | 8 |
| 2003–04 | Leyton Orient | 17 | 4 |
| 2003–04 | →Grimsby Town (loan) | 6 | 0 |
| 2003–04 | Bristol Rovers | 10 | 1 |
| 2004–05 | Bristol Rovers | 25 | 3 |
| 2004–05 | →Swansea City (loan) | 2 | 1 |
| 2004–05 | Swansea City | 15 | 3 |
| 2005–06 | Swansea City | 3 | 0 |
| 2005–06 | →Peterborough United (loan) | 6 | 0 |
| 2005–06 | →Torquay United (loan) | 10 | 3 |
| 2006–07 | Torquay United | 41 | 8 |
| 2007–08 | Brentford | 19 | 4 |
| 2007–08 | Rochdale | 8 | 1 |
| 2008–09 | Rochdale | 28 | 5 |
| 2009–10 | Darlington | 8 | 0 |
| 2009–10 | Fleetwood Town | 9 | 2 |
| 2010–11 | Fleetwood Town | 19 | 0 |
| 2011–12 | AFC Fylde | ? | ? |
Record against Rovers[]
| Date | Club | Venue | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 September 1998 | Lincoln City | Memorial Stadium | 3–0 to Rovers | Kevin Austin also played for Lincoln in this game |
| 15 September 2001 | Lincoln City | Sincil Bank | 1–0 to Rovers | |
| 23 February 2002 | Lincoln City | Memorial Stadium | 2–1 to Lincoln | |
| 15 March 2003 | Leyton Orient | Brisbane Road | 2–1 to Rovers | Matt Lockwood and Ciarán Toner also played for Orient |
| 21 October 2003 | Leyton Orient | Memorial Stadium | 1–1 | Subbed off after 51 minutes |
| 23 April 2005 | Swansea City | Memorial Stadium | 2–0 to Rovers | Subbed off at half time. Kevin Austin also played for Swansea, and Andy Gurney was an unused sub |
| 18 October 2005 | Peterborough United | London Road | 2–1 to Peterborough (aet) | FL Trophy first round. Chris Plummer also played for Peterborough |
| 13 September 2006 | Torquay United | Plainmoor | 0–0 | |
| 17 October 2006 | Torquay United | Memorial Stadium | 1–0 to Rovers | Football League Trophy match |
| 1 January 2007 | Torquay United | Memorial Stadium | 1–0 to Rovers |