# Harry Lees (English footballer)

Harry Hamilton Lees (11 May 1900 – 14 January 1966) was an English footballer who scored 60 goals from 174 appearances in the Football League playing at centre forward or inside left for Wolverhampton Wanderers and Darlington in the 1920s. He also played non-league football for clubs including Woodthorpe, Ebbw Vale, Shrewsbury Town, Stourbridge and Leamington Town.

## Life and career

Harry Hamilton Lees was born on 11 May 1900 in Clapham, the son of Matthew Lees, a commercial traveller for a glass manufacturing company, and his wife Edith. When Lees was three, the family moved to West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, where he attended West Bridgford Higher Grade School, captained the football and cricket teams, and qualified to take a job in a chartered accountant's office when he left. He was playing football for Woodthorpe of the Midland Amateur Alliance when a chance invitation to take part in a charity match earned him a move to Ebbw Vale of the Southern League Welsh Section, which he only agreed to because the club's manager, Ike Waterall, "promis[ed him] a business position as well as a playing position."
He became a prolific goalscorer. In February 1923, when he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers of the Football League Second Division, he was reported as "one of the most promising players spotted for many years ... [who] has scored 42 goals in four months, including four hat tricks and four goals in a match twice." He made his first-team debut in the visit to Bradford City on 10 February, a 1–1 draw, and appeared twice more in what remained of the season as Wolves were relegated to the Third Division North. Lees was a regular in the team in the 1923–24 season as Wolves finished as Second Division champions; he top-scored for the team with 21 goals, including a run of 12 in seven matches (14 in ten) that featured hat-tricks against Wrexham and New Brighton.
He continued as a regular in the 1924–25 Second Division, contributing nine goals to the team's sixth-place finish, and remained with the club for a further three seasons, albeit playing increasingly infrequently. He was placed on the transfer list in October 1926, and there was interest from First Division club Derby County but terms could not be agreed. Lees played occasionally for the senior team in the second half of the season; replacing the injured Wilf Chadwick for the FA Cup fifth round tie against Hull City, he provided the only goal of the game, albeit a fortunate one, when his shot bounced back off a defender and he scored from the rebound while the Hull players appealed for handball. He played in the first five matches of September 1927 before a leg injury forced him out, and he never regained his place.
In October 1927, Lees signed for Third Division North club Darlington. He scored 15 league goals in what remained of the campaign as the team failed to regain their Second Division status. In January 1928, both he and Tom Ruddy scored hat-tricks in a 9–2 win against Lincoln City that remained Darlington's record Football League victory. He added 5 goals from 26 matches in 1928–29 before putting an end to his Football League career.
Lees returned to Wolverhampton, where his wife, Evelyn, had a hairdressing business, and signed for Birmingham & District League club Shrewsbury Town in July 1929. He spent the 1930–31 season with another Birmingham League club, Stourbridge, and was reported to have scored 20 goals for them. His final season was with Birmingham Combination club Leamington Town, to add experience to a team of new young players.
He was reported to have turned down offers from Football League clubs because of his involvement in the hairdressing business. The 1939 Register lists Evelyn working as a ladies' hairdresser, while Lees is an unemployed clerk. He was later employed as works accountant for a company in Tipton, and retained an active interest in Wolverhampton Wanderers until illness intervened a couple of years before his death. Lees died at his home in Birches Bridge, Codsall, Staffordshire, on 14 January 1966 at the age of 65.

## Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1922–23 | Second Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1923–24 | Third Division North | 40 | 21 | 5 | 1 | 45 | 22 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1924–25 | Second Division | 39 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 12 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1925–26 | Second Division | 21 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 5 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1926–27 | Second Division | 12 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 4 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1927–28 | Second Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | Total | Total | 120 | 40 | 9 | 3 | 129 | 43 |
| Darlington | 1927–28 | Third Division North | 28 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 31 | 16 |
| Darlington | 1928–29 | Third Division North | 26 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 29 | 7 |
| Darlington | Total | Total | 54 | 20 | 6 | 3 | 60 | 23 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 106 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 111 | 0 |