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One of the most respected football names of the 1990s, Newcastle United midfielder Robert Lee's brand of purposeful attacking, long-range shooting and all round energy galvanised the side which nearly won the Premiership under Kevin Keegan and prompted the future England coach to label him "the best midfielder in the country". Certainly his form in the reshaped Newcastle set-up deserved high praise and international recognition, which duly came at the comparatively late age of 28 when Terry Venables fielded a resurgent Lee in an experimental midfield as England took on Romania in a Wembley friendly in the new managers first game in charge. Lee responded by ghosting in late to score England's equaliser in a 1-1 draw and immediately settled into life as an international, winning a handful of caps as Venables carefully shaped and moulded together his squad plans for the 1996 European Championships, for which England had qualified automatically as hosts. Lee played competently and earnestly in six more England games prior to the announcement of Venables' 22, but was the headline-maker on the day the squad was released as the player most surprisingly omitted. Though a good goalscorer, Rob did not fit into Venables' famed 'Christmas tree' formation, which relied on a more creative force than Lee at one end of his midfield and a more destructive element than the Newcastle man could supply at the other end. Rob's brand of hard-running, hard-shooting and backtracking didn't fit into England's masterplan and Lee watched the tournament from home.
His consolation was that reaching 30 years of age had not proved detrimental - his high standard of football upbringing in a decade at Charlton taught him to look after himself, and he was still on top form for Newcastle by the time Glenn Hoddle took over from Venables after England's exit in the semi-finals of the European Championships. Hoddle called up Lee without using him on three occasions, before throwing him into the side for a friendly against Mexico in March 1997, which England won 2-0. Hoddle enjoyed Rob's all-action style, keeping him in the team for the 1998 World Cup qualifier against Georgia which followed - Lee's first competitive international, nearly three years after his debut - and then for a friendly against South Africa at Old Trafford in which Rob scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory. Although Hoddle subsequently preferred Lee as a substitute, figuring such a strong-running player would have a profound effect on both flagging team-mates and flagging opponents, the Newcastle star stuck around in the squad as England guaranteed their place for the World Cup in France. Rob featured in three of the warm-ups (the photo above is during the match against Belgium) and this time made the squad (he was England's oldest outfield player in France) but his only taste of the action was as a late substitute for Darren Anderton in the 2-0 win over Colombia as England qualified from their group.
The subsequent second round exit on penalties against Argentina heralded the end of Lee's involvement in major tournaments and pretty much his whole England career. He played in the opening three qualifiers for the 2000 European Championships - two as a sub - but Hoddle's subsequent dismissal also spelt the end for Rob, despite the appointment of his biggest fan - Keegan - as the new coach. It remains a surprise, especially as Lee's club form didn't subside, that Keegan never once selected the player he had put on a pedestal so proudly just a few years earlier. (Matthew Rudd)
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