Billy Kee
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Billy Rodney Kee (born 1 December 1990) is a
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
who plays as a forward for side Quorn. Born in England, he represented Northern Ireland at under-19 and under-21 youth levels.


Early life

Kee was born in
Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...
, Leicestershire and was raised in Mountsorrel. He went to school in Quorn.


Club career


Leicester City

Kee joined Leicester City in 2007 after the club spotted him, playing for Allexton & New Parks. He started the 2008 Academy League by scoring 14 goals in five games for the club. Kee's biggest game in a Leicester shirt was against Crystal Palace Under 19s in the FA Youth Cup where he was on the score sheet and was Man of the Match, beating Swedish Under-19s goalkeeper Robin Mattsson with a strike. On 17 July 2009, it was announced that Kee had agreed his first professional contract at Leicester after considering leaving the club. On the same day, a six-month loan deal at Accrington Stanley was also announced. Kee made his League debut for Accrington, playing 84 minutes before being replaced by Michael Symes as Stanley lost 1–0 to Rotherham United. On 11 September 2010, Kee scored his first Accrington Stanley goal, scoring a winning goal in the 84th minute, a 2–1 win over
Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
. His three goals and nineteen appearances led Accrington Stanley extending Kee's loan spell with the club until the end of the season. Kee went on to make eighteen more appearances and scoring six more goals for the club, including a brace, in a 2–0 win over Chesterfield on 1 May 2010. On 17 May 2010, Kee was released by Leicester along with Stephen Clemence, Levi Porter, Robbie Burns,
Carl Pentney Carl Benjamin Pentney (born 3 February 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the head of academy goalkeeping at Ipswich Town. Club career Leicester City Born in Colchester, Essex, Pentn ...
, Astrit Ajdarević and
Alex Cisak Aleksander Cisak (born 19 May 1989) is a retired Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Born in Poland, he represented Australia at Australia national under-20 soccer team, under-20 level. ...
. Following this, Kee expressed his disappointment to be released by the club.


Torquay United

On 3 June 2010, it was announced Kee had signed a two-year contract with League Two club
Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...
. Kee was linked with a move to Accrington Stanley and Exeter City. Kee started the season by scoring eight goals in six pre-season fixtures including four against Tiverton Town in an 8–0 win and a hat-trick against Weymouth in a 5–1 win. At the start of the season Kee was given the no. 8 shirt formerly worn by the departing Tim Sills. Kee made his debut in the first game of the 2010–11 season in a 3–0 win over
Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute replacing another new signing of that summer,
Martin Gritton Martin Francis Gritton (born 1 June 1978) is a Scottish former professional Association football, footballer and sports co-commentator primarily for BBC Radio Devon. As a player he was a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker from 1998 ...
. Despite being in great goal-scoring form in pre-season, Kee did not get his first competitive Gulls' goal until 2 November 2010, scoring the second goal in a 2–0 victory against newly promoted Oxford United. He then scored his only goal outside the last twenty minutes of any game with a forty-first-minute goal from the penalty spot in the second round of the FA Cup against League One
Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...
. Kee had to wait another five weeks before his next goal. He scored against Oxford United for the second time in the season. He scored just 12 days later in 2–1 defeat to
Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...
. After this, the goals began to flow due to the departure of United's main Striker Elliot Benyon. His comments came after the club's manager Paul Buckle believed Kee could be a replacement for Benyon as a key player. Kee scored in a win over
Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...
on 5 February 2011, followed up with another win against Barnet on 12 February 2011. Seven days later on 19 February 2011, Kee scored, in a 1–1 draw against Southend United. Kee then scored two more goals of the season against Northampton Town and Bradford City between 25 March and 9 April 2011. On 25 April 2011, Kee scored in a 3–3 draw with Burton Albion, side-footing the ball in from 20 yards out. Kee went on to make forty appearances and scoring nine goals, having missed six games due to ankle injury. At the beginning of the 2011–12 season, Kee found himself out of favour at Torquay, new manager
Martin Ling Martin Ling (born 15 July 1966) is an English Association football, football manager and former player currently director of football for Leyton Orient F.C., Leyton Orient. He played in over 100 The Football League, Football League matches for ...
preferring to use new signings Taiwo Atieno and Rene Howe as his first-choice pairing, often leaving Kee on the bench. Kee expressed leaving the club was over closer to be his home at Leicester Ironically, Ling was impressed with Kee's display when he scored a hat-trick for Northern Ireland U21, in a 4–0 win over Faroe Islands U21.


Burton Albion

Kee joined Burton Albion on 26 August 2011, for a fee believed to be £20,000. Throughout the first half of the season, Kee scored his first goal in a 2–0 victory over
Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...
on 17 September 2011, which followed up by scoring the next two goals against Gillingham and Bradford City. On 29 October 2011, Kee scored his first hat-trick against Barnet in a 6–3 victory for Burton. Due to his goalscoring form for Burton Albion, Kee was named League Two Player of the Month for November. Despite rejecting a move to
Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...
in the winter transfer window, Kee continued to score goals with twelve until he suffered a groin problems three times season, which the last one saw him miss out the entire season. Kee, nevertheless, became the joint the club's top-scorer in the league, before his record was broken by Lucas Akins in 2019. After scoring once in the first third match to the start of the season, which saw him make a return, Kee signed a three-year contract with the club on 30 August 2012. Kee would later score two braces of the season against Rotherham United and another against Morecambe. Kee would score thirteen league goals in forty appearances, missing out six games due to ankle injury. In the 2013–14 season, Kee made a good start to the season when he scored his first goal of the season, in a 2–2 draw against Cheltenham Town before suffering a thigh injury that kept him out for weeks. Kee made his return to training to maintain his fitness and then scored the first two games from his return against Scunthorpe United and a brace against Wycombe Wanderers. Kee would later add ten more goals to the season, including a brace against Accrington Stanley, in thirty-seven league appearances. In the 2014–15 season, Kee played for the first two matches, including a brace, in a 2–1 win over Dagenham & Redbridge on 16 August 2014. Those brace came when he came on as a substitute during the match.


Scunthorpe United

After three years at Burton Albion, Kee joined Scunthorpe United on 18 August 2014. He joined his new side on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee, having one-year left on his contract at The Brewers. Upon joining the club, Kee stated he was motivated for new challenges at the club. Kee made his Scunthorpe United debut on 19 August, coming on as a substitute for Paddy Madden in the 75th minute, in a 2–0 loss against Fleetwood Town. On 5 January 2015, it announced that Kee had been loaned out to
Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...
on a three-month deal. Kee made his Mansfield Town debut against his former club, Burton Albion, in a 2–1 loss on 10 January 2015. Kee scored his first Mansfield Town goal in the next game, in a 3–2 loss against Exeter City. Kee's second goal for Mansfield Town soon came on 7 March 2015, in a 1–1 draw against Cheltenham Town. On 7 April 2015, Kee returned to the club after a three-month spell there. On 1 May 2015, Scunthorpe announced the departure of Kee, having terminated his contract by mutual consent. He failed to score a single goal in his twelve competitive appearances for the Iron.


Accrington Stanley

After being released by Scunthorpe United, Kee re-joined Accrington Stanley on an initial one-year contract, having previously played on-loan at the club in the 2009–10 season. In April 2018 he was named EFL League Two Player of the Season, finishing the 2017–18 campaign as the division's top goalscorer with 25 goals (plus eight assists). In July 2019, he missed Accrington's pre-season for personal reasons. In September, it was revealed that Kee was seeking treatment for depression, anxiety, and bulimia. As a result of this, the club and Kee agreed to terminate his contract by mutual consent on 13 January 2020, with Kee subsequently announcing his retirement from professional football on 29 January for personal reasons. In honour of the forward, the club retired Kee's shirt number 29.


Coalville Town

After retiring from professional football Kee signed for Southern League Premier Division Central side Coalville Town on 9 February 2020. He made his league debut for Coalville Town in a 1–0 loss against Needham Market on 11 February 2020. On 27 July 2022, Coalville Town announced in a statement that Kee would be taking a break from football at his own request in order to spend more time with his family.


Quorn

In October 2023, Kee joined
Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...
Division One Midlands club Quorn.


International career

Kee was called up by Northern Ireland U19 in 2008 and scored three goals in three appearances in the final of Milk Cup, including a 2–0 win over against Denmark U19. On 6 September 2009, Kee, whilst on loan to League Two side Accrington Stanley, was called up to the senior Northern Ireland squad for the first time, replacing the injured Kyle Lafferty. Following this, Kee was called up by Northern Ireland U21 in November 2009.


Personal life

In May 2014, Kee became a father when his wife gave birth to a baby boy. Kee has spoken publicly about his struggles with anxiety and depression, which led him to considering giving up football. In September 2019, it was revealed that Kee was seeking treatment for depression, anxiety, and bulimia. Kee combines his non-league football with work as a bricklayer.


Career statistics


Honours

Accrington Stanley *
EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...
: 2017–18 Individual * Football League Young Player of the Month: October 2011 * Accrington Stanley Player of the Season: 2015–16, 2017–18 * EFL League Two Player of the Season: 2017–18 * EFL League Two Golden Boot: 2017–18 * EFL Team of the Season: 2017–18 *
PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...
: 2017–18 League Two


References


External links


Billy Kee
at Accrington Stanley website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kee, Billy 1990 births Living people Footballers from Loughborough English men's footballers Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland 21st-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football forwards Leicester City F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Coalville Town F.C. players Quorn F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen