Lee Cartwright (born 19 September 1972) is a retired footballer who made over 400 league appearances for Preston North End.

Early years

Born in Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire, Cartwright was signed from school as a trainee in 1989 by North End boss John McGrath. Under McGrath's successor, Les Chapman, he made his first team debut at the age of 18 in a 1–0 home win against Shrewsbury Town in March 1991. Having broken into the first team, Cartwright remained a regular for the rest of the season. In the following season, 1991–92, he missed only a handful of matches as he picked up the club's player of the year award as reward for a string of consistently good displays. In 1992-93, Preston were relegated from the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

, although Cartwright's performances attracted interest from both

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. Persuaded to stay by new manager John Beck, Cartwright would remain at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England that is the home ground of Preston North End. Built in 1875 and in use since 1878, Deepdale is recognised as being one of the oldest continuously used football stadium ...

for the next eleven years.

A Preston legend

In his thirteen years at the club, Cartwright became a North End legend making a total of 472 appearances for the club, scoring 30 goals. He was an important member of the Preston teams that won the 1995–96 Third Division title and 1999–2000 Second Division title. Cartwright also played in the 1993–94 Third Division and 2000–01 First Division play-off final defeats.

After Preston

In January 2004, Cartwright moved to Stockport County on a free transfer, where his 18-month stay was disrupted by injury, and then to

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

, where injuries limited him to 29 appearances before he was released. Cartwright joined

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

side

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

for the 2006–07 season, where he won the club's last Player of the Year award before their

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...

. Cartwright signed for Hyde United for the 2007-08 Conference North season, before retiring from football.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartwright, Lee 1972 births Living people People from Rawtenstall English men's footballers Preston North End F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Lancashire English Football League players