Lee Crooks (born 14 January 1978) is an English former professional

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 played as a defender As a combative defensive midfielder, Crooks made 282 competitive appearances in his playing career in the top four divisions of English football, including 251 in league competition. Possessing a powerful strike, he scored a total of 5 goals. He notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and spent 6 years there during a turbulent period of relegations and promotions, including the 1999 Division 2 playoff final against Gillingham. He went on to play for

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

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 ...

, as well as loan spells at

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

and

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

. He later had spells with non-league sides

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...

and

Ossett Town Ossett Town Association Football Club was an English football club based in Ossett in West Yorkshire. History Ossett Town AFC were formed in 1936 when, during a public meeting, the Mayor of the Borough of Ossett charged John Carter, a former ...

. At age 32 he embarked on a new career in the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

, joining the RAF Regiment, the infantry unit of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Early life

Crooks was born on 14 January 1978 in the city of

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England.

Football career

Manchester City

Crooks was a product of the youth system at

. He also played for the

England national football team The England national football team have represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by the Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Eng ...

at school level.As a club trainee, Crooks signed his first professional contract on 1 August 1994 (aged 16 years, 6 months, 18 days). By September 1996 he was being included in the first team squad for games by caretaker manager

Asa Hartford Richard Asa Hartford (born 24 October 1950) is a Scottish former football player and coach. He started his professional career with West Bromwich Albion. His early progress led to a proposed transfer to Leeds United in November 1971, but this co ...

as one of three promising youngsters. City were relegated to Division 1 at the end of the 1995–96 season, and two years later, again, falling to Division 2, their lowest ever level. Through two successive promotions however, via the play-offs from Division 2 and then by automatic promotion from Division 1, the club had returned to the Premier League in the minimum time just 2 years later, in time for the start of the 2000–01 season. Crooks was in the Manchester City team that won that 1999 Division 2 play off final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

against Gillingham in dramatic fashion, albeit substituted on 85 minutes for

Gareth Taylor Gareth Keith Taylor (born 25 February 1973) is a football manager and former player who most recently served as the head coach of Manchester City Women. He began his career as a defender at Bristol Rovers, having left the Southampton youth t ...

. Having come back from a 2–0 deficit with 2 minutes remaining, City scored twice to take the game into extra time, and then after no further scores, winning the subsequent penalty shootout. On 26 December 2000 he went out on loan to

. He made 3 appearances before returning on 23 January 2001. On 7 March 2001 Crooks was sold by City to

for £190,000. Crooks scored two goals for Manchester City, both in the league. It was three years before he scored his first goal, an equaliser against Chesterfield in an away game on 27 February 1999, which ended 1–1.

Barnsley

Crooks didn't make his debut until the start of the 2001–02 season, being delayed for several months as he had operations on an injured medial collateral ligament. With new manager

Paul Hart Paul Anthony Hart (born 4 May 1953) is an English football manager, coach, and former professional player who made 567 appearances in the Football League as a defender. Hart was most recently assistant manager to Nathan Jones at Charlton ...

performing a summer clear out after the 2003–04 season, Crooks was given the chance to prove his fitness during the summer in order to earn a new contract. He was released by Barnsley on 28 June 2004, signing on 1 August 2004 for

Bradford City

In a total of 53 competitive appearances for Bradford he scored 2 goals. He scored once in 47 appearances in the league, with his other goal coming in the FA Cup (an equaliser against Tranmere in November 2005). Due to limited first team opportunities he went out on loan to League Two side

on 9 January 2006. He made 18 league appearances for Notts County under his former Barnsley manager Gudjon Thordarson, scoring 1 goal. After returning to Barnsley, on 8 May 2006 he was released by the club as surplus to requirements. He then entered talks with Notts County, but that did not lead to a contract.

Rochdale

As a free agent, Crooks began pre-season training with League Two side

, before signing a 12-month contract on 3 August 2006, linking up with his former Barnsley manager

Steve Parkin Stephen John Parkin (born 7 November 1965) is an English football manager and former player who played as a defender. As of 2021, he serves as the assistant manager at Wrexham. He played for Mansfield Town, Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion ...

. Crooks made 44 appearances for Rochdale, including 40 in the League. Crooks left Rochdale by mutual consent on 26 March 2008 due to limited opportunities, having made just 5 starts during that season, with no appearances since December 2007.

Later career

Crooks joined the West Yorkshire club

, playing in the

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 ...

Premier Division. He also began training for an attempt to climb

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...

in aid of

Macmillan Cancer Support Macmillan Cancer Support is one of the largest British charities and provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer. It also looks at the social, emotional and practical impact cancer can have, an ...

in June 2008. On 31 December 2008 he moved from Guiseley to another West Yorkshire club,

, playing in the

Northern Premier League Premier Division The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...

. Lee was appointed as assistant manager at Frickley Athletic in November 2024. And on 5th April 2025, he came out of retirement, making a substitute appearance for Frickley in their final Northern Counties East League Premier Division game against Penistone Church. In doing so, Lee became the oldest player to make an appearance for Frickley.

Playing style

Icelander Gudjon Thordarson, his manager at Barnsley and Notts County, referred to Crooks as 'The Beast' due to his combativeness. Crooks said before his Notts County debut, "If there is a tackle to be won, I am in there. I do like a good tackle". While not a prolific scorer, his first professional goal in 1999 was described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' as a "tremendous shot which thundered in off the post." Similarly, his FA Cup goal for Bradford City in 2005 was described by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

as powerful shot which cannoned off the bar and in. In February 2009, Crooks was described by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' as a "versatile defender and midfielder who ... had his most productive season in helping Manchester City win promotion in 1999".

Military career

After quitting football, Crooks chose a new career path in the

. Choosing not to follow his younger brother into the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, Crooks instead signed up as an enlisted member (gunner) of the

RAF Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by Royal Warrant in 1942, the Corps carries-out security tasks relating to the protection of assets and personnel dedicated ...

, the infantry unit of the

, whose role is to provide force protection of RAF airfields and bases. In February 2011 at 33 years old, he completed his seven months of RAF Regiment basic training, passing out as a

leading aircraftman Leading aircraftman (LAC) or leading aircraftwoman (LACW) is an enlisted rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Leading air ...

. Initially posted to No. 1 Squadron RAF Regiment based at

RAF Honington Royal Air Force Honington or more simply RAF Honington is a Royal Air Force station located south of Thetford near Ixworth in Suffolk, England. It was used as a bomber station during the Second World War and through the Cold War, hosting Han ...

in Suffolk, in the following weeks he underwent intensive training in the

Sennybridge Training Area The Sennybridge Training Area (SENTA) is a UK Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence military training area near the village of Sennybridge in Powys, Wales. It consists of approximately of Ministry of Defence freehold land a ...

in Wales, and was due to visit the

RAF Mount Pleasant RAF Mount Pleasant (also known as Mount Pleasant Airport, Mount Pleasant Complex or MPA) is a Royal Air Force station in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. The airfield goes by the motto of "Defend the right" (while the m ...

base in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

followed by a deployment to the frontline in the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

, in early 2012. Crooks left the RAF after five-years of service.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crooks, Lee Living people 1978 births Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers Manchester City F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Guiseley A.F.C. players Ossett Town A.F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Royal Air Force airmen Footballers from Wakefield