Lee Bullen

Lee Bullen

Bullen lining up for Sheffield Wednesday in 2006
Personal information
Full name	Lee Bullen [1]
Date of birth	(1971-03-29) 29 March 1971 (age 52)
Place of birth	Edinburgh, Scotland
Position(s)	Centre-back Striker
Youth career
1988	Dunfermline Athletic
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1988–1989	Dunfermline Athletic	0	(0)
1989–1990	Penicuik Athletic	17	(12)
1990	Meadowbank Thistle	12	(0)
1990–1991	Stenhousemuir	22	(4)
1991–1993	Whitburn	36	(25)
1993	CYC Stanmore	8	(2)
1993	Wollongong Wolves
1993-1994	Kui Tan
1994	Kitchee
1994–1997	Golden
1997	South China
1997-1998	Instant-Dict
1998–2000	Kalamata	50	(11)
2000–2004	Dunfermline Athletic	130	(22)
2004–2008	Sheffield Wednesday	134	(8)
2008–2011	Falkirk	41	(1)
Total		450	(85)
Managerial career
2017–2018	Sheffield Wednesday (caretaker)
2018–2019	Sheffield Wednesday (caretaker)
2019	Sheffield Wednesday (caretaker)
2022–2024	Ayr United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:56, 16 August 2019 (UTC)

Lee Bullen (born 29 March 1971) is a Scottish former professional football player and coach. In a career that spanned more than 20 years, Bullen played football professionally in Scotland, England, Australia, Greece and Hong Kong. Having started his career as a striker, Bullen converted to defence midway through his career, and was used in various other positions. Bullen was named as Sheffield Wednesday's greatest ever captain in a 2014 online poll. ^[2]

Playing career

Bullen was born in Edinburgh. He started his career in Scotland with Dunfermline Athletic, but failed to make an appearance before moving to Penicuik Athletic, a Junior Football team. Bullen then spent time at Meadowbank Thistle, Stenhousemuir and Whitburn. After failing to become an established player at a professional club in Scotland, Bullen moved to Australia to pursue his footballing career, playing for CYC Stanmore and Wollongong Wolves.

During his time in Australia, Bullen was scouted by a Hong Kong football club, Kui Tan, and he made the switch to Hong Kong. He played in the Hong Kong Football League for four seasons in total, moving from Kui Tan to Golden then on to South China. On 26 May 1996, Bullen played for a Hong Kong XI side in an unofficial friendly against England in their build up to Euro 96. ^[3]

In 1998 Bullen moved to Greece and spent two years at Kalamata in the Greek Football League.

In 2000 at the age of 29, Bullen returned to Scotland, signing for Dunfermline Athletic. Bullen spent five years at the Scottish club.

After leading Dunfermline to the Scottish Cup Final, Bullen moved to English club Sheffield Wednesday on a free transfer in the summer of 2004. He immediately became an integral part of their play-off push after making his debut on 7 August in a 3–0 defeat on the opening day of the season at Hillsborough against Colchester United and scoring his first goal the next game on 10 August, away at Blackpool to lead the team to a 2–1 victory. In November 2005 the Captain's armband was passed onto him by Chris Marsden who was forced into retirement by injury. Bullen finished his first season in Sheffield with seven league goals.

During his time at Sheffield Wednesday he played in all eleven positions for the Owls, ^[4] including memorably in goal away at Millwall, ^[5] and received The Wash & Go good sport award for his efforts. ^[6]

In January 2008, Bullen was informed by Sheffield Wednesday manager Brian Laws that he would not have his contract renewed upon its expiry at the end of the 2007–08 season. ^[7]

Bullen's final appearance for Sheffield Wednesday came in a crucial relegation battle against Leicester City on the penultimate game of the season which the Owls won 3–1, an injury sustained in this game denied him an appearance for the last match of the season versus Norwich City on 4 May 2008 and a chance to play at Hillsborough for the last time. He did however appear in the end of season lap-of-honour and received a spectacular reception from the fans. Bullen was given a Guard of honour by his Wednesday teammates as he left the pitch for the final time.^{[ citation needed ]}

In May 2008, Bullen joined Scottish Premier League side Falkirk on a two-year deal. ^[8] Bullen later became an assistant coach at Falkirk. He scored his only goal for Falkirk in a 2–0 win over Hamilton Academical in November 2009. ^[9] He left Falkirk in October 2011 to move to Sheffield, where his wife runs an estate agency business. ^[10]

Coaching career

In 2011, Bullen signed a deal to become a youth coach at his former club Sheffield Wednesday and was given the post of development squad head coach. In October 2015, he was promoted to the position of assistant manager at the club, working on first team coaching and organisation alongside head coach Carlos Carvalhal. ^[11] Following the dismissal of Carvalhal on 24 December 2017, Bullen took temporary charge of the first team. ^[12] Bullen once again took temporary charge of the first team on 21 December 2018, following the dismissal of Jos Luhukay. ^[13]

On 2 January 2019, Steve Bruce was appointed as the new manager of the club. ^[14] Sheffield Wednesday announced, that Bullen would still remain as part of the senior coaching set-up.

On 15 July 2019, Lee Bullen, for the third time, took temporary charge of the first team ^[15] after Steve Bruce ^[16] resigned from Sheffield Wednesday to take charge at Newcastle United.

On 14 August 2020, it was confirmed as part of a coaching staff restructure, Bullen would become a coach of the U23 side. ^[17]

On 7 January 2022, he was appointed the manager of Scottish Championship side Ayr United. ^[18] Bullen guided Ayr to second place in 2022–23, but they lost heavily to Partick Thistle in the promotion playoffs. He left Ayr in January 2024 after a run of poor results left them in ninth place. ^[19]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League		Cup		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Kalamata	1997–98	18	4	0	0	0	0	18	4
	1998–99	27	7	0	0	0	0	27	7
	1999–2000	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	Total	50	11	0	0	0	0	50	11
Dunfermline	1999–2000 [20]	13	7	0	0	0	0	13	7
	2000–01 [21]	24	4	4	0	0	0	28	4
	2001–02 [22]	31	4	3	0	0	0	34	4
	2002–03 [23]	35	5	6	1	0	0	41	6
	2003–04 [24]	27	2	8	1	0	0	35	3
	Total	130	22	21	2	0	0	151	24
Sheffield Wednesday	2004–05 [25]	46	7	2	0	4	0	52	7
	2005–06 [26]	28	0	2	0	0	0	30	0
	2006–07 [27]	38	0	3	1	0	0	41	1
	2007–08 [28]	22	1	3	0	0	0	25	1
	Total	134	8	10	1	4	0	148	9
Falkirk	2008–09 [29]	32	0	5	0	0	0	37	0
	2009–10 [30]	9	1	1	0	0	0	10	1
	Total	41	1	6	0	0	0	47	1
Career total		355	42	37	3	4	0	396	45

Managerial statistics

As of match played 13 January 2024

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record					Ref
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Sheffield Wednesday (caretaker)	24 December 2017	5 January 2018	4	1	1	2	025.0	[31]
Sheffield Wednesday (caretaker)	21 December 2018	2 January 2019	4	2	2	0	050.0	[13] [32]
Sheffield Wednesday (caretaker)	17 July 2019	6 September 2019	7	4	0	3	057.1	[33]
Ayr United	7 January 2022	15 January 2024	89	32	24	33	036.0	[34]
Total			104	39	27	38	037.5	—

Honours

Instant-Dict

• Hong Kong First Division: 1997–98

Sheffield Wednesday

• Football League One play-offs: 2005 ^[35]

Individual

• Hong Kong Top Footballer: 1994-95
• Football League Good Sport Award: 2006

References

1. "Lee Bullen". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
2. "Sheffield Weds | Prostate Cancer UK". Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
3. "International matches 1996: April–June". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
4. "Lee Bullen Profile". Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Archived from the original on 9 March 2008. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
5. "Millwall 0–1 Sheff Wed". BBC Sport. 4 February 2006. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
6. "Jagielka a winner at Football League awards". 4thegame.com. 7 March 2006. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
7. "Bullen: Total Respect For Laws". Sheffield Wednesday F.C. 27 February 2008. Archived from the original on 29 February 2008. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
8. "McCann and Bullen to join Bairns". BBC Sport. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
9. "Falkirk 2–0 Hamilton". BBC Sport. 21 November 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
10. Parks, Gordon (27 October 2011). "Departing Falkirk coach Lee Bullen: Who's gonna guard our lucky quid now that I've had to quit?". Daily Record. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
11. "Lee Bullen: Sheffield Wednesday promote coach to assistant role". BBC Sport. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
12. "Sheffield Wednesday part company with boss Carlos Carvalhal". BBC Sport. 24 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
13. "Jos Luhukay: Sheffield Wednesday sack boss after 11 months in charge". BBC Sport. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
14. Steve Bruce appointed Wednesday manager , swfc.co.uk, 2 January 2019
15. "Football Heaven - Bullen: 'Think I'd be ready for it' - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
16. "Steve Bruce: Sheffield Wednesday boss resigns amid Newcastle United interest". 15 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
17. "Coaching staff restructure". Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
18. "Lee Bullen appointed Ayr United head coach". Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
19. "Ayr United: Lee Bullen exits as head coach after two years in charge". BBC Sport. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
20. "Lee Bullen | Football Stats | No Club | Season 1999/2000 | 2000-2010 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
21. "Lee Bullen | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2000/2001 | 2000-2010 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
22. "Lee Bullen | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2001/2002 | 2000-2010 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
23. "Lee Bullen | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2002/2003 | 2000-2010 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
24. "Lee Bullen | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2003/2004 | 2000-2010 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
25. "Lee Bullen | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2004/2005 | 2000-2010 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
26. "Lee Bullen | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2005/2006 | 2000-2010 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
27. "Lee Bullen | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2006/2007 | 2000-2010 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
28. "Lee Bullen | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2007/2008 | 2000-2010 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
29. "Lee Bullen | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2008/2009 | 2000-2010 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
30. "Lee Bullen | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2009/2010 | 2000-2010 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
31. "Sheffield Wednesday part company with boss Carlos Carvalhal". BBC Sport. 24 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
    "Managers: Lee Bullen". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
32. "Sheff Wed: Results/matches: 2018/19". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
33. "Sheff Wed: Results/matches: 2019/20". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
34. "Ayr United: Results/matches: 2021/22". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
35. "Hartlepool 2–4 Sheff Wed (aet)". BBC Sport. 29 May 2005. Retrieved 21 December 2018.

External links

• Lee Bullen at Soccerbase
• Lee Bullen at ESPN FC