Rob Lee- Toon Legend | Eisha Acton
Today’s story is about another Newcastle hero. I’ve now covered Alan Shearer, David Ginola and Les Ferdinand already, so inkeeping with the NUFC Nostalgia series- today I’m writing about Rob Lee. He spent ten glorious years on Tyneside and gave us Newcastle fans alot of memories to cherish from his 303 appearances. Here are three reasons why Rob Lee is a true toon legend…
Rob Lee may be a Londoner but he does have Geordie roots so it’s no surprise that his move to Tyneside from Charlton Athletic in 1992 was a special one. Rob Lee’s childhood footballing hero Kevin Keegan definitely had an influence on his decision. Lee said: “Keegan was my idol, and I was trying desperately not to speak to him! I visited Middlesbrough. I didn’t really want to go North, but, as soon as I spoke to him, it was a no-brainer”.
King Kev managed to sign Young Rob by telling him that Newcastle was closer to London than Middlesborough haha well, actually in Kevin Keegan’s book he clarifies that what he meant was that Newcastle was a much bigger city therefore the trasport links to London were better than if he were at Middlesbrough. Either way, it worked a charm and Rob embarked on his Toon journey at an incredibly special time for the club. In the early nineties Kevin Keegan had joined forces with Newcastle chairman Sir John Hall to give the club a historic turnaround. That involved record signings like Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley, Les Ferdinand, Andy Cole, Philippe Albert, David Ginola and Tino Asprilla.
When Sir John Hall was asked who his greatest ever signing was… guess what his answer was? Yep- Rob Lee! That’s quite a statement given the the plethora of special signings that were made during that era.
During the mid nineties Rob Lee was an important part of King Kiv’s legendary ‘Entertainers’. He recently reminisced with the Chronicle and said: “Playing the way we played was the way I wanted to as a kid, to entertain people. I think we did that”. Rob was there from the start of this era and played under Kevin Keegan for five sensational years- the best of his career. He became a mainstay of the Entertainers recently said in an interview “I still get people coming up to me now saying how good we were, alright we didn’t win anything but I think we won people’s hearts”.
That’s exactly why my love for the club since the mid nineties means so much. It was about what the entertainers offered us Magpies. Hope, excitement, faith, a formidable force to be talked about for years to come.
In 1994 Newcastle featured in their first UEFA Cup tie in 17 years and what did Rob Lee do to mark ocassion? In a 5–1 win against Royal Antwerp, Rob scored a hat trick with an explosive trio of headers. A more recent personal memory for me involved yet another bullet header, this time against Chelsea during the FA Cup semi-final in 2000. Yes, it went in vain and it wasn’t our night in the end but it was just an example of Rob Lee shining in the black and white stripes even towards the end of his Tyneside reign.
Rob Lee may have been an adopted Geordie but in a vote on the Magpies’ greatest ever Premier League player… Rob Lee came third! That was behind Alan Shearer and Peter Beardsley. He clearly means a lot to us fans and the other toon heroes too who he’s still great friends with. Who remembers that 3–0 win against Aston Villa in 2001? One of them came from a beautiful Shearer volley- having skipped onto Lee’s lofted pass. When asked about it these days the two of them still joke about who should take credit for it haha.
Well, there you have it- why Rob Lee is a Toon legend! What are your favourite memories of him in the black and white stripes? Comment below. Do follow my account for more NUFC content and thanks for reading.