Lee Wilkie

Lee Wilkie
Personal information
Full name Lee Wilkie
Date of birth (1980-04-20) 20 April 1980
Place of birth Dundee, Scotland
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Playing position Centre back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2006 Dundee 111 (4)
2001 → Plymouth Argyle (loan) 2 (0)
2001 → Notts County (loan) 2 (0)
2001–2002 → Falkirk (loan) 9 (2)
2006–2010 Dundee United 81 (8)
2006–2007 → Ross County (loan) 4 (0)
Total 209 (14)
National team
1999–2000 Scotland under-21 8 (0)
2002–2003 Scotland 11 (1)
2003 Scotland B 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Lee Wilkie (born 20 April 1980 in Dundee) is a former Scotland international footballer who played as a central defender. Wilkie spent the majority of his career in Dundee, playing for both Dundee and Dundee United, and won 11 international caps between 2002 and 2003. Following a number of serious knee injuries from 2004 onwards, Wilkie announced his retirement from professional football in early April 2010.

Playing career

Wilkie had been with city rivals Dundee for his entire professional career, having ended his contract with them in August 2006. During his time at Dens Park, he had short loan spells in England with Plymouth Argyle and Notts County, plus nine games with Falkirk.

Wilkie suffered serious anterior cruciate ligament injuries in January 2004 (ironically, against United) and in April 2005, which have left him without the ligament. Unable to receive an operation, he hoped to continue playing professional football by strengthening the knee muscles to compensate for the lack of ligament.[1]

Despite interest from other clubs, Wilkie announced his intention to give first option on a contract to the team he has supported all his life, Dundee United.[2] In October 2006, it was announced that Dundee United would offer Wilkie a 'pay as you play' contract,[3] with Wilkie's signing confirmed on 10 October 2006.

In early-November 2006, new manager Craig Levein stated his intention to send Wilkie out on loan for "about a month", feeling he was "not ready to play first-team matches at this [SPL] level."[4] Subsequently, in December 2006, Lee joined Scottish First Division side Ross County on a one-month loan deal.[5]

Following his spell at Ross County, Wilkie returned to Dundee United and played in a 1–0 defeat to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on 20 January 2007. After the match, Wilkie cast doubt on his future at Tannadice by expressing doubts over his ability to play in the SPL due to his ongoing injury and fitness issues, and stated he will review his situation in the near future.[6] Wilkie, like defensive colleagues David McCracken and Lee Mair, was to be out of contract at the end of 2006–07, but signed a two-year deal in March 2007 to take him to summer 2009.[7]

On 1 February 2008, following Barry Robson's move to Celtic, Wilkie was named captain; six weeks later, he led the team out at Hampden Park for the 2008 Scottish League Cup Final, where he was one of three players to miss a penalty in the defeat to Rangers.[8]

In January 2009 Wilkie signed a new three-year contract until May 2012[9] but announced his retirement on 3 April 2010 due to stustained knee problems.[10]

International career

Prior to his injury problems, Wilkie was a regular in the Scottish national team. He was given his international debut by Berti Vogts, in a Reunification Cup match against South Africa in May 2002. His only international goal secured a 2–1 victory over Iceland at Hampden in March 2003. Wilkie's last international appearance was an unhappy experience, as the Scots suffered a 6–0 defeat against the Netherlands in November 2003 that ended their hopes of reaching the 2004 European Championships.

Wilkie was offered a return to international football in November 2007 through the Scotland B team, but he declined selection because he needed more games to be ready to compete at international level. After playing regularly for the whole of season 2007–08 and completing pre-season training for 2008–09 without any serious injury problems, Wilkie said he wanted to be selected.[11] A recall never came, however, leaving him with a total of 11 caps.[12]

Management career

After retiring from his career on the pitch Wilkie joined Premier Sports Management as a client manager.[13] He became assistant manager of Montrose in the summer of 2012 but left the following May because of family and other work commitments.[14]

Career stats

Club performance
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Others Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Dundee 1999-00 23020100000260
2000–01 9000200000110
Plymouth Argyle[4] 200000000020
Dundee 2001–02 8000002000100
Notts County[4] 200000000020
Falkirk[4] 920000000092
Dundee United 2002–03 35250200000422
2003–04 21120214000292
2004–05 12010000000130
2005–06 211000000031
Dundee United 2006–07 33100200000351
Ross County[4] 200000000020
Dundee United 2007–08 29330410020364
Total 187 10 14 0 13 2 6 0 0 0 220 12

Honours

Dundee

2002–03

Dundee United

2007–08
October 2007

References

  1. ↑ "Surgery won't save Wilkie career". BBC Sport website. 3 April 2006.
  2. ↑ "United have first option – Wilkie". BBC Sport website. 8 September 2006.
  3. ↑ "Wilkie set to win Tannadice deal". BBC Sport website. 5 October 2006.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Wilkie set up for spell on loan". BBC Sport website. 2 November 2006.
  5. ↑ "Wilkie goes on loan to Dingwall". BBC Sport website. 15 December 2006.
  6. ↑ "Kilmarnock 1 Dundee United 0". Scotsman. 21 January 2007.
  7. ↑ "Wilkie signs new Tannadice deal". BBC Sport website. 20 March 2007.
  8. ↑ McGuigan, Thomas (16 March 2008). "Dundee Utd 2–2 Rangers". BBC Sport website.
  9. ↑ "Wilkie pens new deal at Tannadice". BBC Sport. 8 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
  10. ↑ "BBC Sport - Football - Knee injury forces Dundee United's Lee Wilkie to retire".
  11. ↑ "Wilkie wants national recall". Evening Telegraph. DC Thomson. 6 June 2008.
  12. ↑ The Scottish Football Association awarded caps for match against Hong Kong Select in 2002, which was not a FIFA-recognised international match.
  13. ↑ Spence, Jim (18 June 2010). "Lee Wilkie takes up new sports management role". BBC News. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  14. ↑ Robertson, Neil (21 May 2013). "Lee Wilkie stands down as Montrose assistant manager". Courier. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
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