Lee Howey is a former English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 football player, and the older brother of former Newcastle United

Newcastle United F.C.

Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

 and England defender Steve Howey

Steve Howey (footballer)

Stephen Norman "Steve" Howey is a former footballer who played for the England national team. At club level, he made more than 300 appearances in the Football League and the Premier League, playing for Newcastle United, Manchester City, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers and Hartlepool United...

.

Starting out as a youngster at local club Bishop Auckland

Bishop Auckland F.C.

Bishop Auckland Football Club are an English football team based in Bishop Auckland, County Durham. They are one of the most successful amateur sides, having won the old FA Amateur Cup on 10 occasions , and losing finalists on a further 8. They currently play in the Northern League Division One. ...

, Howey moved to hometown side Sunderland

Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

 in March 1993, making his debut for the club on the final day of the 1992/93 season against Portsmouth

Portsmouth F.C.

Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...

 at Roker Park

Roker Park

Roker Park was an English football stadium situated in Roker, Sunderland. The stadium was the home of the English football club Sunderland A.F.C. from 1897 to 1997 before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Near the end of the stadium's history, its capacity was around 22,500 with only a small...

. The following two seasons saw Howey in and out of the squad, making 38 league and cup appearances during the two years, mostly from the substitutes bench. It wasn't until the arrival of manager Peter Reid

Peter Reid

Peter Reid is an English football manager, pundit and retired player, who is currently without a club since his departure from Plymouth Argyle.A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career...

 that Howey began to see regular first team action, playing 30 times during the clubs Championship winning season, including 18 starts. However, Sunderland struggled to cope with life in the Premiership, and Howey was allowed to leave the club following the clubs relegation back to Football League First Division

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

 on the final day of the season. Howey made just 13 appearances that season. Howey also had a short spell with Ipswich Town in 1997.

It was Burnley

Burnley F.C.

Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...

 who splashed out £200,000 for the Wearsider, however, Howey's career at the Lancashire club wasn't a success, and he eventually moved on to Northampton

Northampton Town F.C.

Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...

 in February 1999 after a four month loan period. Howey moved again two years later, completing a free transfer to Conference

Football Conference

The Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Some Football Conference clubs are fully professional, such as Luton Town, but most of them are semi-professional...

 side Forest Green

Forest Green Rovers F.C.

Forest Green Rovers Football Club is an English football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, currently the longest-serving members of the Conference National. The club is affiliated to the Gloucestershire County FA.-Early years:...

 in 2001, before finishing his career at Nuneaton Borough later in the season.

Although primarily a central defender, Howey played up front a number of times during his career, and is considered to be comfortable in either role.

Lee is famous now for the football chant

Football chant

A football chant or terrace chant, is a song or chant sung at association football matches. They can be historic, dating back to the formation of the club, adaptations of popular songs, or spontaneous reactions to events on the pitch. They are one of the last remaining sources of an oral folk song...

regularly sung by Sunderland fans about his brother.