Former Birmingham City, Hearts and Luton Town star lands management role

Former Birmingham City midfielder Olly Lee has landed himself a role in football management.

Lee - who made 20 appearances for Blues after joining from Barnet on loan in 2012 has been unveiled as Ipswich Town's new under-18's lead coach. The 32-year-old had to retire in February of last year after he revealed his struggles with psoriatic arthritis and Raynaud's - a rare condition that causes pain in parts of the body, usually fingers and toes.

He has been working in the academy setup at Spurs academy - holding various roles with different age groups. Lee holds a UEFA B Licence, and is also the owner and head coach of the Football Academy, which was founded in December 2021.

“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as U18 lead coach at Ipswich Town FC,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

“To get this opportunity almost exactly one year to the day that I had to retire from playing football is something I am extremely proud of. A lot of hard work has gone into getting to this position and I’m excited to start this new chapter in my coaching career!”

Lee had a playing career that spanned 14-years and he played for various clubs at different levels. He made his senior debut for Dagenham & Redbridge and later played for Gillingham and Barnet in the Football League. He joined Blues and then was loaned out in 2014 to Plymouth Argyle, before being released where he would later join Luton Town.

He won promotion to League One with the Hatters and following three-years at Kennilworth Road, he joined Scottish Premiership outfit Hearts, where he made a total of 59 appearances with nine goals. His career finished with a loan move to former club Gillingham which was later made permanent, and he made 105 appearances for the Gills with 12 goals in 105 games.