Lee Bell

Lee Bell (born 26 January 1983) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

He is currently manager of Crewe Alexandra.

He began his career at Crewe Alexandra, also playing for Burton Albion, Mansfield Town and Macclesfield Town, before returning in succession to Crewe, Burton Albion and latterly Macclesfield Town on loan from Burton.

He is a product of the Crewe Alexandra academy system, having signed schoolboy terms with the club in 1997, on the same day as David Vaughan.

In January 2001 he had a training ground bust-up with Colin Cramb, who subsequently left Gresty Road and indeed the country.

Despite this, Bell was awarded a professional contract in February 2001.

He made his debut for the first team, coming on as a substitute on the opening day of the 2002–03 season against Northampton Town.

A week later to his debut, Bell scored his first professional goal, in a 2–0 win over Colchester United.

He made 22 appearances in the 2002–03 promotion campaign, mostly as a substitute.

His playing time at Crewe soon earned him a new contract in February 2003.

However, in the 2003–04 season, Bell lost his first team place following the arrival of Justin Cochrane and joined Football Conference side, Shrewsbury on loan in October 2003, but an injury restricted his opportunities and he returned to Crewe in January 2004.

Bell established himself in the first team in December 2004, starting 18 times in the remainder of the 2004–05 season, and signed a new two-year contract in June 2005.

After falling down the pecking order at the start of the 2005–06 season, Bell joined Burton Albion on a one-month loan in October 2005, which was extended for a further month.

After a two-month loan spell at Burton Albion, Bell returned to Crewe and made 18 appearances in the 2005–06 season, scoring two more goals against Reading and Brighton & Hove Albion.

A broken foot and an ankle injury caused Bell to miss the start of the 2006–07 season.

After being limited to one first team appearance, he had a request to leave Crewe granted in January 2007, and joined Burton Albion on a contract until the end of the season.

After making twelve appearances for the club, Bell was released.

After leaving Burton Albion, Bell went on a trial at Mansfield Town.

Following a successful trial, Bell joined Mansfield Town in August 2007.

He made 27 appearances for Mansfield in the 2007–08 season, before suffering a serious knee injury in February 2008 that ruled him out for most of the rest of the season.

After Mansfield Town were relegated to the Conference National at the end of the 2007–08 season, Bell was released by the club, and joined Macclesfield Town on a one-year contract.

Bell made his Mansfield Town debut in the opening game of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Brentford and then scored his first Mansfield Town goal, in a 2–1 loss against Morecambe on 12 February 2008.

After being on the bench in the opening game of the season against Shrewsbury Town, Bell made his Macclesfield Town debut, in a 2–0 loss against Bradford City on 16 August 2008.

Four months on 12 December 2008, Bell scored his first goal for the club, in a 4–2 win over Chesterfield.

He impressed at the club in 2008–09, making a total of 47 appearances, and signed a one-year extension to his contract in June 2009.

He played 44 games in 2009–10, where he scored two goals against Dagenham & Redbridge and Barnet.

As a result, Bell was voted the club's Player of the Year.

However, Bell was released by the club, along with ten other players, in May 2010.

Bell was re-signed by Crewe Alexandra on a two-year contract in May 2010, with manager Dario Gradi looking to add experience to the squad.

Upon re-signing for Crewe, Bell revealed he took a pay-cut, in order to join the club despite other interest.

Bell's first appearance since leaving the club three years earlier came in the opening game of the season, when they lost 1–0 to Hereford United.

During the 2010–11 season, Bell was one of three regular club captains, along with David Artell and Ashley Westwood.

Bell scored his first goal for the club and set up the fifth goal for Clayton Donaldson in a 5–5 draw thriller against Chesterfield on 2 October 2010.

However, Bell was involved in a confrontation with the club's supporters at the end of the game, an incident which caused Bell to apologise.

He went on to make 44 league appearances for the club during the 2011–12 season, having missed one game due to suspension after accumulating five yellow cards.

Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Bell said he was willing to share the captaincy with Artell and Westwood for the second time.

In January 2012, Bell suffered a groin injury.

He also required surgery for a hernia.

Bell retired from playing in the summer of 2015, aged 32, and rejoined Crewe as under-18s coach, later becoming under-18s manager (January 2017), under-23s manager (March 2022), assistant first team manager (April 2022), and then first team manager (November 2022).

Bell was born in Alsager, Cheshire.