Lee Bullock

Lee Bullock (born 22 May 1981) is a former English footballer who most recently managed Whitby Town.

He made his first team debut on 5 December 1998 in a 2–1 FA Cup second round defeat at Wrexham as a 17-year-old while still a trainee.

He was substituted at half-time for Graham Rennison to facilitate a tactical switch after Mark Tinkler was sent off in the first half.

He signed a two-year professional contract at the end of the 1998–99 season, which he finished with the club's Young Player of the Year award.

He made 17 starts during his first full season and played 25 games in total, but never managed more than six successive appearances.

His first goal came nearly two years after his debut when he scored a header in a 3–1 victory over Halifax Town at The Shay on 24 October 2000.

He scored another three goals that season, including another goal against Halifax Town in a 2–1 relegation battle on 14 April 2001.

In the 2001–02 season, he more than doubled the number of goals to nine.

He underwent an ankle operation in April 2002, which ended his season early after playing 47 games.

He scored seven the following season, but at the end of the season, he was one of just eight players to be kept on at the club, because of financial problems.

His season had been ended early because of an ankle injury he picked up in a reserve game, but he extended his contract during the summer to three years, keeping him at Bootham Crescent until at least 2003.

Once again he scored seven goals in 2003–04.

He started his career with York City, with whom he played 171 league games and scored 24 goals, before he moved to First Division side Cardiff City in 2004 after a loan spell.

He spent just one season with Cardiff before he returned to north-east England with Hartlepool United.

Bullock had a trial with First Division Cardiff City in February 2004, and after manager Lennie Lawrence weighed up a move for the player he signed on loan until the end of the season, with a view to a permanent transfer, on 9 March.

He scored three goals in 10 games during his loan spell, including one on his debut at home to Reading after turning in a Robert Earnshaw cross 18 minutes from time, although Reading went on to win the game 3–2.

His third goal came in a 1–1 draw with Ipswich Town on the final day of the season on 9 May, after his header from Tony Vidmar's cross deflected off Ipswich's Jermaine Wright.

With Cardiff still to decide whether to sign Bullock permanently, a number of clubs made enquiries about his signature.

Bullock joined Cardiff on a permanent deal on 28 June 2004, which would make York £100,000 if he made 25 appearances for Cardiff.

He finished the 2004–05 season with five goals, including two in the League Cup, from 26 appearances, of which eight were league starts.

Bullock became Martin Scott's first signing as Hartlepool United manager after joining the League One club on a free transfer on 30 June 2005.

He made his Hartlepool debut on the opening day of the 2005–06 season in a 2–0 loss to Bradford City, before he scored three days later in a 1–1 draw with AFC Bournemouth.

He scored four goals in his first season, but missed two months from November to January 2006 because of a thigh strain and then a hand injury.

He had his lowest scoring season in 2006–07, netting just twice in 31 games, but helped Hartlepool to promotion as League Two runners-up.

Bullock signed for League Two Mansfield Town on a one-month loan on 30 August 2007 to play regular first team football, having failed to appear for Hartlepool by that point in 2007–08.

He returned to Hartlepool in September after no extension was agreed, having played five games for Mansfield.

He signed for Bury of League Two on a one-month loan on 5 October.

This loan was extended for a second month in November, but he returned to Hartlepool in December after he turned down a permanent deal with Bury.

Bullock finished the loan spell with eight appearances.

He won promotion from League Two with Hartlepool, but after he lost his place in the side, he had loan spells with Mansfield Town, Bury and Bradford City, before signing permanently for Bradford in January 2008.

He joined League Two Bradford City on a one-month loan on 31 December, which started in January 2008.

He made his Bradford debut in a 2–0 victory against Accrington Stanley on 1 January.

Three games into his loan spell at Bradford, he was transfer listed by Hartlepool.

Bradford were unbeaten during Bullock's five game loan period, winning three and drawing two, and they signed Bullock on an 18-month contract on 30 January.

His first goal for Bradford was the side's third in a 3–2 victory over Rotherham United on 26 February 2008.

Bullock played for a month with a groin injury, and after playing 12 consecutive games since he first joined Bradford, he was rested for a game at Chester City on 12 March 2008 before undergoing a hernia operation, which kept him out for the rest of the 2007–08 season.

He made 12 appearances and scored one goal for Bradford that season.

In 2012 Bullock was released by Bradford and subsequently returned to former club York.

He had loan spells with Gateshead and Stockport County before being released by York in 2013.

Bullock started his career with York City, joining the club's youth system at a young age.