PAST PIRATE – LEE ARCHER
By Darren Stobbs
Bristol born Lee Archer played for Bromley Heath, Warmley and Parkway before signing professional forms for Rovers in July 1991.
He made his league debut in a 1-0 defeat against Bristol City, at Ashton Gate, on 4th September 1991 when he became the 566th player to appear for the club in league football.
His Rovers career saw hm play for the club at Twerton Park and The Memorial Stadium. He scored 15 league goals for the club, a total that included one in 3-0 win against Millwall in their final game at The Den in May 1993.
However, he scored a far more important goal on 31st August 1996, against Stockport Couny, in our first game at The Mem following ten years playing at Twerton Park, Bath.
That goal, a looping header from 15 yards out, went in off the crossbar. The ironic thing was that the crossbar on the goal at The Alton Road end was found to be too high, but Stockport got their own back when John Jeffers equalised with a high long range effort into the top corner to finish the game 1-1.
A speedy winger with a very good left foot, Lee made a substitute appearance against Huddersfield Town in the 1995 Wembley Play Off final v against Huddersfield Town, the closest time to date that Rovers have come to get returning to what is now the Championship.
On leaving Rovers in 1997, having appeared in 126 league games for the club, he appeared in 35 Conference games for Yeovil Town and three games, in the same competition, for Rushden & Diamonds.
He retired with a knee injury but resumed his career with 19 Ryman league games for Slough Town before calling time on his playing career.
A decade after hanging up his boots, he was persuaded to turn out for Gloucester City by David Mehew, who was then manager of the club and Lee appeared in three games for them.
Post football, he worked at the Pro-Fitness Gym in Clifton and went on to move into the personal training and fitness industry in Bristol.
Lee co-ordinated Europe’s largest event for improving elite sportsmen’s performances, the Elite Sports Performance Expo in 2015. He qualified as a football coach in 2021 and has worked as a personal trainer and mental health coach.
