Lee Trundle

Lee Trundle

Trundle playing for Bristol City
Personal information
Full name	Lee Christopher Trundle
Date of birth	(1976-10-10) 10 October 1976
Place of birth	Liverpool, England
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Preston North End
Number	10
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995	Burscough	10	(5)
1995–1997	Chorley	66	(21)
1997–1999	Stalybridge Celtic	52	(25)
1998–2000	Southport	38	(8)
1999	→ Bamber Bridge (loan)	10	(11)
2000–2001	Rhyl	18	(15)
2001–2003	Wrexham	94	(27)
2003–2007	Swansea City	146	(78)
2007–2010	Bristol City	57	(8)
2009	→ Leeds United (loan)	10	(1)
2009–2010	→ Swansea City (loan)	20	(5)
2010–2012	Neath	59	(26)
2012–	Preston North End	0	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:45, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

Lee Christopher Trundle (born 10 October 1976) is an English footballer who currently plays for Preston North End.

Early life

Born in Liverpool, Merseyside, Trundle attended St Edmund Of Canterbury Catholic High School in Huyton.

Career

Trundle was a late entrant into professional and league football, playing for non-league teams Burscough, Stalybridge Celtic, Southport, Bamber Bridge and Chorley before joining Welsh Premier League club Rhyl in 2000.

Wrexham

Within six months, he had been snapped up by Brian Flynn to play for Wrexham where he played 78 games (plus a further 24 as substitute) in all competitions and scored 30 goals in a little over two years. A goalscoring account which was started by a bicycle kick to start a second half comeback from 2–0 which culminated in a 3–2 victory for Wrexham against Walsall on 24 February 2001.

Swansea City

In the summer of 2003, Trundle received a free transfer and moved south to link up with Flynn who had now become manager of Swansea City. He instantly became a North Bank favourite with his goalscoring exploits and extraordinary tricks, scoring on his debut at the Vetch against Bury, and netting his first hattrick for the club in the following game at Cheltenham, becoming the third Swansea player to score a hattrick in three consecutive league matches. Trundle scored 78 goals in 146 appearances for Swansea, making it by far the most prolific period of his career.

In his time at Swansea, Trundle became a minor celebrity in the game, with his extrovert displays of skill (or "showboating") bringing him to national attention via the Soccer AM television show on Sky Sports. Tim Lovejoy revealed in his autobiography that Trundle himself regularly contacted the show with footage of himself in action.

In October 2005, he was the subject of a £750,000 transfer bid by Sheffield Wednesday which Swansea rejected. Days later, he signed an image rights contract with his club which offered a portion of revenues from merchandise featuring his image. He was believed to be the first player outside the Premier League to do so.

Bristol City

Despite the best efforts of Swansea City, Trundle agreed to sign for Bristol City on 27 July 2007, although the deal was not officially completed until 30 July due to an administrative error. He was given permission by Swansea and the Welsh FA to play in Bristol City's pre-season friendly against Yeovil Town before he officially completed the deal, scoring and providing an assist in a 2–2 draw at Ashton Gate. It is believed Bristol City made four offers for the striker. Their final offer of £1,000,000 was accepted after Trundle handed in a transfer request. Trundle scored his first goals, a brace, for Bristol City against Scunthorpe on 25 August 2007.

Leeds United

Trundle joined Leeds United on a one month loan on 9 January 2009 and was allocated the number 35 shirt. Former Swansea teammate Andy Robinson played a big part in recommending Leeds to Trundle. He made his debut for Leeds as a second half substitute in the 2–0 loss to Carlisle United at Elland Road. He scored his only goal for the club on his first starting appearance, in a 2–0 win at Brighton on 17 January. Leeds extended Trundle's stay at Elland Road for a further month, but his loan expired on 10 March 2009 and he returned to Bristol City

Return to Swansea

On 27 August 2009, Trundle joined his former club Swansea City on loan until 1 January 2010 and this was later extended till the end of the season. Trundle played 20 league games and scored 5 goals in just two starts. Since Trundle rejoined Swansea he failed to play a full 90 minutes. Trundle made no secret that he wanted to earn a permanent deal and wanted to end his career at Swansea City.

Neath

In July 2010, Trundle returned to the Welsh Premier League with Neath, making his debut for the club on the opening day of the 2010–11 season in a 2–1 defeat to Bangor City.

Neath were wound up at the end of the 2011/12 season due to ongoing financial problems, leaving Trundle without a club.

Preston North End

On July 20, 2012, Trundle signed a one year deal with Preston North End where he will be reunited with his lover niall parsons. Trundle has impressed on trial at Deepdale after being invited to join up with the club for pre-season training. The 35-year-old has featured for North End in their pre-season friendlies against Southport and Chorley and he scored a superb solo goal in the draw against Chorley. However, shortly after signing for the Lilywhites, it was announced he had suffered a knee injury which manager Graham Westley believed would keep Trundle out for around 4 months. On 1st of December, he appeared on the bench for a Second Round FA Cup tie at home against Gillingham, and he came off the bench in injury time during the 2-0 win for the Lilywhites.

International career

Trundle had revealed in 2006 that he was determined to force his way into the international scene by earning a call up for Republic of Ireland, for whom he qualifies through his grandfather.

Style of Play

Throughout his career, Trundle has always been known to be a very technically-gifted and skillful player, and became quite famous for often appearing on the section of Soccer AM section, "Showboat". Also, he is known to have a very accurate left-foot, scoring many from range and dead ball situations. However, he is also sometimes seen as a selfish player, since he normally tries to beat his man rather than pass to a team-mate and run.

His skill is reinforced by the fact that the popular EA Sports game FIFA 13 thought him worthy of 5 star skills, an attribute that no other player with a rating under 65 overall has in the rest of the game.

Career statistics

Template:Football player statistics 1 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |1995-96||rowspan="1"|Burscough||rowspan="1"|North West Counties Football League First Division||10||5||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||10||5 |- |1995-96||rowspan="2"|Chorley||rowspan="2"|Northern Premier League |31||8||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||31||8 |- |1996-97||35||13||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||35||13 |- |1997-98||rowspan="2"|Stalybridge Celtic||rowspan="1"|Conference National |28||10||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||28||10 |- |1998-99||rowspan="1"|Northern Premier League |24||15||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||24||15 |- |1998-99||rowspan="2"|Southport||rowspan="2"|Conference National |29||6||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||29||6 |- |1999-00||9||2||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||9||2 |- |1999-00||rowspan="1"|Bamber Bridge F.C. (loan)||rowspan="1"|Northern Premier League||10||11||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||10||11 |- Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2000-2001||rowspan="1"|Rhyl F.C.||rowspan="1"|League of Wales||18||15||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||18||15 |- Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2000-2001||rowspan="3"|Wrexham F.C.||rowspan="2"|Football League Second Division||14||8||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||14||8 |- |2001-2002||36||8||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||38*||10* |- |2002-2003||rowspan="3"|Football League Third Division/Football League Two||44||11||1||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||50*||12* |- |2003-2004||rowspan="4"|Swansea City A.F.C.||31||17||5||5||1||0||colspan="2"|-||38*||22 |- |2004-2005||42||22||5||1||1||0||colspan="2"|-||49*||23 |- |2005-2006||rowspan="2"|Football League One||39†||20||1||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||46*||21* |- |2006-2007||34||19||3||1||1||0||colspan="2"|-||40*||20 |- |2007-2008||rowspan="2"|Bristol City||rowspan="2"|Football League Championship||38†||6†||1||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||41||6 |- |2008-2009||19||2||colspan="2"|-||2||0||colspan="2"|-||21||2 |- |2008-2009||rowspan="1"|Leeds United (loan)||rowspan="1"|Football League One||10||1||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||10||1 |- |2009-2010||rowspan="1"|Swansea City (loan)||rowspan="1"|Football League Championship||20||5||1||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||21||5 |- Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2010-2011||rowspan="2"|Neath||rowspan="2"|Welsh Premier League||29||18||1||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||32||18 |- |2011-2012||30||8||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||2||1||32||9 |- |2012-2013||rowspan="1"|Preston North End||rowspan="1"|Football League One||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-

Template:Football player statistics 3503||189||17||7||9||0||colspan="2"|-||544*||200 Template:Football player statistics 377||41||1||0||2||0||2||1||82||42 Template:Football player statistics 5580||230||18||7||11||0||2||1||626||242 Template:Football player statistics end

• - Including Football League Trophy matches

† - Including Play-Off matches

Personal life

Trundle has been an avid Everton fan since he was a child. In March 2007, Trundle moved in with but was not engaged to pop singer and Atomic Kitten star Liz McClarnon. The couple split in November 2007.

Trundle also performed 'Let it Snow' for Preston's 2012 Christmas light switch on, before turning on the lights alongside fellow players, Matt Cardle and Russell Watson.

External links

• Lee Trundle at Soccerbase
• Welsh Premier profile