NewsLiverpool's Greatest - No.59: Sammy Lee
Years: 1978-1986
Appearances: 295
Goals: 19
Trophies: First Division (1979-80, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1985-86), League Cup (1981, 1982, 1983, 1984), European Cup (1981, 1984), FA Cup (1986)
Sammy Lee appeared to grow taller every time he took to the pitch in a Liverpool shirt.
The midfielder may have been short in stature but definitely not in energy or heart.
Lee was a serial winner at Anfield, playing a role in the lifting of five First Division titles, four League Cups and two European Cups.
“With the character and attitude he shows, they’d make him Mayor of Liverpool if he was a few inches taller,” Bob Paisley once said.
Although he scored on his Reds debut against Leicester City in 1978, the Scouser had to patiently bide his time to become a regular in Paisley’s juggernaut of a side.
Indeed, it was only at the beginning of 1980-81 when Lee took the spot of Jimmy Case in the heart of the pitch.
His 55th and final appearance of that season was a start in a 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the European Cup’s showpiece at Parc des Princes.
Three successive league championships followed, along with another lifting of Old Big Ears in 1984.
Joe Fagan guided the Reds to a remarkable treble in 1983-84 and massively counted upon Lee in the process, with the England international appearing in all 67 games.
Opportunities were limited in his final two years and he then made the decision to leave for Queens Park Rangers in the summer of 1986, having made 295 appearances and scored 19 goals.
“I did live the dream,” said Lee. “I’ve been very fortunate and to be a local boy to play for the club I’ve supported all my life and then coach later on was magnificent for me.”
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