Lee Mansell

Lee Richard Samuel Mansell (born 23 September 1982 in Gloucester, England) is an English professional footballer who plays for League One club Bristol Rovers.

Career

Mansell was born in Gloucester and began his career as a trainee with Luton Town, turning professional with the Hatters in August 2000. He made his first-team debut on 17 January 2001 in a 2–1 defeat away to Queens Park Rangers in an FA Cup 3rd Round Replay, with his league debut coming 6 days later in a 2–0 defeat away to Oldham Athletic.

He had a spell on loan with Nuneaton Borough in March 2003,^[1] scoring twice in five games. He returned to Luton, but was released at the end of the 2004–05 season, having scored 8 times in 47 league games. He moved to Oxford United in June 2005,^[2] and played 44 times the following season as Oxford were relegated to the Conference.

He was transferred to Torquay United, one of the sides to survive at Oxford's expense on the last day of the previous season, on 5 July 2006 for an undisclosed fee.^[3] He was a regular in Torquay's side in the 2006–07 season but, for a second season in a row, the side he played for was relegated to the Conference National.

Mansell was Torquay's captain, and most-capped player ahead of defender Chris Robertson. He was awarded the captaincy in 2010, after Nicky Wroe was dropped for inconsistency and subsequently moved to Shrewsbury Town on 31 January 2011.

Lee made an excellent start to the 2011-12 season, scoring on the opening day at Plainmoor to rescue a point against Burton Albion on 6 August 2011 ^[4] before scoring again in a midweek League Cup tie against Southampton, netting Torquay's consolation in a 4-1 loss.

On 26 June 2014 Lee signed a two-year deal at Bristol Rovers turning down a one-year-deal with Torquay United Lee made 389 appearances in all competitions for Torquay United placing him sixth on Torquay United all-time appearance list scoring 24 goals along the way.

Experienced Campaigner Mansell, 32, takes a lot of experience with him to Bristol Rovers who aim to make return to the League Two at the first attempt after suffering relegation on 3 May 2014 for the first time that the club have dropped down to the non league fifth tier of English football in the club's history.

Mansell made his competitive debut for Bristol Rovers in a goalless draw against Grimsby Town on August 9, 2014. He scored his first goal for the club on 16 August 2014, in a 2–1 defeat away against Altrincham.

Mansell has captained Bristol Rovers on many occasions this season, he was captaining the side in their 2-1 win over Torquay United making his first return after ending his eight-year spell in yellow in the summer. Mansell went on to score 8 goals for the club in the 2014/15 season.

Mansell scored the winning penalty in a 5–3 shootout victory over Grimsby Town at Wembley on 17 May 2015 as Bristol Rovers won the Conference Premier promotion playoffs to return to the Football League after a one-season absence.

After scoring the winning penalty, the following season Lee went onto score 2 goals in 29 appearances for Bristol Rovers. On 14 June 2016 Lee signed a new deal to remain with the club.^[5]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lee Mansell.

• Lee Mansell career statistics at Soccerbase