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Personal
Fullname: Lee Andrew Martin
aka: Lee Martin
Born: 5 February 1968
Birthplace: Hyde, Cheshire, England
Signed: 19 Jan 1994 (£350k from Man U)
Left: 1 Aug 1996 (free to Huddersfield)
Position: Defender, Left-back
Debut: Celtic 2-2 Aberdeen, League, 19 Jan 1994
Internationals: None
Biog
The third signing of Lou Macari’s doomed reign as Celtic boss, Lee Martin signed for the Bhoys in January 1994 from Manchester United.
A tribunal would later set a fee of £350,000 for the out of contract full-back who was best known for scoring the only goal in the 1990 FA Cup final replay between United and Crystal Palace. That win is said to have saved Alex Ferguson’s career at Man Utd.
The Cheshire-born player had lost his first team berth at Old Trafford by the time he arrived at Celtic Park but he was viewed as a solid if unspectacular signing who could add balance and experience to an often creaky defence.
His debut came in a 2-2 league draw at home to Aberdeen on 19th January 1994 and he would be a regular feature of the first team for the remainder of the season. Incredibly, Celtic had 11 draws in the 19 games he had played in for the first team, more a reflection of the poor form of the team as a whole than of him alone.
It was a frustrating time to arrive as the club went through the denouement of the Celtic Takeover saga, and the first team was under the cosh due to the incompetence of Lou Macari as manager let alone that of the Celtic board prior to the takeover.
His performances in the Hoops were steady in mostly forgettable matches, and in truth Lee Martin made little impact during his time at Parkhead in what was a drab time, with Celtic finishing fourth in the league in season 1993/94.
Once the Celtic Takeover was complete and then Lou Macari was sacked as manager, things were to change. Tommy Burns was brought in as manager and a renovation of the squad was needed to pick up morale as much as performances. It was to be the start of a new era.
However, his Celtic career would come to a sudden halt when he broke his leg in a bizarre off-the ball fall against Falkirk in a home league match at Hampden (Celtic Park was being redeveloped) in October 1994. Celtic lost 2-0 and it was to be his last match for the Celtic first team. Incredibly for that era, it was the only defeat he played in whilst at Celtic.
He played no part for Celtic from then on in, and sadly was not involved in the Scottish Cup win in 1995 (the club’s first major trophy since 1989). He never even got to play in any of the Scottish Cup matches in that run whilst at Celtic.
He departed Glasgow in 1996 for Bristol Rovers having made little impact in cementing a first team place, despite a generous number of appearances to test him out. His career wound down from there on in, ending his professional football playing career in 1998, although he moved into semi-professional status playing for Welsh clubs till he finally hung up his boots.
Curious experience for the player. He was at Manchester Utd just as it was heralding a new revolution under Alex Ferguson and then again under Celtic. The problem was though that he was at both clubs through the tumultuous times in the early days of the rejuvenation of both clubs which only vaguely heralded the great times to come. Lee Martin has a lot to retell to anyone interested in listening.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1994-96 | 18 | 0 | 1 | – | 19 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 |
Honours with Celtic
None (it was the barren years)