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Fullname: Lee Naylor
aka: The Weasel (social media fan’s nickname for him)
Height: 5.10
Weight: 12st
Born: 19 March 1980
Birthplace: Walsall
Signed: 25 August 2006
Left: 1 June 2010 (Free)
Position: Defender, Left-back
Squad no.: 3
Debut: Celtic 2-1 Hibernian, League, 26 Aug 2006
Internationals: England (no caps)
Biog
The deal which brought the 27-year-old to Glasgow also saw fellow left-back Charlie Mulgrew, 20, move from Glasgow to Molineux. It was however a transfer which was not originally met with universal approval from the Bhoys support.
Naylor had spent all his career at Wolves and following soon after the dismal failure of Mo Camera, a free transfer from Burnley, the Celtic support were not pleased at the club looking once more towards the English Championship in their bid to solve the problematic left-back position.
For his part, Naylor was delighted to have secured a move to Parkhead, and his enthusiasm and obvious joy at joining Celtic was evident in his early interviews as well as his performances on the pitch. Indeed within weeks of arriving, Naylor had won over most of the Celtic support with his energetic and tenacious play.
An over-lapping full back, Naylor was an asset in both attack and defence. Eager to get forward and get a cross into the box, Naylor also ensured he didn’t neglect his primary role and worked hard in curtailing opposition attacks. Although his performances dipped by the end of that season he had done enough to be nominated as a candidate for the SPFA Player of the Year Award 2006/07.
Cracks had however began to appear in his play and as the new season began, Naylor appeared to be a different player from the one that impressed during his first six months at the club. His distribution was dire, good opportunities were squandered by over-hit crosses and misplaced passes. Defensively he was often caught out of position and looked uncomfortable when players ran at him with the ball
Less than a year after giving hope that Celtic’s search for a quality left-back could be over, it appeared that Naylor, like many before him, was not the answer. He did however retain a regular starting spot – scoring his first goal in a vital win over Hibs (s cracker of a goal he scored v Hibs was to everyone’s surprise but more than deserving of all the plaudits that came his way after it) – as Celtic dramatically battled back to claim the 2007/08 championship and their third title in a row.
Season 2008/09 saw Celtic surrender their grip on the league title and once more Naylor’s performances were frequently criticised by the support. A seemingly likeable character off the pitch, Naylor, despite his obvious failings on the park, he never gave anything less than his all in the Hoops but the fact remained that the left-back slot remained a significant weakness within the Celtic team.
The arrival in July 2009 of the highly rated Danny Fox from Coventry – ironically another Championship team – appeared to spell the end of Naylor’s days as the first choice left-back at Parkhead. Naylor made a number of cameo appearances filling in for Fox when the ex-Sky Blues man was injured.
When Danny Fox surprisingly exited Parkhead prematurely in the January transfer window, Bhoys boss Tony Mowbrary underlined his reluctance to use Naylor by bringing in Dutch internationalist Edson Braafheid on loan from Bayern Munich. The Dutchman disappointed, and following the departure of Mowbray the interim Celtic manager Neil Lennon recalled Naylor to the starting line-up. Patience from Naylor had paid off.
To Lee Naylor’s credit he came good, and to the surprise of most he played a strong part and put the Dutch internationalist in the shade (where notably Braafheid later played in the World Cup final at the end of the season). Admittedly no stunning performances, but he still managed to hit the jackpot and grab a goal against Rangers in the final league derby match in May 2010. Something that he will prize. It may have been a deflection from his free-kick but it was still one more goal than Danny Fox scored this season from free-kicks (and Danny Fox was meant to be a free-kick specialist). Naylor had caught the eye of sections of the support and all were happy for him.
However, with a new manager to come, the squad had to be refreshed and Lee Naylor had been in and out for the last couple of seasons. He was released on a free in June 2010, and despite the criticisms from sections of the support, he will be fondly remembered by the majority for his time and effort. He got himself a goal v Rangers and for that invaluable moment the support will remember him very fondly. At least he was leaving after a fine final run of form.
We wished him all the best.
Post-Celtic
After Celtic, he had spells at Cardiff, Accrington and Derby, and appears to have finally hung up his boots in 2015.
He never lost his Celtic roots, and played in front of 48,000 supporters for a ‘Celtic Legends‘ select side at Anfield v their Liverpool counterparts in a charity match in March 2023, winning the chance to relive old glories.
Playing Career
| Club | From | To | Fee | League | Scottish/FA Cup | League cup | Other | ||||
| Cardiff | 01/08/2010 | Free | |||||||||
| Celtic | 25/08/2006 | 01/08/2010 | £600,000 | 95 (5) | 3 | 12 (0) | 0 | 5 (0) | 0 | 22 (3) | 0 |
| Wolves | 01/08/1997 | 25/08/2006 | Trainee | ||||||||
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
| 2009/10 Statistics | |||||||||||
| TEAM | Competition | GS | SB | G | A | SH | SG | FC | FS | YC | RC |
| Celtic | UEFA Europa League | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Celtic | Scottish Premier League | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| Celtic | Scottish Cup | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009/10 Season Totals | 14 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2008/09 Statistics | |||||||||||
| TEAM | Competition | GS | SB | G | A | SH | SG | FC | FS | YC | RC |
| Celtic | Scottish Cup | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Celtic | Scottish Premier League | 19 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 2 | 0 |
| Celtic | Scottish CIS Insurance Cup | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008/09 Season Totals | 23 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2007/08 Statistics | |||||||||||
| TEAM | Competition | GS | SB | G | A | SH | SG | FC | FS | YC | RC |
| Celtic | UEFA Champions League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Celtic | Scottish Premier League | 33 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 41 | 32 | 4 | 0 |
| Celtic | Scottish Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007/08 Season Totals | 36 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 41 | 32 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2006/07 Statistics | |||||||||||
| TEAM | Competition | GS | SB | G | A | SH | SG | FC | FS | YC | RC |
| Celtic | Scottish CIS Insurance Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Celtic | Scottish Cup | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Celtic | Scottish Premier League | 32 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 29 | 30 | 7 | 0 |
| 2006/07 Season Totals | 38 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 29 | 30 | 7 | 0 | |
GS: Games Started, SB: Used as Substitute,
G: Goals, A: Assists, SH: Shots, SG: Shots on goal,
YC: Yellow Cards, RC: Red Cards,
FC: Fouls Committed, FS: Fouls Suffered,
SV: Saves, OF: Offsides, W: Wins, D: Draws, L: Losses
Honours with Celtic
Scottish Premier League
Scottish Cup
| KDS Honours | ||
| MOTM Winners 2006-07 | ||
| 16-Sep-06 | Celtic 1 v 0 Dunfermline | SPL |
| 01-Nov-06 | Benfica 3 v 0 Celtic | Champions League |
| 21-Nov-06 | Celtic 1 v 0 Man Utd | Champions League |
| Nov-06 | Nov-06 Player of the Month | |
| MOTM Winners 2008-09 | ||
| 11-Apr-09 | Hearts 1-1 Celtic | SPL |
| MOTM Winners 2009-10 | ||
| 22-Oct-09 |
Celtic 0-1 Hamburg |
Europa League |
| 04-May-10 |
Celtic 2-1 Rangers |
SPL |
| May-10 |
Joint Player of the Month for May ’10 |
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