10 Newcastle Heroes Whose Careers Nosedived Since Leaving

5. Rob Lee

Rob Lee spent ten years with the club, and amassed nearly 400 appearances for the club. A pivotal member of the sides who finished as runners-up in the Premier League and FA Cup, Lee was certainly a memorable figure at St. James€™ Park. Perhaps it was inevitable that the midfielder was never going to scale the heights of his Tyneside era when he finally left the club midway through the 01/02 season - after all, he was 35 years old. Nevertheless, he still felt that he had a few years left in the tank and played four more seasons of professional football, taking him into his fifth decade of life. Having signed for Premier League strugglers Derby County in January 2001, Lee was unable to prevent the side from slipping out of the top-flight, and despite appearing 35 times in the First Division the following campaign, was unable to help them achieve promotion. A switch to Upton Park was tied up at the end of the 02/03 season, but with West Ham harbouring serious ambitions of achieving promotion to the Premier League, the 37 year old Lee found it hard to establish himself in the side and appeared just 16 times before signing for League Two side Wycombe Wanderers at the end of the season. To his credit, the veteran played 42 times in two seasons for the Chairboys before finally hanging up his boots at the end of the season.