Joe Lea

Joe Lea
Personal information
Date of birth (1997-12-16) 16 December 1997[1]
Place of birth Portsmouth, England
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Poole Town (manager)
Youth career
–2007 Portsmouth
2007–2016 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Yeovil Town 0 (0)
2016 → Dorchester Town (loan) 6 (0)
2017 → Gosport Borough (loan) 16 (2)
2017–2018 Bognor Regis Town 11 (0)
2018–2022 Gosport Borough
2022–2023 Petersfield Town
Managerial career
2022–2023 Petersfield Town
2023–2025 Gosport Borough
2025– Poole Town
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Joe Lea (born 16 December 1997) is an English football coach and former player who played as a midfielder.[2] He is joint manager of Poole Town with Pat Suraci.

Playing career

Southampton

Born in Portsmouth,[3] Lea signed for his local side Portsmouth as a youngster before moving to south-coast rivals Southampton at the age of 9.[4] Lea spent nine years in the Southampton youth academy before being released upon the completion of his two-year scholarship.[3]

Yeovil Town

Upon his release from Southampton, Lea joined Yeovil Town on 2 July 2016, alongside Josh Ezewele from West Bromwich Albion.[3][5] He made his professional debut on 23 August 2016 as a substitute in a League Cup match at Everton.[6]

On 15 October 2016, Lea joined Southern Premier League side Dorchester Town on an initial one-month loan deal,[7] and Lea made his debut for Dorchester that afternoon as a second-half substitute against Dunstable Town.[8]

In January 2017, Lea joined National League South side Gosport Borough on loan until the end of the season.[9]

At the end of the 2016–17 season, Lea was released by Yeovil having only made two appearances for the club.[10]

Bognor Regis Town

After a successful trial, Lea signed for newly promoted National League South club Bognor Regis Town in July 2017.[11]

Gosport Borough

Lea signed for Gosport Borough on 18 January 2018.[12]

Coaching career

In April 2022, Lea and his former teammate at Gosport Borough, Pat Suraci, were appointed co-managers at Petersfield Town.[13] In January 2023, having retained his registration as a player at Petersfield, Lea announced his retirement in order to focus on his coaching career.[14]

In May 2023, Lea and Suraci returned to Gosport as co-managers.[15] They left the club in January 2025,[16] to take over at fellow Southern League club Poole Town.[17]

Career statistics

As of 1 May 2018.
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Yeovil Town 2016–17[6] League Two 0000101[a]020
Dorchester Town (loan) 2016–17[18] Southern Premier 6000—2[b]080
Gosport Borough (loan) 2016–17[1] National League South 16200—00162
Bognor Regis Town 2017–18[1] National League South 11020—2[c]0150
Gosport Borough 2017–18[2] Southern Premier 141———141
Career total 473201050553
  1. ↑ Appearance in EFL Trophy
  2. ↑ One appearance in FA Trophy, one appearance in Dorset Senior Cup
  3. ↑ One appearance in FA Trophy, one appearance in Sussex Senior Cup

References

  1. 1 2 3 Joe Lea at Soccerway. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  2. 1 2 Profile at Gosport Borough‚ gosportboroughfc.co.uk
  3. 1 2 3 "Joe Lea becomes the latest Glover". Yeovil Town F.C. 2 July 2016. Archived from the original on 4 July 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  4. ↑ "Academy profiles". Southampton F.C. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "Yeovil Town: Joe Lea and Josh Ezewele join League Two side". BBC Sport. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Games played by Joe Lea in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "Lea joins Magpies on loan". Yeovil Town F.C. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "Magpies: Dorchester defeated by Dunstable in tight affair". Dorset Echo. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "Thompson issues rallying call as four players join". Gosport Borough F.C. 22 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  10. ↑ "Tom Eaves: Yeovil Town forward among six released by League Two club". BBC Sport. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  11. ↑ "Trio join Rocks - will more follow them?". Bognor Regis Observer. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  12. ↑ Pearce: New striker would make Rocks a top-six team‚ portsmouth.co.uk, 18 January 2018
  13. ↑ "New Petersfield Town co-manager Pat Suraci can't wait to get started at Love Lane". Petersfield Post. 19 April 2022.
  14. ↑ "Petersfield Town boss Joe Lea: Why I've got 'piece of mind' that my playing career is over aged 25". The News. 5 January 2023.
  15. ↑ "Petersfield Town bosses Pat Suraci and Joe Lea quit for 'no brainer' return to Gosport Borough". The News. 8 May 2023.
  16. ↑ "Club Announcement". www.gosportboroughfc.com.
  17. ↑ , pooletownfc.co.uk
  18. ↑ "Joe Lea Profile". Aylesbury United F.C. Retrieved 9 July 2017.