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Lee Andrew Hendrie (born 18 May 1977) is an English former professional footballer and pundit for Sky Sports.
As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Aston Villa where he spent fourteen years. He also played for the England U21 and England B sides, and earned one full cap for England in 1998. He has also played in Football League for Stoke City, Sheffield United, Leicester City, Derby County, Brighton & Hove Albion and Bradford City.
Following a spell in Indonesia with Bandung he became a journeyman in non-league football, playing for Daventry Town, Kidderminster Harriers, Chasetown, Redditch United, Tamworth, Corby Town, Highgate United, Basford United, Nuneaton Griff and Gloucestershire based Montpellier FC.
After losing his place in the Villa team during the 2005–06 season it seemed Hendrie's long spell at Villa Park was coming to an end, with Portsmouth reportedly showing an interest in his services. On 29 September he joined Stoke City on loan, on the recommendation of his father. On 30 January 2007, he extended his loan spell with the Potters until the end of the 2006–07 season. He played 28 times for Stoke scoring three goals which came against Leeds United, Sunderland and Norwich City.
During Hendrie's time with Villa, he crashed his Porsche as he tried to make a plane for a European game and his manager Graham Taylor had to deal with other disciplinary matters.
With the departure of Bryan Robson in February 2008, new manager Kevin Blackwell quickly allowed Hendrie to join Leicester City in an emergency loan deal, with a view to a permanent move. He scored the winning goal for Leicester in a 1–0 win over Scunthorpe United on 29 March 2008 but could not prevent the club's relegation to League One and he subsequently returned to Bramall Lane.
In November 2008 he joined Blackpool on loan initially until 1 January 2009, making his debut as a second-half substitute the same day in the West Lancashire derby at home to Preston North End at Bloomfield Road. He was sent off for Blackpool versus Reading on 9 December 2008 and returned to Sheffield United on 31 December 2008 having made six appearances.
Having returned to Bramall Lane once more he vowed to try to force his way into first team contention having been given a wake up call by his time at Blackpool. He made a number of further substitute appearances for The Blades up to the end of the season. Having been brought off the bench in the 85th minute of the play off final against Burnley at Wembley Stadium he was subsequently sent off after the final whistle had blown for directing foul language at referee Mike Dean. Following the Blades unsuccessful play off campaign Hendrie was placed on the transfer list as the club sought to cut its wage bill.
Hendrie was offered a deal by Conference National side Mansfield Town but turned it down because of a better offer from Bandung, a club from Indonesian breakaway league, Liga Primer Indonesia.
He made his debut for the club on 15 October 2011 in an FA Cup Third qualifying round match against Nuneaton Town. He played his first league game in a 2–0 loss against Uxbridge three days later. Hendrie's first win as a Daventry Town player came on 22 October as Kidsgrove Athletic were beaten 4–3 in the First qualifying round of the FA Trophy. Hendrie's younger brother, Stuart Hendrie, joined him at Daventry on 21 October 2011, signing on a short-team loan deal from Hinckley United.
On 9 November 2011 Hendrie was unveiled by Kidderminster Harriers as having signed on non-contract terms. Allocated the number 34 shirt, he made his league debut on 26 November 2011 as a 60th-minute substitute in a 0–0 home draw with Cambridge United; he would go on to play in a further 14 league matches for Kidderminster before his release in March 2012. Immediately upon his release by Kidderminster, Hendrie signed for Northern Premier League Premier Division side Chasetown, returning to the lower levels of English non-league football after a 5-month absence. His Chasetown debut came in a 1–1 home draw with Matlock Town on 20 March 2012.
On 29 March 2012, Hendrie joined Southern League Premier club Redditch United, the club his father managed from 1991 to 1995, on a non-contract basis until the end of the season. Hendrie joined his brother Stuart at Redditch, the latter once again on loan from parent club Hinckley United.
Hendrie signed for Tamworth in the summer of 2012, taking the number 8 shirt; he made his debut for the club on 6 October 2012 as a 60th-minute substitute for George Baldock in a 2–1 home defeat to Newport County. He announced his retirement from the game in May 2013 to focus on his work as a director at FootieBugs, a football activity programme company for young children. He resumed his playing career in September 2013, joining Corby Town.
Hendrie soon moved on from Corby and on 3 December 2013, he played for Highgate United in their away Midland Football Alliance fixture against A.F.C. Wulfrunians. Hendrie scored and provided an assist on his début for the club in a 3–1 win. However, the club were quick to announce that Hendrie's appearance was only a "one-off" and that he had in fact signed for Nottinghamshire-based Basford United on 5 December. He remained dual-registered for Highgate, allowing him to potentially play for the club again (subject to his availability). He made a second appearance for the club two weeks later, on a night when Basford United did not have a fixture.
Hendrie scored on his début for Basford against Armthorpe Welfare. In April 2014 Hendrie stated he was a victim of forgery and that someone had falsified transfer documents claiming he was moving to Tavistock.
Hendrie left Basford United in October 2015. He subsequently played for Montpellier (based in Badsey), and all-conquering Sunday league club Digby Rangers from Birmingham before returning to Redditch United. He then signed for Nuneaton Griff, before returning to Highgate United.
He won his only full international cap for England at the age of 21 as a late substitute on 18 November 1998 against the Czech Republic.
In 2019 and 2020, Hendrie featured in both seasons of ITV show Harry's Heroes, which featured former football manager Harry Redknapp attempting get a squad of former England international footballers back fit and healthy for a game against Germany legends. Hendrie gained extra praise for opening up on his struggles with mental health.
For Season Two of the Apple TV series Ted Lasso, assistant director Sophie Worger hired former professional player Kasali Casal to manage the soccer choreography. Casal enlisted a team of former professional players to play for the opposition teams facing AFC Richmond during game scenes, these included Hendrie and fellow former Premier League players and Jay Bothroyd, Jermaine Pennant and George Elokobi.
On 27 January 2012, Hendrie was declared bankrupt by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs at the High Court. During this time, Hendrie twice tried to take his own life.
Aside from his playing career Hendrie is also a director of FootieBugs, a sister company of YogaBugs, which provides football-based activities and events for children aged 2 to 7.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | ||||||||||||
| Aston Villa | 1995–96 | Premier League | 0 | |||||||||
| 1996–97 | Premier League | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1997–98 | Premier League | 3 | ||||||||||
| 1998–99 | Premier League | 3 | ||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Premier League | 4 | ||||||||||
| 2000–01 | Premier League | 6 | ||||||||||
| 2001–02 | Premier League | 4 | ||||||||||
| 2002–03 | Premier League | 4 | ||||||||||
| 2003–04 | Premier League | 2 | ||||||||||
| 2004–05 | Premier League | 5 | ||||||||||
| 2005–06 | Premier League | 1 | ||||||||||
| 2006–07 | Premier League | 0 | ||||||||||
| Stoke City (loan) | 2006–07 | EFL Championship | 3 | |||||||||
| Sheffield United | 2007–08 | Championship | 2 | |||||||||
| 2008–09 | Championship | 2 | ||||||||||
| Leicester City (loan) | 2007–08 | Championship | 1 | |||||||||
| Blackpool (loan) | 2008–09 | Championship | 0 | |||||||||
| Derby County | 2009–10 | Championship | 0 | |||||||||
| Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) | 2009–10 | League One | 0 | |||||||||
| Bradford City | 2010–11 | League Two | 2 | |||||||||
| Bandung | 2011 | Liga Primer Indonesia | 2 | |||||||||
| Daventry Town | 2011–12 | Southern League Division One Central | 0 | |||||||||
| Kidderminster Harriers | 2011–12 | Conference Premier | 0 | |||||||||
| Chasetown | 2011–12 | Northern Premier League Premier Division | 0 | |||||||||
| Redditch United | 2011–12 | Southern League Premier Division | 3 | |||||||||
| Tamworth | 2012–13 | Conference Premier | 3 | |||||||||
| Corby Town | 2013–14 | Southern League Premier Division | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| Highgate United | 2013–14 | Midland Football Alliance | 2 | 1 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Basford United | 2014–15 | Midland League Premier Division | 25 | 11 | 3 | 0 | — | 3 | 1 | 31 | 12 | |
| Montpellier | 2016–17 | Midland League Division Three | 13 | 8 | — | — | 5 | 1 | 18 | 9 | ||
| Redditch United | 2016–17 | Southern League Premier Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Nuneaton Griff | 2018–19 | Midland League Division One | 3 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Highgate United | 2018–19 | Midland League Premier Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2019–20 | Midland League Premier Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| England | 0 |
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