Joe Lea

Joe Lea

Personal information
Date of birth	(1997-12-16) 16 December 1997 (age 27)[1]
Place of birth	Portsmouth, England
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
0000–2007	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
*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]

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]

Career statistics

As of 1 May 2018.

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Yeovil Town	2016–17[6]	League Two	0	0	0	0	1	0	1[a]	0	2	0
Dorchester Town (loan)	2016–17[17]	Southern Premier	6	0	0	0	—		2[b]	0	8	0
Gosport Borough (loan)	2016–17[1]	National League South	16	2	0	0	—		0	0	16	2
Bognor Regis Town	2017–18[1]	National League South	11	0	2	0	—		2[c]	0	15	0
Gosport Borough	2017–18[2]	Southern Premier	14	1	—		—		—		14	1
Career total			47	3	2	0	1	0	5	0	55	3

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. Joe Lea at Soccerway. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
2. Profile at Gosport Borough‚ gosportboroughfc.co.uk
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. "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. "Joe Lea Profile". Aylesbury United F.C. Retrieved 9 July 2017.