When he made his debut for second-tier Derby on Boxing Day 2002, Lee Holmes became the Rams’ youngest-ever player at the age of 15 years 268 days. England honours followed at levels from U-16 to U-19, yet Lee was being loaned out, as Derby managers came and went. An ankle injury further contributed to the stop/start-nature of his fledgling career and, at 21, his contract was allowed to run down. After speaking to several clubs, including Leeds and Forest, and turning down a new offer from Derby, he elected to leave behind the administrative turmoil he had known at Pride Park for what would become a similarly difficult year of politicking at St Mary’s, ending in relegation. His Championship season began well enough.

A neat little left-footed winger, who liked to run at pace with the ball close to his feet,

Lee was a fixture in the Saints’ starting line-up – until mid-September, when he damaged medial ligaments in his knee. That injury “killed my whole season,” he reckons. He was brought back prematurely in December, the knee flared up again and his season was over. He had settled very well in the area, marrying and becoming a father, but he could never put together a consistent run.

Then, in December 2010, he incurred another serious injury in the FA Cup v Cheltenham.

He came back again, but his Championship season of 2011-12 consisted of six appearances as sub, after which he duly departed for Preston. Before August was out, Lee’s Championship season was interrupted by another injury, this time in a freak accident at Bournemouth, when he gashed his knee wide-open on advertising hoardings. Moving on to Exeter his bad luck continued when he badly damaged ankle ligament in a Boxing Day clash with Yeovil in 2016 that again ended his season. More recently an old injury flared up prior to the  beginning of the 2019-20 season meant come the suspension of football because of the Covid-19 virus in March 2020 he was yet to feature.