Lee Hendrie

Lee Hendrie

File:LeeHendrie.jpg
Personal information
Full name	Lee Hendrie
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	midfielder
Team information
Current team	Stoke City (on loan from Aston Villa)
Number	16
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 August 2006

Lee Hendrie (born May 18, 1977 in Birmingham, England) is an English footballer and midfielder for Aston Villa F.C., currently on loan at Stoke City.

Hendrie made his Aston Villa debut as a substitute in a 1-0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers F.C. on December 23, 1995 and achieved the accolade of the team's "Young Player of the Season" award for season 1997-98.

Hendrie achieved his first (and only) international cap on November 18, 1998 against the Czech Republic, almost scoring a goal on his international debut.

However, his progress started to slow, and a number of red cards from 2000 halted his impressive form, until 2003.

In 2003, the arrival of new boss David O'Leary gave Hendrie a new chance to prove himself, and to this day is recovering the form which he had at the peak of his career.

After losing his place in the Villa team during the 05/06 season it seemed Hendrie's long spell at Villa Park was coming to an end, with Portsmouth F.C. reportedly showing an interest in his services. Despite not making any moves in the 2006 summer transfer window, Hendrie joined Stoke City on the 29 September, 2006 in a loan deal .

Personal life

In June 2003, Hendrie received a 12-month driving ban for M40 drink-driving, when he passed a police car over the speed limit on the M40. It was subsequently found that he was 1.5 times over the limit, and banned for 12months. This was after a June 2000 incident, when Hendrie vowed to become teetotal during the football season after receiving a three-month international ban after breaking a team curfew with the England under-21 .

Hendrie married childhood sweetheart Becky in 2004, having had a stag event in Marbella in May where he met Jade Goody. After marrying Becky, the mother of his two children Maizie and Tallulah, the marriage fell apart just hours after their wedding in June, when Becky found he had been seeing lover Emma Cheal, 19. The couple cancelled their £120,000 honeymoon in Mauritius and Hendrie moved out of their £1 million marital home in Solihull to stay with friends .

But Becky took sweet revenge when she found out that he had moved in with Emma. Becky scratched swear word insults on his new £60,000 Porsche Cayenne, which Hendrie threatened to sue her for; and spent upwards of £50,000 on new credit cards. He subsequently left Emma, and had a short fling with Jade .

In October 2004, it was reported that Hendrie was secretly dating 18 year-old Amy Bruce, daughter of Birmingham City's boss Steve Bruce. Hendrie denied it, but when Bruce appeared at a match with cuts and bruises on his face, the rumours were concluded as true. The injuries were sustained, Bruce said, when he confronted two thieves trying to make off with his daughter's Mini. But the matter was never reported to West Midlands Police .

On 21 August, 2005 he assaulted Jamie May in Solihull. He was subsequently convicted on 3 March, 2006 and ordered to serve 60 hours of community service

External links

• Lee Hendrie at Soccerbase
• Information on player