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Lee Camp

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Norwich Career: 2006 (3 appearaces) (on loan from Derby County)  2013 (3 appearances)
Current Club: Blackpool (Academy Goalkeeping Coach)
Date of Birth: 22/08/1984 (Derby) 
Nationality: English / Northern Ireland

Biography

Derby County and England Under-21 international goalkeeper Lee Camp joined Norwich City on a three month loan on 8th September 2006. Following the transfer of Robert Green to West Ham United in August 2006, and an injury to young reserve Joe Lewis, Norwich were left with only Paul Gallacher and Steve Arnold as fit goalkeepers. Hence the swoop for Camp. Although rumours speculated that Camp would be eventually joining the Canaries permanently, this was dismissed by manager Nigel Worthington;

“There has been nothing discussed at this moment in time, purely a three-month loan. He is back-up, support and competition for the number one. He will provide us with cover for Paul Gallacher and allow Joe Lewis plenty of time to recover from his injury. He has got experience - he has played quite a few league games. He is a young player with good potential and I am pleased he is coming here and we can have a close look at him over the next three months and assess it at the end of that.”

Camp said "I'm ambitious and want to play and for whatever reason I'm not playing at Derby any more. Norwich have given me the opportunity to come and develop and hopefully I will be fighting and pushing myself into the first team. That will be a test because Paul Gallacher has had a good start to the season and is a Scottish international. Hopefully I can put a bit of pressure on him and, if the worst comes to the worst, just get the best out of him.”

Camp graduated from Derby's academy side making his debut at the end of the 2002/3 season, although he had been loaned to Burton Albion before then. He went out on loan the following season, playing a dozen games for QPR. He made 40 appearances for the Rams in 2005/6 and has 95 first team starts to his total. His last game was the 4-3 defeat at Colchester last month. His appearance in Derby's 1-0 Carling Cup win at Stockport means he is cup-tied. With the arrival of Stephen Bywater, on loan from West Ham, Camp's chances had been limited especially with competition from Lee Grant

Peter Grant's arrival as Norwich manager saw Lee drop down the pecking order at Carrow Road as Grant brought in Jamie Ashdown on loan from Portsmouth. Camp looked to be departing from Carrow Road without a game but Ashdown's reluctance to extend his loan stay and an injury to Paul Gallacher saw Camp make his debut in the 3-1 home win over Leicester on 28th November 2006. Lee returned to Derby in early December 2006

In early February 2007, Lee was loaned once again to QPR. He returned to Derby early, on 25 April 2007, after a suspension to Stephen Bywater left the Rams short of goalkeepers. Lee returned to QPR for a third time on 27th July 2007 when QPR paid £300,000 for him.

Camp was placed on the transfer list on 13 October 2008 due to the form of new keeper Radek Cerny. QPR's Sporting Director Gianni Paladini told the BBC that "Lee's a good, young keeper but isn't in the team at the moment and he wants to play. I understand his position and we won't stand in his way. If he goes we will want to sign another keeper". QPR have been linked with Peterborough's Joe Lewis (2003-8) with rumours of a £2million bid being prepared.

Lee joined Notts Forest on 20 October on a three month loan deal from QPR. In his fourth game for Forest, he played against his former club Derby County in the fierce East Midlands diary and saved a 93rd minute penalty to earn Forest a point

Lee signed permanently for Forest on 4th July 2009 for a figure rumoured to be £100,000.

In February 2011, he was cleared by FIFA to play for Northern Ireland, despite playing 5 times for England's Under-21s. He qualifies through a grandparent. Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington said "It has taken a bit of time, but the patience has paid off. This is a big plus and it is testament to the quality we have in the squad that players of Lee's calibre want to come and play for Northern Ireland. I have spoken to Lee and he is absolutely delighted that he has been cleared to represent the birthplace of his grandfather."

Following Forest's play-off defeat, Lee was linked in July 2011 with a move to newly promoted Swansea City.

When Forest manager Alex McLeish decided in January 2013 that he no longer needed Camp, Chris Hughton signed him on 23rd January 2012 for Norwich as cover for Mark Bunn. Hughton said: “Lee will give us some really valuable experience alongside Mark Bunn with goalkeeper John Ruddy still out injured for a while. He’s a proven goalkeeper and he’s at a good age. He of course knows Norwich well having had a loan spell here a few years ago and the deal until the end of the season suits all parties. He will bring increased competition and will also allow us the chance to search for a loan move for Declan Rudd to get him some good first-team experience somewhere.”

Camp had been linked with a move to Ipswich but said “I’m delighted. It all came around pretty quickly and it turned out to be a pretty straight forward decision in the end. I’m really pleased to be here. “It’s a six-month deal which I think suits both parties pretty well. I think it would add a little bit of competition and hopefully I can add to the experience and competition already here. Any player wants to be in the Premier League and I’m very fortunate to be given this opportunity to play at a Premier League club and challenge for a place in the team. A few little things have changed around the training ground since my first spell here, but obviously a different atmosphere and feel about the place. I think it was about 6 years ago now that I was here, how time flies, but it helps to already know the area"

Lee made his second debut for Norwich on 17th March 2013 at Sunderland, coming on as substitute when Mark Bunn was sent-off. The game ended 1-1 with Camp beaten by a penalty. He made a further two appearances for City.

Camp was one of ten out-of-contract Norwich players that the club announced on 20th May 2013, would not have their contracts renewed

Camp joined Dundee United on trial at the beginning of July 2013. He then joined West Brom on a monthly rolling contract at the beginning of September 2013.

On 31st October 2013, Camp joined Bournemouth on a a 28-day loan. The Cherries brought in keeper Stephen Henderson on loan from West Ham earlier in October 2013, but he returned to Upton Park after dislocating his shoulder. Camp said as soon as he knew about the interest from the Cherries, it did not take him long to make his mind up about a move to the Championship side. "It wasn't a tough decision. My position at West Brom is a supportive role. I went into the club knowing that, however, you still get frustrated and Saturdays are difficult watching the results come in. As soon as I heard, I knew a bit about the club, a lot about the manager and it was a no brainer. As soon as I found out it was a yes." Camp's loan at Bournemouth was extended until 1st January 2014

He made 11 appearances for the Cherries during his loan. When his short term contract with West Brom expired on 1st January 2014, he signed a two and a half year contract with Bournemouth. "Discussions have been ongoing for the past couple of weeks but we have come to a pretty speedy conclusion in the end, so credit must go to the football club for how they have handled it. Going into the Brighton game we weren't a million miles apart. If anything slowed it down over the Christmas period it was the fact we had three games in six days. I spoke to the manager at the hotel before the game on New Year's Eve and I was fairly confident we would all get to where we needed to get to, to make the deal happen. Now I have something sorted, I can concentrate on playing football."

Although he lost his first team place to Artur Boruc during the autumn of 2014, he was part of the squad which won promotion to the Premier League at the end of April 2015. Camp joined Rotherham on 1st September 2015 after his contract with Bournemouth was ended

Camp was not in goal on 1st April 2017 when a 1-0 home defeat to Fulham saw the Millers relegated to League One.

On 16th June 2017, Camp moved to Cardiff, signing a two year contract. "I'm really pleased to have signed for Cardiff City. The manager (Neil Warnock) has always been fantastic with me and I'm delighted to work with him again" said Camp. "Lee is what I call a 'Steady Eddie'," Warnock said. "Lee has always done well for me. The pair were together at Rotherham.

On 1st February 2018 (at 20 minutes past midnight), Camp signed for Sunderland on loan until the end of the 2017/18 season. He had not played for Cardiff. He made his debut on 3rd February in the 2-0 home defeat to Sunderland that left the Black Cats in the Championship relegation zone. He was unable to avoid them being relegated to League One and made 12 appearances for them

On 8th August 2018, he was transferred to Birmingham City signing a two year contract. He made his Birmingham debut in the 2-0 defeat to Reading in the League Cup. He went on to make 86 appearances for the Blues before being released on 3rd August 2020 due to the expiry of his contract.

On 27th November 2020 Camp signed for Coventry City on a two month contract after the Sky Blues' first-choice Marko Marosi suffered a fractured cheekbone. Coventry's only other available keeper is Ben Wilson. Camp was on the bench for Coventry's trip to Norwich on 28th November 2020 which finished 1-1. His spell at Coventry ended in January, having sat on the bench for 12 games without playing.

On 12th March 2021 he signed a short-term contract with Swindon until the end of the 2020/21 season. Unfortunately Swindon were relegated to League Two on 24th April 2021. Camp was one of 13 players released by the club on 14th May 2021. He had played 11 games for Swindon.

In early February 2022 he signed for Northern Premier League Division One West (eighth-tier) club Clitheroe on a short-term basis as cover. He made two appearances before moving to National League side Wrexham on 24th March 2022. He was released by Wrexham on 2nd June 2022 following their failure to secure promotion back to the Football League. He hadn't made any appearances for Wrexham.

Since February 2023 he has been coaching goalkeepers within Blackpool's academy. He expressed an interest in the managerial vacancy at Darlington in September 2023.


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