Reports from Burnley at the end of May and from Norwich in mid-June suggested that Norwich had appointed former Burnley Head of Recruitment Lee Darnborough to the same role at Carrow Road. He had left Burnley following their relegation at the end of the 2014/15 season

He was a teenage goalkeeper with Oldham and made the first team bench on one occasion, but had to call time on his professional player career after a serious wrist injury. Remaining in sport, he gained a sports science degree at Leeds University and during that time played part time for Garforth Town.

Having graduated he joined ProZone, the company that analyses player performance for several clubs including Burnley. That was in 2000 and he also had short spells working with Bolton and Aston Villa before landing a job with West Brom in 2004.

For the first five years he was the Head of Performance Analysis but in June 2009 was promoted to the position of Head of Technical Recruitment. During his time at the Hawthorns he's worked for Dan Ashworth, their Sporting Technical Director, and for managers Bryan Robson, Gary Megson, Tony Mowbray, Roberto Di Matteo, Roy Hodgson and Steve Clarke.

His appointment at Burnley was sanctioned during the time Eddie Howe was manager.

On 13th April 2017, Norwich confirmed the departure of Darnborough, along with Ricky Martin and Tony Spearing, with immediate effect as part of the club's restructuring following the appointment of new sporting director Stuart Webber. Confirming Darnbrough’s and Spearing’s immediate exit, a City statement says: “The club would like to thank both of them for their time at Norwich and wish them all the very best for the next challenges in their careers.”

On 20th June 2017, Hull City announced that Darnborough had joined them as their new Head of Recruitment, replacing previous chief scout Stan Ternent.

On 3rd June 2024 he took up the same role at Stoke City. Stoke sporting director Jonathan Walters said “We’re thrilled to have Lee on board. His extensive network and knowledge of both the domestic and international markets will make him a valuable asset as we build our squad."