Lee Bullen The Interview

Firstly Lee i would like to take the time to thank you for conducting this interview with me it is greatly appreciated 
So it's the summer of 2004 and you have just led Dunfermline to a Scottish cup final how did a move to Sheffield Wednesday come around was there many other choices at the time ? if so who and why did you choose to join the owls over other clubs ?
Two weeks before the final, I had played fantastic in a league victory over Celtic AT Parkhead, but come the final....I was left on the bench. Biggest let down of my career and that incident basically summed up my relationship with our Gaffer, Jimmy Calderwood. We got on well but I never seemed to do enough for him....so it was time to move on. Peter EUSTACE had watched me a few times for Chris Turner, he invited me down to S6 and I was hooked! Fantastic opportunity...options? A couple but nothing to compare to Wednesday.

After just a few games with the club you were made captain after Lifelong owls fan Chris Marsden had to retire with injury , How much of a honor was it to be given the captains band at a club of such stature & History ?


I was gutted for Chris as he was brilliant to have around in his short spell with us. His injury was really bad and, ultimately, led to his retirement. It gave me an incredible chance to take the arm-band short term (I thought)....the biggest lift for me was that the other lads seemed to accept me getting it without any negativity at all, that was a really good feeling and allowed me to enjoy the honour even more.


Your first goal for the club came in a 2-1 victory away at blackpool what do you remember about that goal and game ?
I remember that we were under major pressure to get a result after a shocking performance v Colchester the week before. I played left-back as Hecky took a knock and I can still see the ball dropping to me on the edge of the box and I just thought 'if you don't buy a ticket....' Luckily the volley flew in and we got the 3 points.
Whilst on the subject of goals you scored a header in the cup away at Man City to send thousands of owls delirious including myself for a short while what was going through your mind once the ball hit the back of the net ?
I got a couple of yards on Micah Richards and was able to get good contact on the ball. 9 times out of 10, that will end up over the bar but this time it was right in the postage stamp and it left a certain Mr Weaver grasping at fresh air! Haha....brilliant. We gave it a right good go over the two games but just fell short in the end.

You famously played in all 11 positions for Wednesday even goalkeeper at Millwall away what on earth was going through your mind as you decided to don the gloves ?
I had done it before at youth level so I felt comfortable enough with it.....until I had to walk up to the home end and get some friendly comments from the lovely people from Millwall. Second half was better as I had the Owls fans behind me and they were magnificent....almost as good as Richard Wood and Drissa Diallo who never let there strikers get a sniff of a shot at goal. Dunno what was more surprising though, my clean sheet or Franky scoring a goal!

During your stay at hillsborough you captained the club to a 4-2 playoff final victory over hartlepool what are memories of the season and of course the day of the final in cardiff ?


Lows- first game defeat v Colchester
High- first goal/win v Blackpool
Low- shocking pass back v Bradford
High- Win next game v Chesterfield 
Low- Chris Turner sacking
High- win v Hull to secure play-offs
High- double over Brentford in semis
HIGH (never to be beaten)- Captain at Cardiff. Best day of my career.
HIGH- doing the conga up the middle of the motorway with the cup as there was a Wednesday traffic jam.
HIGH- motorway services full of Owls when we walked in the cup... 'ee aye ee aye ee aye o, up the football league we go....'
Your stay at hillsborough was ended by Brian Laws how did you find out the club would not be offering you a new deal and did you feel you had more to give to the club
?


Brian told me in the January that he would be 'going in a different direction' at the end of the season. Deflated but totally understood that he, as the manager, must make that kind of decision. No problem with Brian at all, but would loved to have been given a wee chance to help out in the coaching side....no bitterness at all, just an 'I wish......' scenario.

Which people have you remained life friends with from your wednesday days and will the club always hold a place in your heart ?



Glen Whelan, JP McGovern, Chris Brunt, David Lucas, Richard Wood, Deon Burton and John Hills are all people I keep in touch with regularly but it's the 'real' people that I've met though my time at the club....admin staff, life-long supporters etc.
Your currently the assistant manager at Falkirk at the moment and doing your Uefa coaching badges would you like to become a full time manager one day ?
Absolutely, but the current financial state of football in Scotland could kill that career path before it's really started unfortunately. I'd love the opportunity to come back to England but that is easier said than done....I certainly don't sign up to the notion that 'this game owes me a living', that is bull***t. You get out what you put in and anybody that knows me would agree when I say that I was never fantastically gifted but you'd get nothing short of 100% hard work.
More to the point if the opportunity ever arose to manage wednesday would you be throwing your name into the hat for it ?



Not had enough experience yet but I'm getting there. There's a lot of good young managers being given opportunities by good clubs and I have strong beliefs in that the game should be about passing and moving the football, at pace and with a purpose. My players would have to trust themselves and their team mates when on the pitch, it's an entertainment business after all but there has to be a 'structured freedom' about the way you play. It's not about the formation, it's about the philosophy....sorry, starting to blabber on a bit. Would love to be given the opportunity one day.
Finally i would like to thank you once again for your time and replies conducting this interview and the best of luck in the future.
Cheers Tommy
Pleasure, send me the link when it's up on the web.