Lee John Payne is an English former professional footballer and currently a football agent. He played as a left-winger in both England and the Netherlands. Payne joined Luton Town as a schoolboy, but was later released as an eighteen-year-old. His first senior appearance in football came with Hitchin Town in 1985 and after a successful spell there he moved on to Barnet, for whom he played twice in the Conference as they finished in second place at the end of the 1987-88 season. After three more appearances for Barnet the following season, Payne was sold to Newcastle United for a non league record transfer fee of £125,000 and in October of that season made his football league debut against Middlesbrough in a 3–1 victory at St James Park. He went on to make seven appearances for the Magpies before moving to Reading inMarch 1989 for a transfer fee of £60,000. After making 34 appearances and scoring 3 goals Payne moved to the Netherlands to play for Eerste Divisie club BV Veendam in 1990. In his first season, he became BV Veendam's player of the year making 32 appearances and scoring 12 goals. In 1991/92 Payne was transferred for a sum of around £100,000 to rival Dutch club FC Emmen where he spent three seasons before returning to BV Veendam for a further season only to be forced to end his professional playing career in 1995/6 through a serious knee injury after a short spell back in England in 1993, during which he played once in the Conference for Gateshead – although Payne continued playing for another few years back in amateur football in the Netherlands. After fully retiring, he subsequently became a scout for a number of clubs throughout Europe, including West Ham, before later becoming a football agent, holding a FIFA agent's license and represents a number of high-profile footballers in England. Payne's father was a manager in non-league football in England, notably Wealdstone. Payne who has a strong Christian faith is also Ambassador for Sports Chaplaincy uk.
