Lee Bradbuty had a loan spell with Exeter in the mid-1990s before going on to play over 570 games scoring in excess of one hundred goals notably with Portsmouth and Bournemouth. He was involved in a £3 million transfer only a year after appearing for the Grecians.

Lee, from the Isle of Wight, had a short spell in the army on leaving school prior to signing for Portsmouth in August 1995. After just a few months Pompey arranged for Lee to join Exeter City on loan and it was this move, in December 1995, that really kick-started his career. Lee proved to be a hit with the City fans as he made his debut at Doncaster Rovers and, just a week later, he was on target twice as Exeter beat Leyton Orient at St James’ Park. Had City had the financial resources available, they may well have attempted to have kept him instead of the player returning to Portsmouth after fourteen league starts and five goals. 

Becoming a regular in the Portsmouth team, Lee was transferred to Manchester City for a club record £3 million in July 1997 where he struggled to make an impact. After a loan period at Birmingham City, Lee returned to Portsmouth in October 1999 for £300,000 and showed his worth with 28 goals in 99 league outings. Featuring less often from the start of 2003 Lee had relatively unproductive loans to Sheffield Wednesday (twice) and Derby County (twice) before leaving Fratton Park for a short-lived stay at Walsall in March 2004. Four months later Lee was playing for Oxford United and in January 2006 he moved again to Southend United. In August 2007 Lee joined AFC Bournemouth where he was to make 127 league appearances scoring ten times before playing his final Football League game against Colchester on 14 January 2011.

Lee was appointed caretaker-manager of Bournemouth on the following day and took the job on a permanent basis two weeks later. He left the club just over a year later and, in October 2012, became manager of Conference South club Havant & Waterlooville  where he was to spend seven years. Lee was then to manage Eastbourne Borough prior to joining Crawley as assistant to former Grecians assistant manager John Yems. 

After departing Crawley Lee became manager of National League Eastleigh in February 2022..