Lee keen to upset old pal Al

He may sound like an Essex boy, but Elliot Lee was born and raised in the North East of England.

Lee was raised in Durham while his father Rob played his part in Newcastle United’s outstanding period at the top of the Premier League in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

During that time, Rob became close to Newcastle and England teammate Alan Shearer, as did the players’ respective wives and children – friendships that have endured for two decades.

On Sunday, Lee junior will return to St James’ Park as part of the West Ham United squad and could score the goal that sends the Magpies down – upsetting the Shearers in the process.

“I was brought up for seven years in Newcastle and used to watch my Dad all the time,” confirmed Lee, who scored four goals in a 5-4 Development Squad win over the Magpies in September 2013.

“Newcastle, along with West Ham, is a club that is close to mine and my family’s hearts so it should be a great experience.

“We used to share a box with the Shearer family so all of the Lees used to go along with the Shearers on a match day and it was great. I was only young, but I still have fond memories of watching my Dad play there. It’s a great club and a great city and I look forward to going back there.”

So, with Newcastle needing a win or Hull City to fail to beat Manchester United for the Magpies to stay up, how does Lee junior see Sunday’s game panning out?

“I don’t want to see a massive club like Newcastle go down, but we’ve got to go there and get the three points,” he said. “If they do go down, they do go down. Ideally, we will beat them but they will still stay up.”

Lee would love nothing more than to get onto the St James’ Park pitch and score the winning goal on Sunday, even if it means upsetting his family friends.

“A few people in my family have said ‘Imagine if you send Newcastle down!’ but I will chuck a few coughs to the gaffer and see if he will put me on!” Lee laughed.

“It’s going to be a great experience going back to where my Dad played the best years of his career. He’s a bit of a legend up there, so it will be brilliant to go back.

“I don’t think Alan would talk to me for a while! It would be terrible to see them go down, but my gut instinct is that they will stay up. Hopefully we will get the three points against them.”