Harlee Dean

Harlee James Dean (born 26 July 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Morecambe.

He began his career at Dagenham & Redbridge, and had a number of spells on loan at non-League clubs in the Essex and Hertfordshire area, before moving to Southampton in 2010. He joined Brentford on a permanent transfer in 2012, and spent five seasons with the club before signing for Birmingham City. He spent the second half of the 2021–22 season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, and was released by Birmingham at the end of the following season.

Career

Dagenham & Redbridge A centre back, Dean captained the Hall Mead School team for five years and forwent his A-levels in order to join the youth team at Dagenham & Redbridge. Dean received his maiden call into the first team for a League Two match against Morecambe on 7 March 2009, but remained an unused substitute during the 2–0 defeat. After being called into five early 2009–10 season squads without making an appearance, Dean made his professional debut on 31 October 2009, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute for Scott Doe in a 1–1 home league draw with Port Vale and setting up Josh Scott for the equaliser. It proved to be the only appearance of Dean's Dagenham career and he departed the club on 27 August 2010. Two of the goals came in a 6–1 thrashing of Witham Town on 9 September 2008. He made 13 appearances and scored three goals during his spell.

Thurrock (loan) Dean signed for Conference South strugglers Thurrock on loan on 20 March 2009. He made 10 appearances. He made eight appearances for the club. a deal which was later extended until the end of the 2009–10 season. Dean made 24 appearances and scored one goal during his time with the club. Dean's only first team call-up during the 2010–11 season was as an unused substitute for a 2–0 defeat to Brentford on 11 December 2010. After the Saints' promotion to the Championship, Dean's only involvement with the first team during the 2011–12 season was as an unused substitute for League Cup matches against Swindon Town and Crystal Palace early in the campaign. He was released by the club at the end of the season, having failed to make an appearance. On 31 March, manager Ian Walker extended Dean's loan until the end of the 2010–11 season. He made 10 appearances during his spell and scored a consolation goal in a 3–1 defeat to Weston-super-Mare on 19 February. He made his debut two days later in a 2–1 win at Rochdale, coming on as a late substitute for match-winner and former Dagenham & Redbridge teammate Sam Saunders. By the end of January, Dean was consistently one of manager Uwe Rösler's first-choice centre backs and scored the first professional goal of his career with the opener in a 4–0 defeat of Carlisle United on 20 February. Dean got his 2012–13 season off to a good start, scoring on his third appearance in a 5–1 rout of Crewe Alexandra on 25 August 2012. He started in the FA Cup fourth round against Premier League club Chelsea, with a 2–2 draw at Griffin Park taking the Bees to a replay at Stamford Bridge, which was lost 4–0. After going 2–0 behind, Dean powered home a header in the 51st minute, but wave after wave of subsequent attacks proved fruitless and it was the Glovers who were promoted to the Championship. Dean amassed 56 appearances during the 2012–13 season, He signed a three-year contract extension in July 2013.

2013–2015 Dean began the 2013–14 season as an ever-present in league matches and made his 100th Brentford appearance in a 5–0 thrashing of Crewe Alexandra on 16 November 2013. Dean suffered the first injury of his Bees career in the Christmas period, picking up a knock which saw him miss four games in January. A broken metatarsal and an abdominal strain saw Dean miss three games in March, which allowed new centre back signing James Tarkowski to break into the team. A suspension for Tarkowski mid-March saw Dean return to the starting lineup, but his season ended on 28 April, when he underwent an operation to fix his abdominal injury. He made 33 appearances during a successful season for the Bees,

Though Dean began the 2014–15 season fully fit, he had fallen behind Tarkowski and Tony Craig in the central defensive pecking order. He made his first start of the season in the League Cup first round match against his former club Dagenham & Redbridge on 12 August and converted a header to level the score at 6–6 deep in extra time, Dean enjoyed a run in the team in late August and throughout September, but was dropped after losses by three and four goals to Norwich City and Middlesbrough respectively. Dean later told the Hounslow Chronicle that he felt he had been made the scapegoat for the defeats; manager Mark Warburton suggested that his players should keep their frustrations private. He broke back into the team in late October and went on to keep hold of his starting place for much of the season alongside Tarkowski. Dean finished the 2014–15 season with 40 appearances and two goals, after the Bees were knocked out in the playoff semi-finals by Middlesbrough. it was announced that Dean had been named vice-captain by new manager Marinus Dijkhuizen. He was an ever-present in league matches until being suspended as a result of being shown the first red card of his career during the second half of a 2–1 victory over Nottingham Forest on 21 November 2015. He missed just four league matches during the 2015–16 season He partnered John Egan or Andreas Bjelland as part of a two- or three-man central defence throughout the first half of the season and scored his first goal since November 2014 with Brentford's second in a 5–0 victory over Preston North End on 17 September.

Entering the final year of his contract, Dean began the 2017–18 season out of favour with Smith, and was stripped of the captaincy due to his reluctance to sign a new deal.

Birmingham City

On 30 August 2017, Dean signed a three-year contract with another Championship club, Birmingham City, for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £2 million. He was one of six debutants in the next fixture, away to Norwich City; he played the whole match, was yellow-carded in the first half, and was the Birmingham Mail man of the match as his team lost 1–0.

In July 2019 he signed a new four-year contract with Birmingham.

Dean was voted Birmingham's Supporters' Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year for the 2020–21 season.

Dean made his 200th and last appearance for Birmingham on the last day of the 2022–23 season. He was one of six senior professionals released at the end of that season. He made his debut on 29 January, playing the whole of a 1–0 win against Ipswich Town, but left the field injured just seven minutes into the next match. He finished the loan spell with seven league appearances and two in Wednesday's unsuccessful play-off semi-final. On 16 May 2025, Reading announced that Dean would leave the club when his contract expired on 30 June 2025.

Morecambe On 20 January 2026, Dean joined National League club Morecambe. On 16 May 2026, Morecambe announced he was being released.

Personal life Dean lives in Brentford and has two children. He is a West Ham United supporter. While chatting to fans outside Griffin Park after a match on 21 November 2015, Dean witnessed a young supporter being hit by a car and ran back into the ground, where he found club doctor Matt Stride. The pair returned to the scene and Stride took charge of the situation until an ambulance arrived. For their actions, Dean and Stride shared the Football League's Unsung Hero of the Month award.

Career statistics

Honours Brentford Football League One runner-up: 2013–14 Individual Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year: 2016–17 Brentford Players' Player of the Year: 2012–13 (shared with Simon Moore) The Football League Unsung Hero of the Month: November 2015 (shared with Matt Stride) Birmingham City Supporters' Player of the Year: 2020–21 Birmingham City Players' Player of the Year: 2020–21