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“Looking really deeply at it, I saw all the trials and tribulations of football.”
That is how David Lee summed up the low points during his time working in Wanderers’ Academy system.
Lee played 199 games for the Whites between 1992 and 1997 before returning to help the club's young talent in 2007.
The 55-year-old later had a spell in charge of the Under-23 side, winning the Professional Development League in 2018.
He departed Wanderers in 2021 as part of the club’s Academy restructure.
"I won't name names, but I think the people who were at the football club at my time hurt me and damaged me to a point where I didn't deserve the way I was treated,” he told Fore Four 2 Podcast.
"That's probably why I've been tarnished and I've got that thought of not wanting to get back into football.
"I've always been an honest person. I've always done everything I possibly can, but people treated me in a way that I shouldn't have been treated.
"You always think then, is football the place for me? It did hurt me and it did damage me. Whether that would happen at another football club, who knows?
“But at the time, it did hurt me and I think I was mistreated. I’m not looking for sympathy, that's the way life is.”
The former Bolton man is currently enjoying life away from football, running his own business supplying white goods.
However, Lee refused to completely rule out a return to the sport in the future.
"The opportunities were taken away from me when I was at the football club,” he added. “Whether those opportunities would ever come back with a new regime, I don't know.
"I would never say no to anything because I'm an open book. Who knows?
“At the moment, I'm enjoying being out of football. I love what I'm doing on the white goods side of it and let's see where life takes us."
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