Jack William Lester (born 8 October 1975) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is a first team coach at Premier League club Sheffield United, and assistant coach of the Wales national football team. As a player Sheffield born Lester played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

from 1994 to 2014. He came through the youth ranks at Grimsby Town where he moved into the first team in 1994. He became a first team regular and was part of the squad that was victorious in the Football League Trophy and Football League Second Division play-offs during the 1997–98 season. He played at

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9, ...

until midway through the 1999–2000 campaign when he was sold to Town's First Division relegation rivals Nottingham Forest. He spent three years as a first team regular for Forest before switching to Sheffield United in 2003. Lester returned to Forest after only spending a year with The Blades. Lester remained at the City Ground for another three seasons before joining Chesterfield in 2007. After six years at Chesterfield, Lester retired on 27 April 2013. On 3 February 2014, Lester came out of retirement and joined

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

on a non-contract basis. In his final ever appearance as a player he scored at Wembley Stadium in Gateshead's Football Conference play-off final defeat. Following retirement Lester brief coached at youth level for Notts County before later returning to Forest where he held various coaching positions. In 2017 he returned to Chesterfield as first team manager but was unable to prevent them from being relegated from the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. He returned to Sheffield United in 2019 taking up a role as the head of their youth academy, before stepping up to first team coach during the 2021–22 season.

Playing career

Grimsby Town

Lester started his career with Grimsby Town and signed his first professional contract in 1994. He was nurtured into a first team role at Grimsby by manager Alan Buckley and his assistant John Cockerill. After a brief loan spell with Doncaster Rovers in which he played 11 games (5 in the starting lineup) and scored one goal, Lester became a regular at

. During his time there he formed notable strike partnerships with Clive Mendonca,

Steve Livingstone Stephen Carl Livingstone (born 8 September 1969) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward and makeshift defender from 1986 to 2004. He began his career at Coventry City in 1986, though had little impact at the clu ...

, Lee Ashcroft and

Jamie Forrester Jamie Forrester (born 1 November 1974) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker between 1991 and 2010. He played in France, the Netherlands and his native England. He notably played for Grimsby Town, Scunthorpe Unit ...

. It was during the 1997–1998 season that he had arguably his best season with Grimsby. He was a regular fixture in the first team and helped the club succeed in an impressive double final win at Wembley Stadium. The Mariners defeated

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

in the Football League Trophy (although Lester was suspended for the final) before beating Northampton Town in the Division Two play-off Final a few weeks later. Lester stayed with Grimsby until midway through the 1999–2000 season when he was controversially sold just after the turn of the millennium. He made 133 league appearances and scored 17 league goals in his time with The Mariners, and is still a popular figure at the club.

Nottingham Forest

David Platt signed Lester for Nottingham Forest in February 2000 for £300,000, just three weeks after he led the Grimsby attack beating Forest 4–3 in the League; it was from that game that Platt became interested in signing the player. It took some time for Lester to settle in at the City Ground but when Platt left the club, new manager Paul Hart moved him to an attacking midfield role where he flourished, making over 70 starts and scoring 24 goals. In 2003, he was released by Hart in an attempt to reduce debts.

Sheffield United

After an unsuccessful trial at Sheffield Wednesday, he was signed by Wednesday’s bitter rivals Sheffield United at the start of the 2003–4 season. Lester played alongside Steve Kabba amongst others at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

. He remained a first choice striker at the club for the entire season and made 50 appearances for United until his exit in November 2004.

Return to Forest

Lester was offered the chance to return to Forest and he was re-signed by Joe Kinnear in 2004 for £50,000. He scored in his first game but in his third start damaged knee ligaments which kept him out of action for almost 9 months. He went on to play 88 games in this second spell. Then after Nottingham Forest failed win promotion in the 2006–07 season, he was released by manager Colin Calderwood.

Chesterfield

In June 2007 he signed for Chesterfield on a 3-year contract. He finished the 2007–08 season as Chesterfield's top scorer, with 25 goals in all competitions. This tally made him 3rd top scorer in League Two, with 23 goals in the league, 6 behind

Aaron McLean Aaron McLean (born 25 May 1983) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker. At international level he gained five caps for the England C team during his time in the non-league. McLean began his senior career with Leyt ...

of Peterborough United. That season he also became the fastest post-war Chesterfield player to 20 goals in a season, getting his 20th (and 100th career goal) live on TV against Hereford United. He finished the season third in England on goal to game ratio, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Torres. Lester scored his 100th League career goal in the 2–1 win over Exeter City on 28 January 2009. He also set a club record in becoming the first striker at the club to score 20 goals in consecutive seasons for 82 years. Despite scoring fewer goals than in his first season at Chesterfield, he finished the 2008–9 term as joint-top scorer for League Two, with 20 League goals. In the 2010–11 season Lester scored 17 goals in 43 games (all in home games) as Chesterfield won Football League Two. Later going on to sign a new 2-year contract, keeping him at the club until June 2013. Lester suffered a broken arm against Leyton Orient in September 2011 which kept him out of the side for three months. Lacking both Jack and injured goalkeeper Tommy Lee, Chesterfield's results suffered and the team slumped to the foot of the division. Lester returned to the team in late December but was suspended and missed three further matches after the referee in the home game against Walsall watched recorded footage from the game and saw him strike an opponent. On 30 January 2012 Jack scored the late winning goal at Boundary Park against Oldham Athletic which ensured that Chesterfield reached the final of the Football League Trophy at Wembley, on a 3–1 aggregate score. In his final season for Chesterfield, 2012–13, Lester played the majority of his games from the substitutes bench. He made only 11 starts despite figuring in 38 games in all competitions. Regardless of this his score rate is still impressive, having bagged 11 goals from just 1,454 minutes of football (the equivalent of just over 16 full games). Jack played his last game for Chesterfield, and his last game in professional football on 27 April 2013. He scored twice as The Spireites won 4–0 in a game that was a "fitting send off for a player who will forever be remembered by the Chesterfield faithful". His legendary status is regularly referred to by the club and fans and in August 2013, Chesterfield announced that the number worn by Lester throughout his time with the club, 14, would be retired in his honour.

Gateshead

On 3 February 2014, Lester came out of retirement, signing for Conference Premier side

on non-contract terms. He made his Gateshead debut on 25 February as a second-half substitute in a 2–0 defeat at Welling United. He made his first start and scored his first goal for Gateshead on 22 March 2014 in a 3–1 win against Lincoln City. He was part of the Gateshead side that pushed for promotion to the

and after defeating former side Grimsby Town in the play-off semi-final, Gateshead were eventually beaten in the final at Wembley Stadium by Cambridge United. Lester came on as a 69th-minute substitute and scored in the 80th minute but the club went on to lose 2–1. The game marked Lester's final appearance before retiring. At the end of the season in accordance with his decision to retire, Lester was released by Gateshead following the end of his contract.

Coaching career

After retiring in 2013 with Chesterfield, Lester and his family embarked on a year's travelling around Europe, but after his trip was cut short, and a potential coaching job in America fell through, he joined Notts County as an academy coach for the under 12s, while also returning to play semi-professionally for

. On 1 August 2014, Lester was appointed coach of the U18 side of former club Nottingham Forest. Upon his arrival, he stated towards the club's official website: "I saw it as an exciting prospect and the timing was perfect, It's been everything I hoped it would be. There are still quite a few people I know at Nottingham Forest and it's a wonderful club. I was delighted with the opportunity to work there again." Lester returned to Chesterfield after being appointed as the team's new manager on 29 September 2017. His first game in charge ended in a 2–0 loss to

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

. Following a 4–1 loss to fellow strugglers Forest Green Rovers, which ended any realistic chance of Chesterfield avoiding relegation to the National League, Lester and Chesterfield mutually parted ways on 23 April 2018. On 19 July 2019, Lester returned to Sheffield United as the head of the club's youth academy. In December 2021, Lester was promoted to first team coach by new manager Paul Heckingbottom. On 4 September 2023, Lester was appointed as a temporary assistant coach for the Wales national football team under former teammate Rob Page. Page had been seeking a temporary assistant following the resignation of

Eric Ramsay Eric Thomas Ramsay (born 2 August 1979) is a Scottish professional golfer. Ramsay was born in Dundee. In 2005 he won the Australian Amateur and finished in a tie for 23rd place at the 2005 Open Championship, one stroke behind Lloyd Saltman i ...

Career statistics

: :A. The "League" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in The Football League and Football Conference. :B. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the Football League Trophy,

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

and play-offs. :1. One appearance missing from Soccerbase reference. :2. One goal from Soccerbase reference attributed to Grant Holt. :3. One goal from Soccerbase reference attributed to Adam Rooney. One goal from Soccerbase reference attributed to Peter Leven.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Grimsby Town *

Football League Second Division play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

* Football League Trophy: 1997–98 Chesterfield * Football League Two:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

*Football League Trophy: 2011–12 Individual * PFA Fans' Player of the Year: 2007–08 League Two *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

2007–08 Football League Two The Football League 2007–08 (named Coca-Cola Football League for sponsorship reasons), was the sixteenth season under its current league division format. It began in August 2007 and concluded in May 2008, with the promotion play-off finals. T ...

*Football League Two top scorer: 2008–09

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lester, Jack 1975 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Grimsby Town F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players English football managers Chesterfield F.C. managers English Football League managers Notts County F.C. non-playing staff Nottingham Forest F.C. non-playing staff Sheffield United F.C. non-playing staff People educated at High Storrs School