John Lester (born 5 August 1982) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

footballer who plays for North End United in the Wexford Football League.

Career

Lester played his schoolboy football at

Leicester Celtic Leicester Celtic A.F.C. is an Irish association football club based in Rathfarnham, Dublin. The club's senior team compete in the Leinster Senior League where they have enjoyed reasonable success. Youth sides compete in the Dublin and Distric ...

alongside the likes of

Andy Reid Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Reid was previously head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999 to 2012. From 200 ...

, Barry Roche and Declan Field. His performances attracted cross-channel clubs and he played for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

in the famous Northern Ireland

Milk Cup SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area of ...

winning the Player of the Tournament award. Despite this, he ended up signing professional terms with Everton. He began well and regularly played for the reserve team at the age of 16 but in his 2nd season, he broke his leg and missed the remainder of the year. His time on

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

was never the same after the broken leg and he returned home to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and signed for Pete Mahon's

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

, making his

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

debut as a substitute against

Galway United Galway United Football Club (Irish language, Irish: ''Cumann Peile Ghaillimh Aontaithe'') is an List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Fi ...

on 31 August 2001. He was loaned out to Monaghan making his debut at

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

on 3 February 2002. Lester was called into the

Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team The Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team, is the national under-21 football team of the Republic of Ireland and is controlled by the Football Association of Ireland. The team played its first match in 1978 and has competed in the U ...

panel for the first time in October 2002. In January 2003 he was selected in the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

Team of the Year. Lester had a nomadic

career with 9 different clubs before culminating with a brief stint at

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

. In 2011, Lester moved to

Sheriff Y.C. Sheriff Youth Club is an Irish association football club based in Sheriff Street, Dublin. Their senior team plays in the Athletic Union League. They have also competed in the FAI Cup, the FAI Junior Cup and the Leinster Senior Cup. History In ...

in the AUL and enjoyed a trophy-laden 6 years with the club winning 25 trophies. In July 2017, Lester moved to the Leinster Senior League to join Greystones United, however only two months later he returned to

He signed for North End United in August 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lester, John 1982 births Living people Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers League of Ireland players Bohemian F.C. players Drogheda United F.C. players Limerick F.C. players Galway United F.C. (1937–2011) players Waterford F.C. players Monaghan United F.C. players Longford Town F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Leicester Celtic A.F.C. players Men's association football midfielders