Leslie Green (17 October 1941 – 30 July 2012) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and manager.

Playing career

Atherstone Town

Les Green started out at a young age playing for youth teams around his hometown of

Atherstone Atherstone is a market town and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. Located in the far north of the county, Atherstone is on the A5 national route, and is adjacent to the border with Leicestershire which ...

. He played for Atherstone Boys Club, Mancetter and Baddesley Colliery before being snapped up by local team Atherstone Town. Green then decided to try to make it with a professional team, so he managed to get a trial with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Unfortunately for Green, he never made the grade because manager

George Swindin George Hedley Swindin (4 December 1914 – 26 October 2005) was an English football player and manager. Playing as a goalkeeper, Swindin made more than 300 appearances in the Football League with Bradford City and Arsenal, where his 18-year ...

said he was too short at .

Hull City

Following this

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

came calling for Green's services and he signed for The Tigers in 1960. Following 4 appearances Green returned to Non-League football with

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

Burton Albion

After three years with Boro, Green joined

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

under the management of

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politic ...

Hartlepool United

After just three months with the Brewers, Green followed Taylor to

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

where he made 34 appearances over the course of two seasons.

Rochdale

1967 saw Green on the move again, this time playing for

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

under

Bob Stokoe Robert Stokoe (21 September 1930 – 1 February 2004) was an English footballer and manager who was able, almost uniquely, to transcend the traditional north-east animosity between the region's footballing rivals, Newcastle United and Sunderlan ...

Derby County

Green was at The Dale for just over one season and made 44 appearances before for the third time in his career he was reunited with

but this time at

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

in 1968. The season Green joined a team that was changing for the better under Clough and Taylor's management. He was part of

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

winning team and the side that was in constant dispute with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

due to the Clough/ Revie rivalry.

Durban City

In 1971 Green decided to leave top flight English football for National Football League side

Durban City Durban City was a South African association football club based in the city of Durban. Formed in 1959 by Norman Elliott, the club was dissolved in 1988. History Durban City FC played in the newly formed whites only National Football League f ...

in South Africa. During his time with the Golden Boys, Green played with the likes of

Alan Skirton Alan Frederick Graham Skirton (23 January 1939 – 12 May 2019) was an English footballer. Playing career Skirton started out as a player with West Twerton Youth Club in his home city of Bath before joining Bristol City as an amateur. However, ...

Bernd Patzke Bernd Patzke (born 14 March 1943) is a German former football player and manager. The defender was twice a squad member of the West Germany national team for FIFA World Cup tournaments: 1966 in England and 1970 in Mexico. Altogether he won ...

and Johnny Byrne. Green also had the pleasure of playing alongside

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...

in a rare guest appearance – when the man himself was into his fifties. Sadly Green's leg was badly broken in a clash with Bobby Viljoen in a crunch derby game against arch-rivals Durban United which ended his playing career. Green's last game was a testimonial match for former

goalkeeper Martin Taylor in a game against Everton on 14 May 1997. The game ended 4–1 to The Rams.

Management career

Following Green's retirement from football – he stayed in South Africa at

as assistant manager until returning to England to take on the role of Commercial Manager at former side

. Green went on to become manager of

. He then went on to manage a string of Non-League clubs Hinckley Town, Tamworth and

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

Personal life

Green was married to Heidi, the daughter of a

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ...

farmer, whom he met whilst residing in South Africa. Green had a son called Simon.

Death

On 30 June 2012, Green died of cancer at Loros Hospice near Leicester, aged 70. After the news of his death, former teammates from the world of football paid tribute to him. John McGovern, who played with Green at both Hartlepool and Derby County said, "I went to see him a few days ago and he was in a poor way but I'm glad I went, because we managed to have a last couple of laughs together. He was an incredible character."

Career honours

Honours as player

Derby County

: 1968-69

Durban City

* Champion of Champions: 1971 * National Football League: 1972 * Coca-Cola Shield: 1972

Managerial stats

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Les 1941 births 2012 deaths People from Atherstone Association football goalkeepers English footballers Atherstone Town F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Durban City F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Nuneaton Borough F.C. managers Tamworth F.C. managers