Leslie George Frederick Smith (13 March 1918 – 20 May 1995) 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 ...

Football career

He was born and educated in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

and was a junior with Petersham, before joining

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

as an amateur on 26 June 1934. Whilst as an amateur he gained experience at both

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

and

Hayes F.C. Hayes Football Club was an English association football club based in Hayes, Middlesex. History left, Botwell Mission, in 1910/11 Hayes were formed in 1909 by Eileen Shackle, who wished to create a club to encourage boys to participate in spo ...

on loan, before turning professional with the Bees in March 1936 as an outside-right. On 24 May 1939, he was capped by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, replacing the injured

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 ...

against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, to become Brentford's second and final England international to date following Billy Scott in 1936. When the war broke out, Smith played a vital part in the RAF as a rear gunner, where he consequently met his future wife, Joan (who was part of the women's RAF). However Smith still managed to play for Brentford during the war. He also played 13 wartime internationals for England, 11 whilst a Brentford player and 2 once transferred to Aston Villa. He also played in 3 'unofficial International matches', under the guise of an FA XI, but all players played in England shirts, all were English and all received notification on English FA headed paper. As a consequence of the Second World War, regionalized football returned. Smith guested for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

during the war and won the Football League War Cup (south) with the club at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

. In October 1945, Smith signed for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

for a fee of £7,500, where he spent six seasons and became a crowd favourite. In 1952, he returned to Brentford, for a fee of £3,000, where he spent one season before retiring. After his retirement he went into management for a season with

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

, before becoming a scout for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

Personal life

Smith was the son of Francis Edmond and Ethel-May and he had one sister, Frances (m. Byrne). Smith attended St Dunstan's College in

, where he was a friend of his future Brentford manager Harry Curtis' son Gordon. After leaving Brentford for the second time in 1953, he returned to

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

and ran an electrical business. Smith died of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

in May 1995.

Honours

As a player

Brentford *

London War Cup The London War Cup was an English football competition held during the Second World War. It was established to be a wartime replacement for the FA Cup, which had been suspended for the duration of the conflict. Although called the London War Cu ...

: 1941–42 Chelsea * Football League War Cup (south):

Individual * Brentford Hall of Fame

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Les 1918 births 1995 deaths English men's footballers England men's international footballers England men's wartime international footballers Brentford F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. managers Neurological disease deaths in England Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Southern Football League players Southern Football League managers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Men's association football outside forwards English football managers Footballers from Ealing