Ian Selley (born 14 June 1974) is an English football manager and former professional footballer who is the manager of club

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon ...

. He notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

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 ...

, winning the 1994

UEFA Cup Winner's Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renamed the UEFA Cup Winne ...

with them, and in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

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 * W ...

and

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

. Beleaguered by a number of serious injuries which cut-short his professional aspirations, he thereafter forged a career in non-league football with clubs such as

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Chadfields in nearby Tilbury. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former ...

, Maidstone United, Croydon Athletic, Dorchester Town and Kingstonian. During his time at Arsenal he made three appearances for the England Under-21 international team. He was a member of the last time Arsenal fielded an all English team in a Premier League game, in a 1–1 draw at home against Wimbledon on 19 April 1994.

Playing career

Arsenal

Selley joined

in 1990 as a trainee and won a South East Counties League title medal and Floodlit Cup Winners medal in his first season. He made his first-team debut at the age of eighteen in a 1–0 defeat against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

in September 1992. Selley played nine games for Arsenal in the 1992–93 season and fifteen games in the 1993–94 season. Injuries to several key players gave Selley his most famous appearance for the club, when he was the youngest player on the field in Arsenal's 1994 European Cup Winners' Cup Final victory over

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

. He had previously been an unused substitute in the 1993 League Cup final and in the 1993 FA Cup Final replay, both games against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, as Arsenal won the Cup double that season. He scored two goals for Arsenal, both coming in the Cup Winners' Cup. His first came against Standard Liege in 1993–94 and his second against Brondby the following season. In February 1995 Selley broke his leg playing against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, which forced him out for most of the 1996–97 season, playing just once under new manager Wenger as a late substitute against Chelsea. Despite reports that he would be a part of

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development. ...

's new side he was sold to

in 1997 for £500,000, after playing 41 games for Arsenal in the league.

Fulham and Wimbledon

Unfortunately for him, he broke his leg a second time after playing just three games for Fulham and moved to

in July 2000. However Wimbledon were facing financial difficulties, and a bonus payment clause in his contract meant the club could not always afford to play him. Selley started just one game with three substitute appearances for Wimbledon.

Southend United

In February 2002 he was loaned to

, where he enjoyed more success, playing fourteen games in the 2000–01 season. He went on loan to Southend again in the 2002–03 season, playing 11 times. In all he played more than 30 times for Southend in all competitions.

Woking

Selley was released by Wimbledon in May 2003, and signed for

where he became an integral member of the team. Despite an injury against

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Latimer Park. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in 1976, and have ...

in the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

in 2004 which kept him out for ten games, he featured consistently and earned a reputation as a dead-ball specialist – he converted six goals from the spot in the 2003–04 season and two free kicks. At the start of the 2005–06 season his form was rather indifferent and it was revealed that he was recovering from a

hernia A hernia (: hernias or herniae, from Latin, meaning 'rupture') is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. The term is also used for the normal Devel ...

operation. This did not prevent him from playing and he signed another one-year deal to keep him at Woking and provide much needed experience as the club sought a play-off place for promotion from the

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

. He picked up nine yellow cards in his time at Southend United and picked up 10 bookings in his first season at Woking, six the season after that and four in the following season. Injury ruled him out of much of the 2006–07 season, and he was eventually released by Woking at the end of the season.

Further non-League career

Following his release from

Kingfield Stadium Kingfield Stadium, currently known as The Laithwaite Community Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a Association football, football stadium in the Kingfield area of Woking, Surrey, and is the home of Woking F.C., Woking Football Club which has a ...

, Selley joined

in July 2007. In September 2007, Sam Jeremiah of

St Francis Rangers FC ASC Brighton Rangers F.C is a football club based in Haywards Heath, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Colwell Ground. History The club was founded in 2002 from the amalgamation of St Francis FC and Ansty Rangers. The ...

pulled away from Selley at the near post to head in the equaliser in what was eventually a 4–1 defeat. He then signed non-contract terms for

on 22 November 2007, reportedly wanting first team football. It was revealed that

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

manager, Ernie Howe, tried to sign Selley as a player-coach but he proved to be too expensive. Selley left

to join

Isthmian League Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 88 teams in fo ...

side Maidstone United on 7 March 2008, helping them to avoid relegation. He then joined Croydon Athletic in December 2008. Selley's next move was to Conference South club Dorchester Town before his release in January 2010. After his release in January 2010, he signed for Havant & Waterlooville, where he made a good impression. He was released in July 2011. He later signed for Kingstonian. During his time at Kingstonian, he had loan spells at Chertsey Town and

Whyteleafe Whyteleafe is a village in the district of Tandridge, Surrey, England, with a few streets falling inside the London Borough of Croydon. The village, in a dry valley of the North Downs, has three railway stations (on two parallel lines). Neighbou ...

. He ended his playing career in the summer of 2012 and was appointed as the new head coach at Arsenal Soccer Schools Dubai. In 2021, he came out of retirement to play for non-league Dial Square at the age of 48. On 19 December 2023, Selley, having been appointed manager at Westfield in the Isthmian League Division One South and registered himself as a player, made his debut for the club at the age of 49, playing most of the second half in a 2–4 defeat to Ashford United in the Velocity Cup. Two months later, on 20 February 2024, he made another cup appearance, this time as an 87th-minute substitute in a 2-0 win against Midhurst & Easebourne in the first round of the Aldershot Senior Cup.

International career

Selley earned a bronze medal as a member of the squad that won third place at the

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

, now known as the Under 20 World cup, of

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

that was held in Australia.

Managerial career

On 1 November 2021, Selley was appointed as manager of his home town club Chertsey Town. He departed the club in May 2022 after leading the team to the Isthmian South Central play-off final. He was previously in charge of Sandhurst Town. In November 2022, Selley was appointed manager of

Hartley Wintney Hartley Wintney is a large village and civil parish in the Hart district of Hampshire, England. It lies about northwest of Fleet and east of Basingstoke. The parish includes the smaller contiguous village of Phoenix Green as well as the ...

. He was sacked by the club in January 2023. On 25 February 2023, Selley was confirmed as the new first team manager of Westfield (Surrey). On 16 May 2024, Selley's resignation as Westfield manager was announced, appointed as the new manager of

the same day.

Honours

Arsenal *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

* League Cup:

UEFA Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renamed the UEFA Cup Winne ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

England *

third place:

References

External links

*
FA Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selley, Ian 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Weybridge English men's footballers England men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Arsenal F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players Woking F.C. players Lewes F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players Croydon Athletic F.C. players Dorchester Town F.C. players Havant & Waterlooville F.C. players Kingstonian F.C. players Chertsey Town F.C. players Whyteleafe F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players England men's youth international footballers Footballers from Chertsey Chertsey Town F.C. managers Hartley Wintney F.C. managers Westfield F.C. (Surrey) managers Leatherhead F.C. managers Isthmian League managers Southern Football League managers