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 lea ...

Football career

He was born and educated in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

and was a junior with Petersham, before joining

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

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 * W ...

and

Hayes F.C. Hayes Football Club was an English association football club based in Hayes, Middlesex. In 2007 the club merged with Yeading to form Hayes & Yeading United. History left, Botwell Mission, in 1910/11 Hayes were formed in 1909 by Eileen Shack ...

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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, replacing the injured

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...

against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, to become Brentford's second England international 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 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 the London Borou ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

. In October 1945, Smith signed for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

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 are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

, before becoming a scout for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league 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, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Located immediately to the north-west of Birmingham city centre, Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a wards of the United Kingdom, war ...

and ran an electrical business. Smith died of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

in May 1995.

Honours

As a player

Brentford *

London War Cup The London War Cup was an English football (soccer), 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 calle ...

: 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 Royal Air Force airmen Military personnel from the London Borough of Ealing Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. managers Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in England 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 the London Borough of Ealing People from Ealing English Football League players