Leslie Jesse Sealey (29 September 1957 – 19 August 2001) was an English professional footballer and coach. He played as a goalkeeper, most notably in the top flight for Coventry City, Manchester United, Aston Villa, and

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 ...

. He also played in the Football League for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

, Plymouth Argyle,

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

, Blackpool,

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

and

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

. Following retirement, Sealey was appointed first team goalkeeping coach at West Ham United, a position he was in when he died of a heart attack on 19 August 2001.

Career

Sealey joined Coventry City as an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

in 1976 and made his debut as a 19-year-old on 11 April 1977, in a 1–1 draw at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. He spent the next five seasons at the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

club before joining Luton Town in 1983 for £100,000. He was a regular in the team for much of his time at

Kenilworth Road Kenilworth Road is an association football stadium in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It has been the home ground of Luton Town Football Club since 1905. The stadium has also hosted women's and youth international matches, including the second ...

, but he missed their 1988

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

triumph due to injury, his place being taken by

Andy Dibble Andrew Gerald Dibble (born 8 May 1965) is a Welsh football coach and former professional player. As a player, he was as a goalkeeper from 1982 to 2006. During his career he played in the Premier League for Manchester City and in the Scottish ...

. A year later, Luton reached the final again and he was able to keep goal this time in a 3–1 defeat to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in which Sealey had a poor game, including fouling

Steve Hodge Stephen Brian Hodge (born 25 October 1962) is an English retired footballer who played as a midfielder. He enjoyed a high-profile club and international career in the 1980s and 1990s, the high point being reaching the 1986 World Cup quarter fin ...

to concede a penalty (converted by

Nigel Clough Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was ...

). He was dropped from the team for Luton's next game and replaced by

Alec Chamberlain Alec Francis Roy Chamberlain (born 20 June 1964) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made 788 league appearances during his 25-year playing career, the final 11 years and 247 appearances of which were w ...

. Sealey never played for Luton again. In December 1989, Sealey was loaned to Manchester United and made two league appearances during the final weeks of the season. He was named as goalkeeper for the

1990 FA Cup Final The 1990 FA Cup Final was a football match played to determine to winners of the 1989–90 FA Cup. It was contested by Manchester United and Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium, London, England. The match finished 3–3 after extra time. Bryan Ro ...

replay against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

after a poor display from

Jim Leighton James Leighton (born 24 July 1958) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Leighton started his career with Aberdeen, where he won seven domestic trophies and the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup under the m ...

in the preceding 3–3 draw, and made several saves to help his side win 1–0. He later offered his winner's medal to Leighton, who had played throughout the cup run, but the FA subsequently granted medals to both players, who remained friends thereafter. United signed Sealey on a permanent basis, and he was their regular goalkeeper throughout the

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

season, keeping goal in their League Cup Final defeat to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

(in which he was injured, but refused to leave the field) and the Cup Winners' Cup Final victory over

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

the following month. He became a cult hero with United fans and got a standing ovation whenever he returned to Old Trafford. He was hoping to get a two-year contract, but was offered just a one-year deal and turned it down in favour of a transfer, and was signed by Aston Villa. For much of the first half of 1991–92, Sealey was Villa's first-choice goalkeeper, but he then lost his place to long-serving

Nigel Spink Nigel Philip Spink (born 8 August 1958) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. He played as a goalkeeper from 1976 until 2001. He made his name at Aston Villa and also made one appearance for England at international le ...

and never played for the club again. He had several games on loan at

during the opening weeks of the

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

season before returning to Manchester United on a free transfer in January 1993, this time as

Peter Schmeichel Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

's understudy. In his second spell at Old Trafford, he made just two first-team appearances – once as a substitute when Schmeichel was sent off in the FA Cup Quarter-final against Charlton and the other in the League Cup final for which Schmeichel was suspended, which United lost 3–1 to his old club, Aston Villa. It meant his last four appearances for United were a Cup Winners Cup Final, two League Cup Finals and an FA Cup Quarter-final. He had, however, been an unused substitute for most of United's matches since his return to the club, though

Gary Walsh Gary Walsh (born 21 March 1968) is an English football coach and professional former footballer who was most recently head goalkeeping coach at EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion. As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1985 to 2006, not ...

was selected as substitute goalkeeper for the

1994 FA Cup Final The 1994 FA Cup Final was an association football match that took place on 14 May 1994 at Wembley Stadium in London to determine the winner of the 1993–94 FA Cup. It was contested between Chelsea and Manchester United. Four goals in the sec ...

. At the end of the season he was given a free transfer and joined Blackpool, but within six months he had left

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...

and returned to the Premiership with boyhood heroes West Ham. Due to an injury crisis, Sealey made his Hammers debut as an outfield player, coming on as an attacking substitute against Arsenal in the autumn of 1995. During his 18-month spell at the

Boleyn Ground The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...

, he was understudy to

Luděk Mikloško Luděk Mikloško (born 9 December 1961) is a Czech football coach and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a goalkeeper who notably played in the Premier League for West Ham United where he played over 300 games. He also played in ...

. Sealey joined Third Division club

in 1996, and was their first-choice goalkeeper from the start of 1996–97. In December 1996, the 39-year-old Sealey returned to West Ham in an exchange deal for 47-year-old

Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. His 30-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the distinction of playing over 1,000 league games, including in ...

. He made his last first-team appearance on the final day of the 1996–97 season, fittingly against Manchester United at Old Trafford. He had come on as a substitute for

, West Ham's regular first-choice goalkeeper. At the end of the 1997–98 season he was loaned out to

but did not make a first-team appearance. Upon his return to West Ham he was appointed as the club's goalkeeper coach, although he was still registered as a player during the 1999–00 season, taking him past his 42nd birthday in September 1999.

Personal life

He was a nephew of

Alan Sealey Alan William Sealey (born Hampton, London, UK, 24 February 1942 – died February 1996) was an English footballer. Sealey, an outside right, initially played for Leyton Orient in 1960, before moving to West Ham United, in a player exchange ...

, another West Ham United player. He was the father of footballers Joe and George Sealey. Joe notably played as a goalkeeper for West Ham United but at the age of 21 was forced to retire through injury.

Death

Sealey was still employed as West Ham's goalkeeper coach when he died of a heart attack on 19 August 2001 at the age of 43. One of Sealey's pupils at West Ham was Stephen Bywater who wore the number 43 on his shirt as a tribute to his former coach. Also at the club were Sealey's sons, George and Joe.

Honours

Manchester United *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

: 1989–90 * FA Charity Shield:

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

(shared),

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

References

External links

Les Sealey
at Soccerbase
Les Sealey
at sporting-heroes.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Sealey, Les 1957 births 2001 deaths Footballers from Bethnal Green English footballers Association football goalkeepers Coventry City F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Bury F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players West Ham United F.C. non-playing staff Association football goalkeeping coaches