Leslie Francis Fridge (born 27 August 1968) is a Scottish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He was formerly manager at Nairn County.

Career

A product of the Scottish Highland Football League, Fridge began his senior career with his home town club, Inverness Thistle of the Scottish

Highland Football League The Scottish Highland Football League (SHFL, commonly known as the Highland League) is a senior football league based in the north of Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Scott ...

, and as a 16-year-old played for Inverness Thistle, in goal, in the 1984-85 Scottish Cup against Celtic in a Fourth Round tie at Celtic Park in a 6–0 defeat. He transferred early in his senior career, to Chelsea in April 1985. He played regularly for the Juniors in 1985–86. A goalkeeper with a good physique, he made his first-team debut for Chelsea in the last game of the 1985–86 season at home to Watford. Chelsea lost 5–1. This game was his first and his last game for Chelsea. He returned to Scotland and spent six years with St Mirren, including loans to

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in as a member of the Scottish Profession ...

and

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

before having spells with Clyde and

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. The club has won f ...

. This was followed by a season playing for

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

in Ireland. After much travelling Fridge soon returned home to sign for

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

. He spent four years with Caley but struggled to be regular choice at the Caledonian Stadium with the likes of Jim Calder and

Nicky Walker Joseph Nicol Walker (born 29 September 1962) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for several clubs in Scotland and England. Walker was selected for many Scotland squads during the 1990s, earning two internat ...

to contend with. In 2002, he signed for near neighbours Ross County. Fridge retired in 2003, and in 2004 became manager of nearby Nairn County of the Highland Football League. After twelve years and 477 games as manager, he left the club in 2016. He was also briefly a coach for Caley Thistle's youth teams.

References

External links

Les Fridge , History of Dundalk F.C.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fridge, Les 1968 births Scottish men's footballers Chelsea F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Stirling Albion F.C. players Arbroath F.C. players Clyde F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players League of Ireland players Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. players Ross County F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers Living people Men's association football goalkeepers English Football League players Scotland men's under-21 international footballers