Lester Fernandez (born 6 December 1986), is an Indian professional

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 ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Kenkre in the

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

. He is currently a football coach too.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, Fernandez graduated from the

Tata Football Academy Tata Football Academy (Tata FA or TFA) is a Association football, football academy based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, sponsored by Tata Steel, which owns Indian Super League, ISL outfit Jamshedpur FC. It is one of the renowned and leading football ...

in 2007. He then signed his first professional deal with

Dempo Dempo Mining Corporation Limited is a prominent mining company from the western Indian state of Goa. The mineral business was founded by Vasantrao S. Dempo in 1941, along with his younger brother Vaikuntrao Dempo. Vasantrao was the founding c ...

of the

. He then signed for Vasco next season before signing with

Salgaocar Salgaocar Football Club (formerly Salgaocar Sporting Club) is an Indian professional football club based in Vasco, Goa. Being one of the country's most successful clubs, it is currently operating youth teams. Until the disfunction of its seni ...

the next season in 2009. He then signed for

side

Pune F.C. Pune Football Club was an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Pune, Maharashtra. The club competed in I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. The club was one of the List of football clubs in Ind ...

in 2010. After the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, Fernandez was voted the Fans' Player of the Year.

Prayag United and Mumbai Tigers

On 11 June 2012 it was announced that Fernandez had been sold to fellow I-League side Prayag United for Rs 20 lakh. He made his debut for Prayag United on 7 October 2012 against

Air India Air India is the flag carrier of India with its main hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, and secondary hubs at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, alo ...

in a league match. He came on in the 82nd minute for C.K. Vineeth as Prayag United won 5–1. After the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, Fernandez left Prayag United due to lack of playing time and signed for Mumbai Tigers who were expected to participate in the

for the 2013–14 season. However, before the season began, it was announced that Mumbai Tigers had dropped out of the I-League, meaning that Fernandez would not participate in the league.

Pune

On 18 February 2014 it was announced that Fernandez had re-signed with former club

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. He made his return debut for the club on 19 February 2014 against

Mohammedan ''Mohammedan'' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. It is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muhamm ...

. He came on as a 65th-minute substitute for

Anthony D'Souza Anthony D'Souza (born 2 March 1987) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Goa. Career Early career Born in Siolim, Goa, D'Souza started his football career at the SESA Football Academy before joining the youth t ...

as Pune won 2–0.

Atletico de Kolkata

Fernandez was drafted by

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

franchise

Atlético de Kolkata ATK Football Club (also known as Atlético de Kolkata in association with Atlético Madrid) was an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competed in the ISL, the top flight of Indian football. They were ...

in the 10th round. In his second match against

Chennaiyin FC Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014 during the inaugural sea ...

, he won the ISL Emerging player of the match award.

International career

In February 2012 Fernandez was selected into

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

head coach

Savio Medeira Savio Medeira (born 20 March 1965) is an Indian football manager and former player who is current technical director (interim) of the India national football team. He is currently serving as the technical director of SC de Goa. Playing career ...

's 30-man squad. He then made his international debut for India on 23 February 2012 against

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

in which he started and played 56 minutes as India lost 5–1.

Honours

;Atlético de Kolkata *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

References

External links

I-League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Lester 1986 births Living people Footballers from Bengaluru Indian men's footballers Dempo SC players Vasco SC players Salgaocar FC players Pune FC players United SC players Bharat FC players ATK (football club) players Men's association football midfielders I-League players Indian Super League players 21st-century Indian sportsmen India men's international footballers