Jack Lester

:"See also Jack Lester (disambiguation)"Infobox Football biography
playername = Jack Lester


fullname = Jack William Lester
height = height|ft=5|in=9
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1975|10|8
cityofbirth = Sheffield
countryofbirth = England
currentclub = Chesterfield
clubnumber = 14
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1994–2000
1996
2000–2003
2003–2004
2004–2007
2007–
clubs = Grimsby Town
→ Doncaster Rovers (loan)
Nottingham Forest
Sheffield United
Nottingham Forest
Chesterfield
caps(goals) = 132 (17)
011 0(1)
099 (21)
044 (12)
076 (13)
037 (27)
pcupdate = 11:08, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Jack William Lester (born 8 October 1975 in Sheffield, England) is an English footballer, currently playing for League Two side Chesterfield. He plays either as a striker or an attacking midfielder.

Career

Lester started his career with Grimsby Town and signed his first professional contract in 1994 as a 19 year old. He made over 90 appearances and scored 17 league goals. Lester was subsequently loaned out to Doncaster Rovers. He played 10 games (4 in the starting lineup) and scored one goal.

David Platt signed Lester for Nottingham Forest in 2000 for £300,000. It took some time for Lester to get settled in; but when Platt left the club, new manager Paul Hart moved Lester to an attacking midfield role in which Lester flourished, making over 70 starts for Forest and scoring 24 goals.

In 2003 he was released by Hart in an attempt to reduce debts. He was signed by his hometown club Sheffield United where he made 30 appearances.

Lester was offered the chance to return to Forest and he was re-signed by Joe Kinnear in 2004. He scored in his first game back, but in his third game he damaged ligaments in his knee which kept him out of action for almost 9 months. Upon making his return to fitness Lester went on to play over 30 games in his second spell with Forest, most of them as a substitute.

After Nottingham Forest failed to get promoted in the 2006-07 season, Lester was released by manager Colin Calderwood. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/nottm_forest/6682019.stm Nine players released by Forest] ]

In June 2007 he signed for Chesterfield F.C., on a 3 year contract. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chesterfield/6720219.stm Chesterfield sign striker Lester] ]

Jack Lester finished the 2007/08 season as Chesterfield's top scorer, with 27 goals in all competitions. He was also the 3rd top scorer in League Two, with 25 goals in the league, 4 league goals behind Aaron McLean of Peterborough. In the 2007/08 season, he became the fastest post-war Chesterfield player to 20 goals in a season, getting his 20th (and 100th career goal) live on T.V. against Hereford United. In the 2007/08 season he was third in Europe of goal to game ratios. He finished behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Torres.

Honours

Grimsby Town

*Second Division playoff winner: 1998

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=4493|name=Jack Lester