Jack William Lester (born 8 October 1975) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is a first team coach at Premier League club Sheffield United, and assistant coach of the Wales national football team.
As a player Sheffield born Lester played as a forward from 1994 to 2014. He came through the youth ranks at Grimsby Town where he moved into the first team in 1994. He became a first team regular and was part of the squad that was victorious in the Football League Trophy and Football League Second Division play-offs during the 1997–98 season. He played at Blundell Park until midway through the 1999–2000 campaign when he was sold to Town's First Division relegation rivals Nottingham Forest. He spent three years as a first team regular for Forest before switching to Sheffield United in 2003. Lester returned to Forest after only spending a year with The Blades. Lester remained at the City Ground for another three seasons before joining Chesterfield in 2007. After six years at Chesterfield, Lester retired on 27 April 2013. On 3 February 2014, Lester came out of retirement and joined Gateshead on a non-contract basis. In his final ever appearance as a player he scored at Wembley Stadium in Gateshead's Football Conference play-off final defeat.
Following retirement Lester brief coached at youth level for Notts County before later returning to Forest where he held various coaching positions. In 2017 he returned to Chesterfield as first team manager but was unable to prevent them from being relegated from the Football League. He returned to Sheffield United in 2019 taking up a role as the head of their youth academy, before stepping up to first team coach during the 2021–22 season.
Playing career
Grimsby Town
Lester started his career with Grimsby Town and signed his first professional contract in 1994. He was nurtured into a first team role at Grimsby by manager Alan Buckley and his assistant John Cockerill. After a brief loan spell with Doncaster Rovers in which he played 11 games (5 in the starting lineup) and scored one goal, Lester became a regular at Blundell Park. During his time there he formed notable strike partnerships with Clive Mendonca, Steve Livingstone, Lee Ashcroft and Jamie Forrester. It was during the 1997–1998 season that he had arguably his best season with Grimsby. He was a regular fixture in the first team and helped the club succeed in an impressive double final win at Wembley Stadium. The Mariners defeated AFC Bournemouth in the Football League Trophy (although Lester was suspended for the final) before beating Northampton Town in the Division Two play-off Final a few weeks later. Lester stayed with Grimsby until midway through the 1999–2000 season when he was controversially sold just after the turn of the millennium. He made 133 league appearances and scored 17 league goals in his time with The Mariners, and is still a popular figure at the club.
Nottingham Forest
David Platt signed Lester for Nottingham Forest in February 2000 for £300,000, just three weeks after he led the Grimsby attack beating Forest 4–3 in the League; it was from that game that Platt became interested in signing the player. It took some time for Lester to settle in at the City Ground but when Platt left the club, new manager Paul Hart moved him to an attacking midfield role where he flourished, making over 70 starts and scoring 24 goals. In 2003, he was released by Hart in an attempt to reduce debts.
Sheffield United
After an unsuccessful trial at Sheffield Wednesday, he was signed by Wednesday’s bitter rivals Sheffield United at the start of the 2003–4 season. Lester played alongside Steve Kabba amongst others at Bramall Lane. He remained a first choice striker at the club for the entire season and made 50 appearances for United until his exit in November 2004.
Return to Forest
Lester was offered the chance to return to Forest and he was re-signed by Joe Kinnear in 2004 for £50,000. He scored in his first game but in his third start damaged knee ligaments which kept him out of action for almost 9 months. He went on to play 88 games in this second spell. Then after Nottingham Forest failed win promotion in the 2006–07 season, he was released by manager Colin Calderwood.