Les Sealey

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Personal information
Les Sealey
Full name	Leslie Jesse Sealey
Date of birth	September 29, 1957 (1957-09-29)
Place of birth	Bethnal Green, London, England
Date of death	August 19, 2001 (aged 43)
Height	6ft (1.85m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1976–1983 1983–1990 1984 1990 1990–1991 1991–1993 1992 1992 1993–1994 1994 1994–1996 1996 1996–2001 1998	Coventry City Luton Town → Plymouth Argyle (loan) → Manchester United (loan) Manchester United Aston Villa → Coventry City (loan) → Birmingham City (loan) Manchester United Blackpool West Ham United Leyton Orient West Ham United → Bury (loan) Career	158 (0) 207 (0) 006 (0) 002 (0) 031 (0) 018 (0) 002 (0) 012 (0) 002 (0) 007 (0) 002 (0) 012 (0) 002 (0) 000 (0) 459 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Leslie Jesse Sealey (29 September 1957 – 19 August 2001) was an English professional football goalkeeper who played for, amongst others, Coventry City, Luton Town, Manchester United, Aston Villa and West Ham United. He was a nephew of Alan Sealey.

[edit] Career

Sealey joined Coventry City as an apprentice in 1976 and made his debut as a 19-year-old on 11 April 1977, in a 1-1 draw at Queens Park Rangers. He spent the next five seasons at the West Midlands club before joining Luton Town in 1983. He was a regular in the team for much of his time at Kenilworth Road, but he missed their 1988 League Cup triumph due to injury. A year later, Luton reached the final again and he was able to keep goal this time; however, a last-minute goal gave the trophy to Nottingham Forest. Sealey went on to lose his place in the line-up to Andy Dibble.

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 replay against Crystal Palace (even though United had signed him after the transfer deadline), after a poor display from Jim Leighton in the preceding 3-3 draw, and made several saves to help his side win 1-0. He later gave his winner's medal to Jim Leighton who had played throughout the cup run.

United signed Sealey on a permanent basis, and he was their regular goalkeeper throughout the 1990-91 season, keeping goal in their Cup Winners' Cup Final victory over Barcelona. He was hoping to get a two-year contract,^{[citation needed]} but was offered just a one-year deal and turned it down in favour of a transfer to 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 and never played for the club again.

He had several games on loan at Birmingham City during the opening weeks of the 1992-93 season before returning to Manchester United on a free transfer, this time as Peter Schmeichel's understudy.

In his second spell at Old Trafford, he made just one first-team appearance. Sealey kept goal for United in the League Cup final, but they lost 3-1 to his old club, Aston Villa. At the end of the season he was given a free transfer and joined Blackpool, but within six months he had left Bloomfield Road and returned to the Premiership with West Ham.

Due to an injury crisis, Sealey made his Hammers debut as an outfield player, coming on as an attacking substitute against Arsenal.^{[citation needed]} During his 18-month spell at the Boleyn Ground, he was understudy to Ludek Miklosko.

Sealey joined Third Division club Leyton Orient in 1996, with whom he had far more first-team chances.

In December 1996, Sealey returned to West Ham in an exchange deal for 46-year-old Peter Shilton. He made his last first-team appearance on the final day of the 1996-97 season, fiitingly against Manchester United at Old Trafford. At the end of the 1997-98 season he was loaned out to Bury but didn't 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, and was used as an emergency centre forward versus Arsenal in Highbury that season.

Sealey was still employed as West Ham's goalkeeper coach when he died of a heart attack on August 19, 2001 at the age of 43. One of Sealey's pupils at West Ham, was current Derby County goalkeeper Stephen Bywater, who wears the number 43 on his shirt, as an homage to his former coach.