Jack Lester- Chesterfield Manager

Master of dark arts has new title

- Chris Dunlavy

CHESTERFIELD were waist-deep in a League One relegation scrap when their manager, John Sheridan, challenged his players to bare their teeth.

“I wish I had one or two players who were a little more nasty in not wanting to lose,” griped the former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder. “I haven’t got any – apart from Jack Lester, of course.”

The ‘of course’ was apt. After 19 years, six clubs and 178 goals, nobody who’d watched, partnered or opposed Lester needed reminding of his fearsome – and sometimes cynical – competitive edge.

“For every ounce of skill and technique Jack had, he had double that in desire,” said Tommy Lee, the Chesterfield goalkeeper now into his ninth year at the Proact.

“He possessed a will to win that often tested the boundaries between fair and foul play, and he demanded the same from his team-mates.”

From his emergence under Kenny Swain at Grimsby in the late 90s to his twilight years as Chesterfield’s grizzled gunslinger, Lester was a master of football’s dark arts.

Niggly fouls, buying freekicks, standing on toes. If an opposition firebrand needed his fuse lit, Lester was there with the matches. If a defender dangled a leg – or even didn’t – the striker tumbled like Norman Wisdom.

Neil Warnock, who signed Lester for Sheffield United in 2003, once described him as the most skilful deceiver of referees he’d ever managed.

“He was the only player who could fool me,” admitted the Cardiff boss, who is also a qualified referee. “We could never see it when he got his penalties. I didn’t realise until later they never touched him.”