Les Smith

Leslie George Frederick Smith (13 March 1918 – 20 May 1995) was an English footballer.

Football career He was born and educated in Ealing and was a junior with Petersham, before joining Brentford as an amateur on 26 June 1934. Whilst as an amateur he gained experience at both Wimbledon and Hayes F.C. on loan, before turning professional with the Bees in March 1936 as an outside-right. On 24 May 1939, he was capped by England, replacing the injured Stanley Matthews against Romania, to become Brentford's second England international following Billy Scott in 1936.

When the war broke out, Smith played a vital part in the RAF as a rear gunner, He also played in 3 'unofficial International matches', under the guise of an FA XI, but all players played in England shirts, all were English and all received notification on English FA headed paper.

As a consequence of the Second World War, regionalized football returned. Smith guested for Chelsea during the war and won the Football League War Cup (south) with the club at Wembley in 1945.

In October 1945, Smith signed for Aston Villa for a fee of £7,500, In 1952, he returned to Brentford, for a fee of £3,000, where he spent one season before retiring. After leaving Brentford for the second time in 1953, he returned to Aston and ran an electrical business.

Honours

As a player Brentford London War Cup: 1941–42

Chelsea Football League War Cup (south): 1945

Individual Brentford Hall of Fame