Lee Smelt
English footballer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lee Adrian Smelt (born 13 March 1958) is an English former footballer and author of a goalkeeping coaching book (Practice Keeping: An elite goalkeeper development plan for under 9 to under 21s). A goalkeeper, he played professionally for Nottingham Forest, Peterborough United, Halifax Town, Cardiff City and Exeter City, making a total of 175 appearances in the Football League between 1980 and 1986.[2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lee Adrian Smelt | ||
| Date of birth | 13 March 1958[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Edmonton, England | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1975–1976 | Colchester United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1976 | Margate | ||
| 1976–1980 | Gravesend & Northfleet | ||
| 1980–1981 | Nottingham Forest | 1 | (0) |
| 1981 | → Peterborough United (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 1981–1984 | Halifax Town | 119 | (0) |
| 1984–1986 | Cardiff City | 37 | (0) |
| 1985 | → Exeter City(loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 1986 | Maidstone United | ||
| 1987 | Welling United | ||
| 1987–1988 | Thanet United | ||
| 1988–1991 | Hythe Town | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1989–1991 | Hythe Town player-assistant manager | ||
| 1991–1992 | Margate | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
After Cardiff, Lee then went to non-league Maidstone United and from there played at Welling United, Thanet United and Hythe Town.[3] Lee was player-assistant manager in latter part of his time at Hythe Town[4] and returned to former club Margate as Manager in 1991.[5]
He left football in 1992 to join the police.[3] He was as of 2018, the Academy Goalkeeping Coach (U9-23) at Charlton Athletic.[6]
His son Jack was a goalkeeper and for a short period in his career followed in his fathers footsteps as a 'keeper for Margate.[7]