The nephew of West Ham’s 1965 European Cup Winners Cup final hero, Alan Sealey, Les was born at Bethnal Green in the heart of London’s East End. He joined City from school in 1974 and was the goalkeeper in the same City youth team as Paul Dyson and Garry Thompson. In April 1977 an injury to regular keeper Jim Blyth gave him his first team chance at QPR and he was not overawed in the 1-1 draw. He played the last 11 nail biting games including the memorable 2-2 draw against Bristol City in the final game.

Over the next five years he and Blyth shared the goalkeeping honours in an exciting period of the club’s history and he was a model of consistency. His errors in the 1981 League Cup semi final first leg against the team he supported as a boy were out of character and he was redeemed by two Garry Thompson goals. In March 1982 with relegation again looming manager Dave Sexton recalled Les who had been languishing in the reserves all season and City lost only two of the final 15 games with Les keeping four successive clean sheets.

That summer Blyth moved on and Les became Sexton’s first choice in his exciting team of young bucks. One year later he and the majority of the young stars left in sympathy with the sacking of Sexton and Les, in his forthright style made disparaging comments about the club’s lack of ambition that upset many Coventry supporters. On top of this some fans accused him of deliberately letting a goal in during his final game.  He joined Luton Town and made over 200 appearances in six years. Sadly injury kept him out of Luton’s 1988 League Cup final victory over Arsenal and the following season his needless foul cost Luton a penalty and ultimately the game against Forest.

His honours came late in life at Manchester United. In 1990 he won an FA Cup winners medal after he was preferred to Jim Leighton in the replay and the following year was in goal as United beat Barcelona to win their first European trophy for 23 years.

In 1992 with Steve Ogrizovic injured Don Howe re-signed him on loan and despite a muted reception from the City fans he acquitted himself well in the two games he played. His final League appearance was in 1997 as a substitute for West Ham at Old Trafford when he received a rapturous reception. A year after he was appointed goalkeeping coach at West Ham he died suddenly at the age of 43. One of his protégées Stephen Bywater, who later played for City, wore the number 43 shirt in homage to Sealey.

Penalties faced (25 - 1 saved)
1976-77
11 April 1977 v Queens Park Rangers A, Division One, scored - Don Masson
30 April 1977 v Stoke City H, Division One, missed, wide - Terry Conroy
30 April 1977 v Stoke City H, Division One, scored - John Ruggiero
4 May 1977 v West Ham United A, Division One, scored - Geoff Pike
1977-78
8 October 1977 v Birmingham City A, Division One, scored - Trevor Francis
1978-79
14 October 1978 v Manchester City A, Division One, scored - Gary Owen
14 October 1978 v Manchester City A, Division One, scored - Gary Owen
21 November 1978 v Derby County H, Division One, scored - Gerry Daly
28 April 1979 v Queens Park Rangers A, Division One, scored - Mickey Walsh
1979-80
26 September 1979 v West Bromwich Albion A, League Cup 3rd Round, scored - Tony Brown
27 October 1979 v West Bromwich Albion A, Division One, scored - Tony Brown
1 December 1979 v Ipswich Town H, Division One, scored - John Wark
29 December 1979 v Nottingham Forest H, Division One, scored - John Robertson
1980-81
4 November 1980 v Cambridge United A, League Cup 4th Round Replay, saved - Steve Spriggs
6 December 1980 v Southampton A, Division One, missed, over the bar - Mick Channon
3 January 1981 v Leeds United A, FA Cup 3rd Round, scored - Kevin Hird
24 January 1981 v Birmingham City H, FA Cup 4th Round, scored - Frank Worthington
28 March 1981 v Sunderland A, Division One, scored - Stan Cummins
18 April 1981 v Stoke City H, Division One, scored - Paul Maguire
2 May 1981 v Nottingham Forest A, Division One, scored - John Robertson
1982-83
9 October 1982 v Tottenham Hotspur A, Division One, scored - Garry Brooke
27 December 1982 v Nottingham Forest A, Division One, scored - John Robertson
8 January 1983 v Worcester City H, FA Cup 3rd Round, scored - Paul Moss
5 April 1983 v Nottingham Forest H, Division One, scored - John Robertson
2 May 1983 v Everton A, Division One, scored - Graeme Sharp