A physical education (PE) teacher has been banned from teaching after falsely claiming to have played for two prominent football clubs to secure his job, only to be exposed by students.

Aaron Smith was found to have repeatedly lied about his work history while applying for teaching positions, as determined by a Teaching Regulation Agency misconduct panel. Smith falsely stated that he had been a professional footballer at Leicester City from June 2000 to December 2001 when applying for a job at Woodlands primary school.

The 44-year-old, hailing from the Wirral, also fabricated claims of being a professional and apprentice at West Bromwich Albion from 1997 to 2000. Additionally, he falsely asserted that he had represented England Schoolboys at the under 15 level and had played for current EFL clubs Leicester and Albion from ages 11 to 20.

Smith went to the extent of doctoring team sheets with his name among England youth team players and a Leicester youth side, even manipulating a photo of the current team to include his face in an attempt to deceive students.

His deceit was brought to light in February 2016 when he delivered an assembly recounting his supposed experiences as a professional footballer at Leicester, leading to his exposure when students and parents failed to find any evidence of his claims online.

Subsequently, Smith joined the Co-Op Academy at Bebington, Wirral, as a PE teacher in 2016. However, by 2021, he had multiple unexplained absences and fabricated names of fictitious medical professionals he claimed to have been visiting.

The misconduct panel concluded that Smith’s actions were dishonest, resulting in a ban from teaching for a minimum of five years.