A PE teacher has been barred from teaching after falsely claiming he had played for two professional football teams and an England youth team – only to be found out by a pupil.
Between 2015 and 2016, Aaron Smith told his employer that he had represented West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City between the ages of 11 and 20, as well England schoolboys at U15 level.
A Teaching Regulation Agency misconduct panel heard that he even falsified several documents, inserting his name in a team sheet including a list of footballers and editing a photograph of the Leicester team with his face, to show off his claim to pupils.
He was rumbled when a pupil and his father were unable to find information online about the football career of Mr Smith, who was employed as a teacher at Woodlands Primary School between 2015 and 2016.
The panel heard that suspicions were aroused in February 2016, after Mr Smith had presented the falsified team sheet for England with his name during a school assembly.
A witness told the panel that after the pupil and father had raised concerns after failing to find him online, the Football Association confirmed that no match had taken place and Mr Smith had not represented England on any level.
The teacher also showed students several props, including a football shirt, medals and a photograph with his face edited on.
The panel heard that he later went to work at Co-op Academy Bebington, between 2016 and 2022.
But in applying for a job at the school, the panel found he had falsely claimed to have worked two part-time roles through SY4C, a childcare and sports education service.
Later, in 2021, a welfare meeting was held with Mr Smith after repeated absences from school – the panel found he provided a false letter from doctor from Liverpool psychotherapy and counselling service, who was later found not to exist.
The school had become suspicious over the letter due to incorrect spelling and grammatical usage.
The panel concluded it was satisfied that the conduct of Mr Smith “amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession”.
He has been banned from teaching for at least five years.
