Eric Steele (born 15 May 1954) is an English former footballer turned coach, who is currently employed as a goalkeeping coach by the
Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...
, working with England's junior teams.
Career
Steele began his playing career as a goalkeeper at
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
in 1972, where he was part of the squad that won the
Anglo-Italian Cup
The Anglo-Italian Cup ( it, Coppa Anglo-Italiana, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) is a defunct European football c ...
and won caps at
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
under-18 level. He then joined
Peterborough United
Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
, and established himself as first-choice 'keeper, setting a record for most consecutive league appearances (124). That record would later be beaten by another Peterborough player, George Boyd (144). He does however, continue to hold the most consecutive appearances in all competitions for the Posh (148). He later joined
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
,
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
, and
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 1884 ...
, winning five promotions in 12 years with those clubs.
In 1988, he retired to run a pub, before establishing Eric Steele Coaching Services, which provided goalkeeping coaching to
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
,
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
, Derby County, and
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
, as well as working overseas in Australia, Switzerland, Norway, Germany and the USA.
Steele was at
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...
as goalkeeping coach and left at the end of the 1997/98 season when he joined Derby County when they came calling again in 1998, and he spent four years coaching there before being appointed goalkeeping coach at
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
in 2001. Steele left his post at Aston Villa in 2006.
In 2006 Eric visited Australia, where he worked with junior and senior goalkeepers in Victoria and Perth. He worked with well-known coaches and helped improve Australian goalkeepers.
In 2007, he became the new
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
goalkeeping coach, following the departure of
Tim Flowers
Timothy David Flowers (born 3 February 1967) is an English football manager and former player who recently was the manager of Stratford Town.
He played as a goalkeeper from 1984 until 2003, notably in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers w ...
to
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...
as assistant to
Iain Dowie
Iain Dowie (born 9 January 1965) is a football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit.
He played as a striker from 1983 until 2001, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham Unit ...
.
Steele left his job at City on 27 June 2008 after being part of the backroom team under managers
Stuart Pearce
Stuart Pearce (born 24 April 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player, who was most recently a first-team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He was nicknamed "Psycho" for his unforgiving style of play.
...
and
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson (; born 5 February 1948) is a Swedish football manager and former player.
After an unassuming playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management between 1977 and 2001, winning 18 ...
.
Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City.
During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, and a ...
, who had left
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
to take charge of Manchester City, brought with him
Kevin Hitchcock
Kevin Hitchcock (born 5 October 1962) is an English football coach and former professional association football, footballer who is goalkeeping coach of MLS side New England Revolution.
As a player, he was a Goalkeeper (association football), go ...
, replacing Steele as goalkeeping coach.
Paul Ince
Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince (; born 21 October 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of EFL Championship side Reading. A former midfielder, Ince played professionally from 1982 to 2007, star ...
soon appointed him as goalkeeping coach at
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
. However, just weeks after joining Blackburn, Steele attracted the attention of
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
, who had been in search of a new goalkeeping coach since
Tony Coton
Anthony Philip Coton (born 19 May 1961) is an English football coach and former footballer who is a goalkeeper scout for Premier League side Manchester United.
As a player he was as a goalkeeper who made 500 appearances in the Football League a ...
had been forced to retire through injury.
In preparation for Steele's departure, Blackburn signed
Bobby Mimms from
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
as their new goalkeeping coach. Manchester United confirmed the signing of Steele on 4 August.
Steele left United after
David Moyes
David William Moyes ( ; born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Premier League club West Ham United. He was previously the manager of Preston North End, Everton, Manches ...
took over as manager in 2013.
On 30 September 2013, Steele returned to
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 1884 ...
when he was appointed goalkeeping coach by the Championship club's newly installed manager, Steve McClaren, the former England team boss.
In July 2015, Steele was engaged by the Football Association to coach goalkeepers across their junior teams.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Eric
Living people
Wallsend Boys Club players
Newcastle United F.C. players
Peterborough United F.C. players
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players
Watford F.C. players
Derby County F.C. players
Cardiff City F.C. players
Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff
Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff
Derby County F.C. non-playing staff
Barnsley F.C. non-playing staff
Blackburn Rovers F.C. non-playing staff
Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff
Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff
Shrewsbury Town F.C. non-playing staff
Middlesbrough F.C. non-playing staff
Association football goalkeepers
English footballers
Mansfield Town F.C. players
Association football goalkeeping coaches
1954 births