Steve Aylott (born 3 September 1951) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Playing career

He was a

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

and

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

apprentice centre-half and went to the Manor Ground on trial towards the end of 1970–71 after a visit to the Manor with the Hammers' Combination side. He failed to make the Hammers' League sideafter becoming a full-timer in August 1969, but soon made an impact for

. Aylott joined an Oxford side already well-stocked with centre-backs and was converted to anchor man in midfield for the Reserves, who were embarking on their best season. He inched ahead of John Fleming to earn a League debut on 9 October 1971, against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, in place of

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939), commonly known as "Big Ron" or "Mr. Bojangles", is an English former football player and manager. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits. Nick ...

and after a substitute slot, succeeded the injured, soon-to-depart, Atkinson for much of the rest of his Manor career. Sometimes he appeared as full-back. He scored his first goal on 18 December 1971, in a home match against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

. The competition for midfield places intensified in 1973–1974, but Aylott enjoyed his best season in 1974–75. His last game for Oxford was 19 April 1976, away to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. The need to trim the staff after relegation at the end of 1975–1976 saw him released and he joined

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aylott, Steve 1951 births Living people Footballers from Ilford English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders West Ham United F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Brentford F.C. players English Football League players