Steven James Biggins (born 20 June 1954) is an English former

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 ...

. A

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, he scored 66 goals in 237 league games in a fifteen-year career 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 ...

. Starting at

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

, he signed to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

for £6,000 in December 1977, and helped the "Shrews" to the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

title in 1978–79, and also featured in

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

finals in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

. Transferring to

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 ...

for £8,000 in July 1982, he helped the club to the Third Division title in 1983–84 and the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title in 1984–85. He moved on 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 ...

in October 1984. He had brief

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

spells with

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 ...

and

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

, as both Derby and Port Vale won

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

in 1985–86. He spent a brief period playing in Sweden for

Trelleborg Trelleborg () is a town in Skåne County, Sweden, with 43,359 inhabitants as of December 31, 2015. It is the southernmost town in Sweden located some west from the southernmost point of Sweden and the Scandinavian peninsula. It is one of the mo ...

, before returning to England to play for

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

and

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

sides Telford United and

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

Career

Biggins was a pupil at the Shire Oak Grammar School (now

Shire Oak Academy The Shire Oak Academy (formerly Shire Oak School and Shire Oak Grammar School) is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational Academy (English school), academy school (age range 11–18) in Walsall Wood, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Engla ...

) in

Walsall Wood Walsall Wood is a suburb split between both Brownhills and Aldridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. History In the late-18th century and early-19th century, the workers of Walsall Wood were primarily involved in t ...

, West Midlands. He began his career at

before being signed by

side

for £6,000 in December 1977. The

Gay Meadow Gay Meadow was the home ground of Shrewsbury Town football club in Shropshire, England. Just outside the town centre, on the banks of the River Severn, it opened in 1910. The ground closed at the end of the 2006-07 Football League season and t ...

club went on to finish the 1977–78 campaign in 11th place. New

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Graham Turner Graham John Turner (born 5 October 1947) is an English former footballer who became a manager. His son Mark was also a professional footballer. He is third behind only Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger in terms of most games managed. After a ...

then led the "Shrews" to the

and the Third Division title in 1978–79, they had though finished just two points ahead of fourth placed Gillingham. They retained their

status in 1979–80 with a comfortable mid-table finish. They also competed in the final of Welsh Cup, losing 5–1 to Newport County. Shrewsbury dropped to 14th in 1980–81, just three points above the

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

zone. They dropped to 18th in 1981–82, two places and two points above the drop. He was sold to Third Division club

for £8,000 in July 1982. The "Yellows" finished fifth in 1982–83, two places and two points short of

. Biggins was their leading goalscorer with 24 goals in all competitions in 1983–84, as manager Jim Smith led Oxford to the Third Division title. However, Biggins soon moved on again, joining

in October 1984; Oxford would go on to finish top of the Second Division. Despite moving back down to the third tier, the striker was unable to hold down a place under Arthur Cox at the

Baseball Ground The Baseball Ground (sometimes referred to as the BBG) was a stadium in Derby, England. It was first used for baseball as the home of Derby Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898 and then for football as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 19 ...

. The "Rams" finished seventh in 1984–85, and Biggins also had a brief spell on

. Derby won promotion in third place in 1985–86, though he spent a four-game period on loan at

, who

John Rudge John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

led to promotion out of the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

that season. He had a short spell with

in Sweden, before returning to England to sign with

in October 1986. He played 14 Fourth Division games for the "Grecians" in 1986–87, playing his last game in the

in January. He moved on to Telford United, scoring 20 goals for the

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

side in 1987–88. He later played for non-league side

and Ludlow Town. He later served as assistant manager of Ellesmere Rangers.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Shrewsbury Town *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

: 1978–79 *

; runner-up:

Oxford United *

: 1983–84 *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

: 1984–85 Derby County *

third-place promotion: 1985–86 Port Vale *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

fourth-place promotion: 1985–86

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biggins, Steve 1954 births Living people Sportspeople from Lichfield Footballers from Staffordshire English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Hednesford Town F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Trelleborgs FF players Exeter City F.C. players Telford United F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players