Stephen George Bull (born 28 March 1965 in
Tipton
Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham.
Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...
,
Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
) 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 is best remembered for his 13-year spell at
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 ...
. He played there from 1986 until his retirement from playing in 1999, and holds the club's goalscoring record with 306 goals, which included 18
hat-tricks
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
for the club.
He was capped 13 times for the
England team between 1989 and 1990, scoring four goals.
Playing career
Early years
Bull was born in Tipton and started school in September 1969 at
Wednesbury Oak Primary School and moved up to
Willingsworth High School in September 1976, by which time he was excelling in school football teams. The junior teams he played for included
Ocker Hill
Ocker Hill is a residential area of Tipton in the West Midlands conurbation, West Midlands of England.
Details
It is situated in the northern part of the town, on the main A461 road between Dudley and Wednesbury. The area was first developed du ...
infants, Red Lion and Newey Goodman. He left school in 1981 to join non-league
Tipton Town. During this time he also held down a succession of factory jobs in addition to playing local league games.
He began his professional career, aged 19, after being recommended to
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...
in 1984 by his
Tipton Town manager Sid Day, who also worked as a scout for the Baggies. After initially having to train with the club's youth ranks, he was quickly offered a pro contract and moved into first team contention. He made his senior debut on 23 October 1985, replacing
Garth Crooks
Garth Anthony Crooks, (born 10 March 1958) is an English football pundit and former professional player. He played from 1976 to 1990, for Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion and Charlton Athletic. Throughout ...
in a 2–1
Full Members Cup
The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992.
The ...
win against
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
. He made his league debut as a substitute against QPR, away, on 12 April 1986 (lost 1–0), and his full debut at home to Sheffield Wednesday on 22 April (drew 1-1); they were his only league appearances that season and only appearances in top flight football.
Bull played three
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 ...
games for Albion after they were relegated in 1986, scoring twice, and also scored one goal in two League Cup appearances for the club. Bull knew it would be difficult to break the Crooks/
Varadi partnership, so was prepared to drop to the bottom tier in search of first team football. In November 1986, he was sold to local rivals
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 ...
, along with
Andy Thompson, for £65,000 where he remained until the end of his professional career in 1999.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Bull's debut for Wolves, then languishing in the Fourth Division, was against
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
on 22 November 1986. His first goal for the club came on 2 December 1986 in the
Associate Members' Cup
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
as Wolves beat
Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...
1–0 at Ninian Park.
In over 13 years at Wolves, Bull broke no less than four of the club's goalscoring records. He became their all-time leading goalscorer with 306 goals in competitive games (250 of them 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 ...
, also a club record) and became their highest goalscorer in a single season when he scored 52 goals in competitive games during the
1987–88 season. Bull also scored a club record of 18 hat-tricks - the first of them against
Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...
in a 4-1 Fourth Division home win on 9 May 1987, the last on 17 August 1996 in a 3-0 Division One away win over
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...
.
Bull's
first season at the club saw him score a total of 19 goals for Wolves - 15 of them in the Fourth Division, in which they finished fourth - although they lost out on promotion after being beaten by
Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
in the playoffs.
In the
1987–88 season, Wolves won the Fourth Division championship and became the first of only five teams (later matched by
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
,
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 ...
,
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
and
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
) to have been champions of all four divisions in the English league. Bull's impressive total of 52 goals in all competitions during the season included 34 goals in the league, with league hat-tricks against
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
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
. He also scored hat-tricks in cup competitions against
Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...
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 ...
. His 50th goal came just 15 months after signing for Wolves, when he found the net twice in a 4–0 home win against
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 ...
on 9 February 1988.
On 24 January 1989, after just over two years at the club, he surpassed the 100-goal margin for Wolves when scoring a hat-trick in a Third Division game against
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
at Molineux, which Wolves won 3–0.
In the
1988–89 season, Bull inspired Wolves to a second successive promotion, this time as Third Division champions, with 50 goals - marking a tally of 102 goals in two seasons. While still playing in the Third Division, he was selected for the
England team and scored on his debut against
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
at
Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
. Thirty-seven of his goals that season came in the league for Wolves. He achieved his first four-goal haul on 26 November 1988 in a 6–0 home win over
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 ...
, scoring a hat-trick the following month in a 6–2 home victory over
Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...
. He managed a third league hat-trick that season in a 5–2 February home win over
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
. He also scored freely in the cups, scoring four against
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 ...
in the Associate Members' Cup and then against
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
in the same competition.
In
1989–90, he finally played Second Division football for Wolves, his first goal at this level coming on 26 August 1989 in a 1–1 home draw with
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
. On
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...
, he reached the 10-goal margin in the league, before impressively grabbing all four goals for Wolves in their 4–1 win 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 ...
on New Year's Day 1990. On 20 March, in the
Black Country derby
The Black Country derby is the local derby between English football teams West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers, apart in the Black Country of the West Midlands.
The most successful side in the Black Country derby is West Bromwich Al ...
at Molineux, as Wolves beat struggling Albion 2–1 to boost their promotion hopes, Bull scored his 20th league goal of the campaign. A hat-trick against
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
followed a month later, and he finished that campaign with 24 league goals and 26 in all competitions, although Wolves missed out on the playoffs and the chance of a third successive promotion.
He started the
1990–91 season in style with both goals at home to promotion favourites
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
, who came away from the Molineux with a 3–2 victory. These goals took his tally in all competitions to 150 goals in just under four years with Wolves. A hat-trick in a 4–0 home win over
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
saw him reach the 11-goal mark in the league by 6 October, and he reached the 20-goal margin (for the fourth reason running) on 26 February as they beat
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 ...
3–1 at home. A hat-trick at home 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 ...
in a thrilling 3–3 draw came the following month, and Bull finished the season with 25 goals in the league and 26 in all competitions.
Late in the
1991-92 season, he scored his 195th competitive goal for Wolves after just over five years at the club, breaking the club's decade-old goalscoring record set by
John Richards. Early in the
following season he scored his 200th goal for the club, less than six years after signing. It came on 18 August 1992 in a 3–0 home win over
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
in the new Division One, as the Second Division was renamed that year with the creation of the new
FA Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
as the top division of English football.
In 1995, Bull came close to making a £1.5 million transfer to Premier League club
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 ...
, then managed by
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 ...
, but ultimately turned it down. Bull revealed in a 2012 interview that
Torino
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...
,
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
and
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 ...
also showed an interest in signing him while he was at Wolves. During the
1991-92 season, press reports suggested he was a transfer target for
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 ...
.
He scored his 250th goal for Wolves in a 1–1 league draw with
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...
at
Prenton Park
Prenton Park is a large outdoor seated association football stadium in Birkenhead, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers, as well as Liverpool's women and reserves teams. The ground has had several rebuilds, with the most recent o ...
on 3 May 1995.
Bull played only one game in the English
top flight
Top Flight (April 15, 1929 – 1949) was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. She was the leading American filly of her generation at two and three years of age.
Background
Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry ...
— coming on as a substitute, replacing Andy Thompson, for West Bromwich Albion in 1986 — the rest of his career was spent in the lower divisions. He came close to achieving his ambition of reaching the Premier League in 1995 and 1997, but Wolves lost in the play-offs both times.
During his final two seasons at Molineux, his chances of first-team football were reduced by a series of knee injuries. He reached the 300-goal milestone on 18 February 1998, scoring in a 2–0 home win over
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
in the league. It was the last of nine goals he would score for Wolves that season, as he missed many games due to injuries.
He scored his last hat-trick in all competitions, two years after his final league hat-trick, on 18 August 1998 in a 5–0 home win over
Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
* Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...
in the
Football League Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
first round first leg.
Bull's final goal for the club came against
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
on 26 September 1998 and his final competitive appearance for the club came on the last day of the 1998–99 season against
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
. By January 1999, however, reports were circulating that Bull would soon be retiring as a player due to an ongoing knee problem.
On 13 July 1999, at the age of 34, Bull finally admitted defeat in his battle to fully regain fitness and announced his retirement after 13 years with Wolves.
However, he soon returned to playing as player-coach of
Hereford United
Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...
for a season in 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 ...
, working with
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 ...
, the manager who had signed him for Wolves.
Known by his fans as 'Bully' for his club loyalty, rapport with supporters and passion for the game and also known as the "Tipton Skin" for his trademark closely cropped haircut, he received an
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
for services to Association Football in December 1999, shortly after retiring as a first class player.
Bull is regarded as a legend at Wolves and one of the main stands at their home ground,
Molineux, is named after him. This commemoration was made in June 2003, with the stand having previously being known as the ''John Ireland Stand''.
On 29 July 2006, Bull made one final appearance for Wolves in his 20th anniversary testimonial game against
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 ...
at
Molineux, playing the first seven minutes of the match.
International career
Bull was capped 13 times by
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 ...
, and scored 4 goals, all coming in the buildup to
Italia 90. He scored his first goal on his debut after replacing an injured
John Fashanu
John Fashanu (, born 18 September 1962) is an English television presenter and former professional footballer.
In his former career, he was a centre-forward from 1978 until 1995, most notably in an eight-year spell at Wimbledon in which he wo ...
against Scotland on 27 May 1989, a low right footed shot to the net. Two more goals came in a friendly against
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
on 25 April 1990. His final England goal came against
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
, which earned him a place in
Bobby Robson's World Cup squad.
Despite starting his international career well, he did not score another goal for England after this. He played four times during
Italia 90 - three times as a substitute against
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
,
the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and once as a starter against
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. His final match for England was on 17 October 1990 against
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, but he was not picked again by his future Wolves manager,
Graham Taylor
Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...
.
Bull was still technically a
Third Division player when he won his first cap, at the end of the 1988–89 season, as Wolves had not yet played in
Division Two after their promotion that season. He remains the last player to be capped by England from outside the top two tiers, and one of only five post-
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
players so honoured.
In total he scored nine goals in 23 appearances for his country at full, U-21 and "B" team levels.
Management career
On 21 February 2008, Bull entered management with
Conference National
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...
side
Stafford Rangers. He had previously worked as a coach at this level with
Hereford United
Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...
in the 2000–01 season and had completed his
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
Pro B coaching licence in the years in between. The team were in the relegation zone at the time of his appointment and he was unable to prevent relegation. He parted company with the club on 12 December 2008.
Personal life
He is the cousin of
West Bromwich
West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, ...
born former footballer
Gary Bull
Gary William Bull (born 12 June 1966) is an English retired footballer. He played for many clubs, most notably Nottingham Forest, typically as a centre forward.
Playing career
Having been a trainee at Southampton, Bull joined Cambridge United ...
, who played for clubs including
Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
* Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...
,
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
and
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
.
In November 2022, Bull launched his own clothing line entitled 'SB9' using the famous gold and black; it comprises t-shirts, hoodies, caps, beanies, polos, gilets, track suit trousers and shorts.
Honours
;Wolverhampton Wanderers
*
Third Division Championship:
1988–89
*
Fourth Division Championship:
1987–88
*
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
:
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
;England
*
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
:
1990: 4th
;Individual
*
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
, Dec 1999
*Freeman of the
City of Wolverhampton, Sept 2018
Career statistics
References
External links
* bullybully.net
Profileat the Official Wolves site
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bull, Steve
1965 births
Living people
1990 FIFA World Cup players
England B international footballers
English football managers
English footballers
England international footballers
England under-21 international footballers
Association football forwards
Tipton Town F.C. players
Hereford United F.C. players
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Sportspeople from Tipton
Stafford Rangers F.C. managers
English Football League players
West Bromwich Albion F.C. players
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
Association football coaches