Stephen Charles Carter (born 23 April 1953) 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 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

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 ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

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 ...

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. He played as a winger.

Career

Carter was born in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

and began his career as an apprentice with

, turning professional in August 1970. After a promising start to his City career, he made his league debut at St James's Park against

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 ...

at the age 18, he was sold to

in February 1972 for £18,000. He had scored twice in six league games for City, scoring 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. The ...

and a penalty against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...

. He joined a County side who were newly promoted to 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 ...

, and finished in fourth place at the end of that season. His right-wing trickery, and expertise from the penalty spot helped County consolidate and establish themselves in the Second Division after a long spell out of the top two divisions. In August 1978, after 21 goals in 188 league appearances for County, Carter joined

, with

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 ...

international

Don Masson Donald Sandison Masson (born 26 August 1946) is a Scottish former footballer. Club career Masson began his career with Middlesbrough in 1964. He was signed by Notts County manager Billy Gray in 1968 in a joint deal for £7000 along with Bo ...

going in the opposite direction. He immediately settled into the Derby County side, making his debut on 2 September in a 2–0 home defeat 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 ...

. Carter made 33 league appearances for Derby County, scoring just once. Whilst at Derby County Steve suffered a major injury to his achilles' tendon which resulted in two operations and almost two seasons missed of his Derby County career. He rejoined Notts County, by now in the First Division, on a non-contract basis, before joining

on a free transfer in March 1982. He made 46 league appearances for AFC Bournemouth, scoring once, before joining

, again on a free transfer, in July 1984. He played only 16 times for the Gulls league side before leaving league football, joining non-league Lymington Town. While with Derby, Carter was on the books of

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

team

Minnesota Kicks The Minnesota Kicks were a professional soccer team that played at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, from 1976 to 1981. The team was a member of the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL). Initiall ...

. Now living in Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk. He married Gail on 12 January 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Steve 1953 births Sportspeople from Great Yarmouth Living people English footballers Manchester City F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Derby County F.C. players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Minnesota Kicks players AFC Bournemouth players Torquay United F.C. players Men's association football wingers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States English expatriate footballers Players Footballers from Norfolk