Stephen George Gardner (born 3 July 1968) is a 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 central defender. After starting as a member of the youth team at

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 ...

, Gardner signed for then

Football League Division Four 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 ...

side

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 ...

in 1987, making 115 first-team appearances in three seasons, including the

1988 Football League Trophy Final The 1988 Associate Members' Cup Final, known as the Sherpa Van Trophy Final for sponsorship reasons, was the 5th final of the domestic football cup competition for teams from the Third and Fourth Divisions. The final was played at Wembley Stad ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, where they lost 2–0 to

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

. Gardner was released by the Clarets in May 1990 and eventually signed for

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 1991, where he made 14 league appearances. List of Bradford City A.F.C. players with fewer than 50 league appearances After being released by Bradford, Gardner joined Bury but made only one league appearance and subsequently retired from professional football.

References

External links

Steve Gardner career stats
at playerhistory.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Steve 1968 births Living people Footballers from Middlesbrough English footballers Association football defenders English Football League players Burnley F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Bury F.C. players