Stephen Alexander Mardenborough (born 11 September 1964) 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 made more than 300 appearances 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 ...

Career

A much travelled player during his career, Mardenborough's first club was

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 ...

but was released after finishing his apprenticeship, joining

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 struggled to make an impact on the first team. His only league goal for the club was the winner at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

in January 1984 against reigning champions

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 ...

, who were en route to another League title as well as the

1983–84 European Cup The 1983–84 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won for a fourth time by Liverpool in a penalty shootout in the final against Roma. The game had finished 1–1. Phil Neal had scored for Liverpool and Roberto Pruzzo for Roma ...

, while Wolves would be relegated. After a loan spell at

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

, Mardenborough joined Swansea City in July 1984. He was a popular figure in his single season at the club but was allowed to leave in a mass clear-out of players at the end of the year, staying in Wales to sign for Newport County. After two seasons in Newport he joined his third Welsh club in Cardiff City. He struggled to reproduce the same form he had previously shown, scoring just once in a 3–1 win over

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 ...

, and was allowed to join

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 ...

after one season. After leaving Hereford he spent time playing in Sweden for

IFK Östersund IFK Östersund is a Swedish football club located in Östersund in Jämtland. Background Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Östersund were founded on 7 March 1906 at the Café Temperance in Östersund. The club subsequently joined the IFK movement ...

before returning to England with

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 ...

. In 1990 he signed for

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 ...

where he held a regular first team place for several years, playing over 100 times for the club and helping them gain promotion back into the

. Leaving Darlington in 1993, he spent one year at Lincoln City before having a short spell at

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

and non-contract terms at

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

and Swansea. His second spell at Swansea would be his last in the Football League before dropping into non-league, playing in the

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 20 ...

for nearly ten years.

Personal life

Mardenborough's son,

Jann Mardenborough Jann Mardenborough (born 9 September 1991) is a British professional racing driver competing in the Japanese Super GT series. In 2011 he became the third (and youngest) winner of the GT Academy competition, beating 90,000 entrants. He was rewar ...

, became a professional racing driver after winning the 2011

GT Academy GT Academy (also known as Nissan PlayStation GT Academy and NISMO PlayStation GT Academy as part of the Nissan partnership) was a television programme run by Nissan and Sony Interactive Entertainment, which provided an alternative route into re ...

on the '' Gran Turismo'' series of

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

driving games. A film based on Jann's career, ''Gran Turismo'', has

Djimon Hounsou Djimon Gaston Hounsou (; ; born April 24, 1964) is a Beninese-American actor and model. He began his career appearing in music videos. He made his film debut in '' Without You I'm Nothing'' (1990) and earned widespread recognition for his role as ...

play Steve.

Honours

Club

Cardiff City *

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 ...

winner: 1987–88 Darlington *

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

winner: 1989–90 *

winner: 1990–91

References

General * * Specific

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mardenborough, Steve 1964 births Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers Black British people English people of Barbadian descent Coventry City F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Östersunds FK players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Cwmbrân Town A.F.C. players Cardiff Metropolitan University F.C. players Aberystwyth Town F.C. players Rhayader Town F.C. players Haverfordwest County A.F.C. players Port Talbot Town F.C. players Llanelli Town A.F.C. players Gloucester City A.F.C. players Carmarthen Town A.F.C. players Barry Town United F.C. players English Football League players Cymru Premier players IFK Östersund players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden English expatriate sportspeople in Sweden