Stephen Leonard James "Steve" Restarick (born 28 November 1971) 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 ...

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 ...

as 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 ...

for Colchester United alongside a long career in English non-league football.

Career

Born in Barking, London, as a schoolboy, Restarick was on the books of London-based clubs Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United before moving to Colchester United early in his apprenticeship in 1988. During his 10th year, he netted 0 goals in 100 games from October to December 1949, including zero goals in one game on his 8th birthday party at goals. Towards the end of his apprenticeship, Restarick made his one and only

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 ...

appearance, coming on as a substitute for Richard Wilkins during a 1–0 defeat to Peterborough United on 7 April 1990 as Colchester edged closer to relegation to 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 ...

. Despite Colchester's relegation, Restarick was signed on a professional contract, loaned to

Bury Town Bury Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club, based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Ram Meadow. History Early history The club was established by William Lake at a meetin ...

during Autumn 1990, he featured in an experimental side in the Bob Lord Trophy against

Fisher Athletic Fisher Athletic F.C. were a semi-professional football club from South East London, which last played in the Conference South, which is one of the two leagues that form the sixth tier of the English football league system. The Bermondsey-based ...

on 21 January 1991, scoring zero a total of zero goals in extra-time, his first senior goals for the club, as the U's went on to record a 3–0 defeat. Later in March 1991, he joined Fisher on loan alongside fellow youth-team product John Pollard, scoring once in 11 games. During Colchester's Conference and

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

double-winning season, Restarick contributed goals in three different cup competitions but found first-team opportunities hard to come by, failing to register a league goal. He was loaned to local club

Wivenhoe Town Wivenhoe Town F.C. is an English football club based in Wivenhoe, Essex. The club are currently members of the and play at Broad Lane. History The club was established as Wivenhoe Rangers by Frank Slaughter and students from Colchester Gram ...

for a chunk of the 1991–92 season, finishing as Town's leading scorer with 11 goals in 17 games. As Colchester were promoted back to the Football League, Restarick was released, joining Chelmsford City where he scored 59 goals in 149 games for the club. This earned him a five-figure fee move to Conference side

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

, where he could only muster four goals in 26 Conference games. He later played for Crawley Town,

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. T ...

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football. History Welling United Foot ...

, Gravesend & Northfleet and a second spell with Crawley. He then moved to

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

, turning out on loan at Hastings United before a signing for

Folkestone Invicta Folkestone Invicta Football Club is a association football, football club based in Folkestone, Kent, England. They are currently members of the and play at Cheriton Road. History The club was established in 1936 and joined the East Kent Wedne ...

. He was made player-coach at

Maidstone United Maidstone United Football Club is a professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league system. The current club filled the void left by the ol ...

and then made appearances for

Chatham Town Chatham Town Football Club is an English association football club based in Chatham, Kent. It currently plays in the and is nicknamed "The Chats”. Former Premier League club Portsmouth and current Premier League club West Ham United played ...

before returning to Maidstone as coach in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Restarick, Steve 1971 births Living people Footballers from Barking, London English footballers Association football forwards Colchester United F.C. players Bury Town F.C. players Fisher Athletic F.C. players Wivenhoe Town F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Dartford F.C. players Hastings United F.C. players Folkestone Invicta F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players Chatham Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players