Stephen John Thornber (born 11 October 1965) 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 ...

and current youth team manager of

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 ...

. Thornber, a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, began his career as a junior with

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

in 1983. He remained with the Shaymen for five years, making 104 league appearances and scoring four goals. In 1988, he moved to

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

in a £10,000 deal. In three years at the Welsh club he made 117 appearances, scoring six goals. His next move, in 1992, was to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, then managed by

Billy Ayre William Ayre (7 May 1952 – 16 April 2002) was an English footballer who played for three clubs in a sixteen-year professional career, making over three hundred League appearances in the process. After retiring from the playing side of the gam ...

, a former teammate and manager of Thornber during his time at Halifax. After a year and just under a quarter-century of appearances at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the ...

, he joined

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

on a free transfer.

References

Thornber's profile at Soccerbase
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornber, Steve 1965 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Blackpool F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. non-playing staff English Football League players English men's footballers Footballers from Dewsbury Halifax Town A.F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. non-playing staff Scunthorpe United F.C. non-playing staff Scunthorpe United F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players