Stephen Robert Torpey (born 16 September 1981) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and former player who now works as a coach in Manchester City's youth teams. 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 ...

, he played one game in the

English 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 Engl ...

for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in 2001, and also played in the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

for Halifax Town between 2006 and 2008. He also played once for

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, sub ...

, and also turned out for lower non-League sides

Prescot Cables Prescot Cables Football Club is a supporter-owned football club based in Prescot, Merseyside. It was established in 1884 and has also been known as Prescot and Prescot Town. They compete in the and play their home games at Valerie Park. They ...

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

, Atherton Laburnum Rovers, FC United of Manchester,

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

, AFC Telford United, and

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

. He then went into coaching with

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 ...

and Manchester City.

Playing career

A versatile forward, Torpey started out as a

trainee, spending six years there and representing England at schoolboy level before moving to

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 ...

in 2001. He made his debut for the "Valiants" on 1 September 2001, replacing

George O'Callaghan George Paul O'Callaghan (born 5 September 1979) is an Irish former football player and manager. O'Callaghan started his career with Port Vale in 1995, he made 41 appearances for the club before joining Cork City in 2002. He spent five years ...

57 minutes into a 2–0 defeat to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

at Vale Park. In October he was

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

ed out to

side

, and played in one

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

game before returning to Burslem. He moved to

of the North West Counties League in 2002, helping the club to win two promotions in as many years, leaving them in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. On 2 October 2004, he joined

in the Conference North, but had his time at

Moss Lane Moss Lane (currently known as the J. Davidson Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a multi-purpose stadium in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It is currently used primarily for football matches and is the home ground of Altrincham. The ...

disrupted by hamstring injury and a bout of pleurisy. He moved back to Prescot in February 2005. In March 2005 he signed dual forms enabling him to also play for Atherton Laburnum Rovers. At the end of 2004–05, Cables lost out to

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Loca ...

at the play-off semi-final stage. In 2005, he joined the newly formed FC United of Manchester, a club formed by fans in protest to the Glazer ownership of Manchester United. He scored the club's first ever goal, in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against Flixton in August 2005. After a successful first season, in which the club won promotion out of North West Counties League Division Two, he moved into the Conference in August 2006 with Halifax Town. He played 27 games for Halifax throughout the 2006–07 campaign, scoring seven goals. He played 24 games in 2007–08, scoring two goals, before he left the Shay in February 2008, after being told he was not going to be given a new

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

. He joined Conference North side

on loan, and joined the club permanently in the summer. He scored 20 goals in 62 games for the club in all competitions, including an appearance in the 2008 play-off final defeat to

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Torpey signed for Conference North rivals Telford United. After just months at Telford, they agreed to sell him to

Fleetwood were promoted at the end of 2009–10, after beating Alfreton Town in the play-offs. In summer 2010 he played for

F.C. United of Manchester Football Club United of Manchester is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English football league system, and plays home matches at Broadhurst Park. Found ...

, now in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, again in pre-season

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

but was not named in the 21 player squad for the 2010–11 season by the club, as he was still considering offers from various clubs in higher leagues. It was announced on 28 August that he had re-signed for the club. He left the club in October 2011 after repeated injury problems, having had his registration released by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Karl Marginson.

Coaching career

Torpey worked as a

with Liverpool's youth teams, working with a range of age groups over a six-year period finishing with the role of Head of Foundation phase and U11 lead coach. He took up a similar position at

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 ...

in 2014 (Foundation Phase Co Ordinator / U11 Lead Coach). Since then Torpey has progressed through the academy system at City, becoming Head of Coaching u9-u12 before taking on the role of Head of Coaching u15-u23 in August 2020 overseeing the clubs first Premier League 2, u18 Premier League North, U18 Premier League National play-off and

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

wins in his first season.

Career statistics

Honours

Prescot Cables *

North West Counties Football League The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern S ...

: 2002–03 * Northern Premier League First Division promotion: 2003–04 F.C. United of Manchester *

Division Two: 2005–06

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torpey, Steve 1981 births Living people People from Kirkby Footballers from Merseyside Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Liverpool F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Atherton Laburnum Rovers F.C. players Prescot Cables F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players F.C. United of Manchester players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players AFC Telford United players Fleetwood Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Association football coaches Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff