Steve Wilkinson (born 1 September 1968) 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 played as a striker for five different clubs 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 ...

. He is now head of the football development centre at Loughborough College. Wilkinson began his career at Leicester City, where he climbed through the ranks and signed a professional contract in September 1986. He only played a handful of games for Leicester, and had a loan spell at Crewe Alexandra before he was sold to

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

in September 1989 for a £80,000 transfer fee – a club record at the time. He scored on his Mansfield debut on 3 October 1989 in a League Cup match against Luton Town, and finished the season as Mansfield's top scorer with 15 league goals. His arguably finest moment in a Mansfield shirt came on 3 April 1990, when Wilkinson scored all five goals in Mansfield's 5–2 victory against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. The following season, Wilkinson's goals could not prevent Mansfield from being relegated from Division Three. However, largely thanks to the 40 league goals scored by Wilkinson and his strike partner

Phil Stant Philip Richard Stant (born 13 October 1962) is an English football manager, former professional footballer and British Army soldier who served in the Falklands War and was attached to the SAS. As a player he was a striker who after serving in ...

, Mansfield bounced straight back up in 1991–92, only to be relegated the next season again. In 1994–95, Wilkinson had his most productive season, scoring 26 league goals, including a hat-trick against arch-rivals

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

, as Mansfield reached the

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. However, the Stags missed out on promotion, losing 6–3 on aggregate against Chesterfield in the playoff semifinal. Later that summer, Wilkinson was sold to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

for £100,000. Overall, in all competitions, Wilkinson scored 91 goals for Mansfield, which places him third on the club's all-time scoring list behind Harry Johnson and Ken Wagstaff. Wilkinson spent two seasons at Preston, where he scored 18 goals and added a Division Three championship medal to his collection, before moving back to the

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in July 1997, when he joined Chesterfield. He spent three seasons at Chesterfield, scoring 15 goals, before retiring from the game in 2000. He now lives in Loughborough and teaches in the sports department of Loughborough College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Steve 1968 births Living people English men's footballers Leicester City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Footballers from Lincoln, England Men's association football forwards