Stephen George Carter (born 13 April 1972) 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 winger 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, su ...

. He began his career in

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

's youth system, and later played

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for numerous clubs in the north east of England.

Career

Carter was born in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in 1972. He played football for

's junior teams in the 1987–88 season, and signed a trainee contract with the club as a 16-year-old in July 1988. He continued playing 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 the juniors, scoring 14 goals from 31 appearances in 1988–89 as well as making a first appearance for United's reserves in the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

: he started in the visit to

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

's reserves in May 1989, alongside team-mates including

Mark Bosnich Mark John Bosnich (born 13 January 1972) is an Australian former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper, and sports pundit. He played in England for Premier League clubs Aston Villa, Manchester United and Chelsea. He also played in ...

Darren Ferguson Darren Ferguson (born 9 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Championship club Peterborough United. In between his stints with Peterborough, he also managed Preston N ...

and

Shaun Goater Leonard Shaun Goater, Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 25 February 1970) is a Bermuda, Bermudian former professional Association football, footballer, coach and pundit, he currently works as a youth coach at Manchester City F.C., Manchest ...

. Carter was a member of the team that reached the semi-final of the 1989–90 FA Youth Cup, in which United lost to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

's youngsters over two legs. He was released at the end of the season and joined

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 ...

club

. He made his

debut on 25 August 1990, the opening match of the season, as a substitute in a goalless draw away to Cardiff City, and made his first start a week later in a 1–0 win at home to

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 ...

. He kept his place until well into January 1991, usually as a starter on the wing, and scored three league goals. In November, he was reportedly being watched by

Stan Cullis Stanley Cullis (25 October 1916 – 28 February 2001) was an English professional footballer and manager, primarily for Wolverhampton Wanderers. During his term as manager between 1948 and 1964, Wolves became one of the strongest teams in the En ...

on behalf of the England under-21 team. Later in the season, he was used to fill in at a variety of positions rather than as a regular. Carter played little the following season. He joined

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 ...

club

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

in November on loan, but made only one appearance before returning to the north east amid reports of a dispute with Scarborough. He was released in early January 1992, having scored four times from 44 appearances in all competitions. Carter never returned to the Football League. He embarked on a tour of

in the north east of England with clubs including Chester-le-Street Town,

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

, Northallerton Town, Durham City, with whom he won the 1993–94 Northern League title,

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

, Jarrow Roofing and Guisborough Town.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Steve 1972 births Living people Footballers from Sunderland English footballers Men's association football forwards Men's association football wingers Manchester United F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Runcorn F.C. Halton players Chester-le-Street Town F.C. players North Shields F.C. players Northallerton Town F.C. players Durham City A.F.C. players Bishop Auckland F.C. players Jarrow Roofing Boldon Community Association F.C. players Guisborough Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Football League players