Steven John Potts (born 7 May 1967) is an English football coach and 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 is the assistant coach of

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

under-23s. As a player, he was a defender notably in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

for

where he made 399 league appearances, scoring 1 goal over a seventeen-year spell at Upton Park. He retired in 2003 following a spell with non-league side

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

in what was the only season during his career that he did not play for West Ham. He also represented the England national team eleven times at youth level. Following retirement, Potts has held a variety of coaching roles at the West Ham academy including head coach of the U16, U18 and U21 teams.

Career

Potts started his career at West Ham United as an apprentice in 1983, making his first appearance against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

on 1 January 1985. Known as ''Pottsy'', he played for West Ham United for the next seventeen years. Primarily a fullback, Potts developed into a 'utility' player, he spent large portions of his career playing at centre-half despite being undersized for such a position. He also on occasion featured in midfield. Potts was West Ham United Club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for a three years between 1993 and 1996, and was voted Hammer of The Year in 1993 and 1995, and runner up in both 1992 and 1994. During his career he amassed a total of 505 appearances for the club (good enough for ninth place in the club's all-time appearance charts), scoring only one goal, in a 7–1 win against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

in 1990. His last competitive appearance for the club was on 7 March 2001 against Chelsea, although he stayed on until 2002. In 1997 he was awarded a

testimonial In promotion and advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, where ...

by West Ham. The game was played on 2 August 1997 and was a 2–0 win against

QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus R ...

. Potts transferred to

on 13 September 2002 and played there for a full season before retiring from football. In August 2011 he was appointed as coach for the West Ham United under-16 team. Potts was promoted to manage the West Ham United under-18 team in December 2012, taking charge of a 1–0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in his maiden game. In January 2015, Potts was named as West Ham United Under-21 team coach. For the 2021–22 season, Potts was named assistant coach of the under-23 team.

Personal life

In August 2007, he completed

The Knowledge Taxicabs are regulated throughout the United Kingdom, but the regulation of taxicabs in London is especially rigorous with regard to mechanical integrity and driver knowledge. An official report observed that: "Little however is known about ...

and qualified to drive a

Hackney carriage A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or London taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common ...

. In 2008, he ran the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...

in aid of the charity Children with Leukaemia, raising £24,052.99 in the process. He coached his sons,

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

and Freddie, at the West Ham United academy, and both signed their first professional contracts at the club. Daniel has since signed for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

Career statistics

Honours

;West Ham *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

* FL Second Division: promotion 1990–91, 1992–93

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Potts, Steve 1967 births Living people Sportspeople from Hartford, Connecticut English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers American men's soccer players American emigrants to England Premier League players English Football League players West Ham United F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players National League (English football) players Soccer players from Connecticut West Ham United F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football defenders Association football coaches