Stephen Powell (born 20 September 1955) 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, rugb ...

who played as 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 ...

or defender. He spent the majority of his career at

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

where he played 420 times, placing him in the top ten for total appearances for the club. He also played for

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

in the NASL.

Early life

Powell, the son of ex-Derby County player Tommy Powell, went to Gayton Avenue Junior School, in the Littleover suburb of Derby, at the age of 11 he then moved to the

Bemrose School The Bemrose School is a foundation trust all-through school situated on Uttoxeter New Road, Derby, England, with an age range of pupils from 3 – 19. Opened as a boys' grammar school in 1930, it became a co-educational comprehensive school in ...

just like his father once had many years before him.

Career

While at Bemrose School, Powell impressed the then Derby County managerial team of

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engli ...

and Peter Taylor enough for Clough to sign him for Derby County on a visit to the school premises. Powell then went on to make his first team debut aged 16 years and 30 days in a

Texaco Cup The Texaco Cup, officially known as the International League Board Competition, was an association football competition started in 1970, involving sides from England, Scotland, and Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions. I ...

tie against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

, which Derby County won 3–2. He made his league debut three days later aged 16 years and 33 days in the 2–1 win against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

. Whilst at Derby County, Powell played as defender and midfielder. Powell made 352 appearances in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

for ''The Rams'', scoring twenty goals. Powell won the player of the year (now named the Jack Stamps trophy) in the 1978–79 season. Powell went from a schoolboy star into an exceptional professional league player. Despite playing in a declining league side towards the end of his Derby County career, Powell was completely dedicated to Derby County. He was part of the team during some of their highest and lowest moments. Derby won the First Division title twice during his time at the club; he made three appearances in the 1971–72 success but played more regularly during the 1974–75 title winning season with 15 appearances. There was also a

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

semi-final appearance in 1973, relegation to the Second Division in 1980 and relegation to the Third Division in 1984. He retired in 1985 after well over a decade with the Rams, who had missed out on promotion back to the Second Division but would follow it up with two successive promotions. Powell and his father, Tommy appeared in 826 senior games between them for Derby County. Powell later worked at Derby College.

Honours

* First Division: 1971–72, 1974–75 *

: 1972

References

External links

*
NASL statsArticle at Sporting Heroes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Steve 1955 births Living people Footballers from Derby People educated at Bemrose School English footballers English expatriate footballers England men's under-23 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders Derby County F.C. players Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players English football managers Burton Albion F.C. managers Expatriate soccer players in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in the United States