Steven Leslie Wignall (born 17 September 1954) is an English former professional

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 ...

manager and player. During his playing career, Wignall, who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, made over 600 appearances 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 ...

Career

Playing career

Born in

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 ...

, Wignall played professionally for

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

, making a total of 639 appearances in

. He retired as a player in 1991, barely a year before Aldershot went out of business.

Coaching career

After his retirement from playing he joined the coaching staff at

, before assisting Ian McDonald. After Aldershot went out of business in 1992, a new club,

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

was formed, and Wignall became their first ever manager, winning back to back promotions before former club

signed him in January 1995. During his time at Colchester he led the club to promotion via the play-offs in 1997/98 and to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

Associate Members' Cup 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 Le ...

the year before. He stayed as manager until he resigned in January 1999, believing he had taken the club as far as he could. In April 2000, he joined

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

and was offered a two-year contract but never signed it and, when approached a month later by former club

, he decided to manage them instead, having only managed 8 games at Stevenage. He managed Doncaster for just one season. In 2003, he became manager of

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

but only lasted seven months. He also worked as a first team coach and assistant at Wivenhoe Town from 2005 before leaving club due to financial reasons in January 2008. In 2009, Wignall published his autobiography titled ''You Can Have Chips''.

Honours

As a player

Brentford *

runner-up: 1984–85 Aldershot *

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 ...

playoff winner: 1986–87

As a manager

Aldershot Town *

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Division Three winner: 1992–93 Colchester United *

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 ...

runner-up: 1996–97 *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

playoff winner: 1997–98

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* *
Profile at Doncaster Rovers F.C. official websiteProfile at Aldershot Town official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wignall, Steve 1954 births Living people English footballers English football managers Liverpool F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players English Football League players Aldershot Town F.C. managers Colchester United F.C. managers Stevenage F.C. managers Doncaster Rovers F.C. managers Southend United F.C. managers English Football League managers Association football defenders English autobiographers