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Eric Graham Steele (born 14 May 1954) is an English former footballer who played as a
goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
. He is currently employed as a goalkeeping coach by the
Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...
, working with England's junior teams.


Career

Steele began his playing career as a goalkeeper at
Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
in 1972, where he was part of the squad that won the
Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup (, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) was a European football competition. The competition was ...
and won caps at
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
under-18 level. He then joined
Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...
, and established himself as first-choice 'keeper, setting a record for most consecutive league appearances (124). That record would later be beaten by another Peterborough player, George Boyd (144). He does however, continue to hold the most consecutive appearances in all competitions for the Posh (148). He later joined
Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...
,
Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...
, and
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...
, winning five promotions in 12 years with those clubs. In 1988, he retired to run a pub, before establishing Eric Steele Coaching Services, which provided goalkeeping coaching to
Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
,
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
, Derby County, and
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
, as well as working overseas in Australia, Switzerland, Norway, Germany and the USA. Steele was at
Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...
as goalkeeping coach and left at the end of the 1997/98 season when he joined Derby County when they came calling again in 1998, and he spent four years coaching there before being appointed goalkeeping coach at
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...
in 2001. Steele left his post at Aston Villa in 2006. In 2006 Eric visited Australia, where he worked with junior and senior goalkeepers in Victoria and Perth. He worked with well-known coaches and helped improve Australian goalkeepers. In 2007, he became the new
Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
goalkeeping coach, following the departure of
Tim Flowers Timothy David Flowers (born 3 February 1967) is an English football manager and former player who manages Alvechurch. He played as a goalkeeper from 1984 until 2003, notably in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers where he was part of the s ...
to
Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...
as assistant to
Iain Dowie Iain Dowie (born 9 January 1965) is a football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit. He played as a striker from 1983 until 2001, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham Unit ...
. Steele left his job at City on 27 June 2008 after being part of the backroom team under managers
Stuart Pearce Stuart Pearce (born 24 April 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player, who was most recently a first-team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He was nicknamed "Psycho" for his unforgiving style of play. ...
and
Sven-Göran Eriksson Sven-Göran Eriksson (; 5 February 1948 – 26 August 2024) was a Swedish association football, football player and Coach (sport), manager. After a playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management ...
.
Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Carlisle United F.C., Carlisle United. During his playing career he usually operated as a Forward (asso ...
, who had left
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
to take charge of Manchester City, brought with him Kevin Hitchcock, replacing Steele as goalkeeping coach.
Paul Ince Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince (; born 21 October 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently manager of Reading. A midfielder, Ince played professionally from 1986 to 2007, starting his career with West ...
soon appointed him as goalkeeping coach at
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
. However, just weeks after joining Blackburn, Steele attracted the attention of
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
, who had been in search of a new goalkeeping coach since
Tony Coton Anthony Philip Coton (born 19 May 1961) is an English football coach and former footballer who is a goalkeeper scout for Premier League side Manchester United. As a player he was as a goalkeeper who made 500 appearances in the Football League a ...
had been forced to retire through injury. In preparation for Steele's departure, Blackburn signed
Bobby Mimms Robert Andrew Mimms (born 12 October 1963) is an English football coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. Mimms' career lasted twenty years, and is best known for his tenure with Blackburn Rovers, where he was a member of the Premie ...
from
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...
as their new goalkeeping coach. Manchester United confirmed the signing of Steele on 4 August. Steele left United after
David Moyes David William Moyes (born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player, who currently manages Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton. He was the 2003, 200 ...
took over as manager in 2013. On 30 September 2013, Steele returned to
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...
when he was appointed goalkeeping coach by the Championship club's newly installed manager, Steve McClaren, the former England team boss. In July 2015, Steele was engaged by the Football Association to coach goalkeepers across their junior teams.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Eric Living people Wallsend Boys Club players Newcastle United F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Watford F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff Derby County F.C. non-playing staff Barnsley F.C. non-playing staff Blackburn Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff Shrewsbury Town F.C. non-playing staff Middlesbrough F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football goalkeepers English men's footballers Mansfield Town F.C. players Association football goalkeeping coaches 1954 births Place of birth missing (living people) English Football League players