Stephen Dennis Kember (born 8 December 1948) 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 lea ...

who played in the centre of midfield during his career, before going into management. He has a long affiliation with Crystal Palace, where he is currently the chief scout.

Playing career

In 1963, Kember joined Crystal Palace, as an apprentice, and in 1965, on his 17th birthday, he was rewarded with a professional contract. By the end of the decade, he was a regular in the Palace midfield, and became a fans' favourite by scoring the winning goal in the home tie with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, in 1969, that secured promotion to the First Division for the first time in the club's history.Where Are They Now?: Steve Kember
The Independent, 19 April 1994 That season, Kember was one of only three players who played in every game. In the top flight, Kember continued to impress, gaining England U23 caps, and in the summer of 1971, having helped Palace to survival, he replaced John Sewell as captain, following Sewell's departure to

Orient The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

. However, the captaincy was short-lived, and Kember joined Chelsea for a record fee of £170,000 in September. At Chelsea, Kember quickly stamped his authority on a place in the starting line-up, playing most of the West-London club's games, that season. However, Chelsea then fell into decline, and were eventually relegated to the Second Division, at the end of the 1974–75 season. Relegation led to a sell-off of players, and Kember moved back to the top-flight with Leicester City. At first, he was a regular in Leicester's first team line up, but after two seasons, he was little more than a squad player, only appearing in half of Leicester's games in the 1977–78 season. Early in the 1978–79 season,

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (6 January 1943 – 25 November 2023), often referred to as El Tel, was an English football player and manager who played for clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers and won two caps for E ...

signed him back to Crystal Palace. While Kember had been away, the south London club's fortunes had taken a dramatic turn for the worse, being relegated to the Second Division in 1973, and again, to the

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

, the following year. They had been promoted in the 1976–77 season, but were still a long way behind where they were when Kember left. Venables' signing of Kember was intended to be as a squad player, but his experience added so much to the side that he quickly became a regular in the first XI. So much so that Palace were promoted back to the First Division, at the end of the season. Venables then decided that Kember was not good enough for the First Division, so he moved on again, this time to Canadian side, the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

. He had a largely un-noteworthy couple of seasons in Canada, and in the summer of 1981 he returned to Palace again (who had a new chairman, Ron Noades), this time as a coach for the Youth setup.

Managerial career

Noades quickly became tired of manager Dario Gradi, who had only been appointed in the summer. With the club facing successive relegations once again, Gradi was dismissed in November, and Kember got his first taste of management. He had a relatively successful period, taking the club on an FA Cup run to the Sixth Round, and achieving Second Division survival with a game to spare. However, for reasons unknown, he was replaced with the highly unpopular Alan Mullery. Kember said of the matter that he was "away on holiday at the time" and thus wasn't even notified of his dismissal. He then joined non-league Whyteleafe in November 1986, as manager, helping them to the Third Qualifying Round of the FA Cup in the 1988–89 and 1989–90 seasons. In the former, "The Leafe" were also promoted, to the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

Division One. In the summer of 1993, Kember resigned (to be replaced by former Palace teammate Paul Hinshelwood) and once again went back to Palace, as a member of the coaching staff. He stayed in that role until April 2001, when, with Palace once again facing relegation to the third tier, manager Alan Smith was sacked by new chairman Simon Jordan, and Kember was made caretaker for the remaining two games of the season. Palace were six points short of survival, and it seemed unlikely that relegation could be avoided. However, Kember made changes to the side, and after a last-gasp win at Stockport County, Palace survived. In honour of this achievement, chairman Jordan said that Kember would now have a "job for life" at Palace. However, this was not the managerial job just yet.

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was a centre-back in a twenty-year playing career. He is currently the head coa ...

took over, and Kember was made his assistant. Bruce's tenure only lasted a couple of months, and, after Kember was again made caretaker (this time with

Terry Bullivant Terry Bullivant (born 23 September 1956, Lambeth) is an English football manager. During his playing career he was a midfielder, representing Fulham and Aston Villa. Following his retirement as a player he managed Barnet and Reading, while also ...

Trevor Francis Trevor John Francis (19 April 1954 – 24 July 2023) was an English footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia. In 1979 he became Britain's first £1 million pla ...

took over. Francis was unpopular with the fans in his 14 months with the club, and was eventually sacked in February 2003, with Kember again being made caretaker, this time alone. At the end of the season, Kember was made manager full-time, and Palace's 2003–04 season got off to a flying start, the club winning all three of their opening games, to top the table. However by November, Palace were in 20th, and only two points above the drop-zone after losing 5–0 at newly promoted

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. Jordan saw this as the final straw, and Kember was sacked, clearly revoking Jordan's "job for life" pledge. Kember coached at Cumnor House School in Purley, and later coached football and cricket at

Whitgift School Whitgift School is an independent day school with limited boarding in South Croydon, London. Along with Trinity School of John Whitgift and Old Palace School it is owned by the Whitgift Foundation, a charitable trust. The school was prev ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

, alongside

scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

for

initially, and then returning to Crystal Palace as Chief Scout after the departure of Jordan. Currently manages the Old Mid Whitgiftian Vets who won the Surrey Vets Cup season 2018–2019, his sons play in the team.

Personal life

Kember has four sons, Matthew,

Robbie Robbie and Robby, also Robbi and Roby, are given names. They are usually encountered as a nickname or a shortened form of Robert, Rob or Robin. The name experienced a significant rise in popularity in Northern Ireland in 2003. Robbie is also a s ...

, Paul and Steven. Robbie and Paul came through the Youth system at Palace, and went on into non-league football, while Matthew started out at Whyteleafe. Paul had trials with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

while Robbie had spells with Woking, Basingstoke, Crawley, Lewes, Tonbridge Angels, Eastbourne Borough, Hampton and Richmond. In May 2009 Robbie moved to

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

. Matthew and Paul are believed to be retired. Steven played mischievous and cunning schoolboy Bryan Arthur Derek Boyes in the hit Children's BBC TV show Bad Boyes, first aired on BBC1 in the autumns of 1987 and 1988.

Business career

In the early 1990s Kember owned a wine bar in his native

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

called Kember's Wine Bar however the bar closed in 1993 after he was declared

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

References

● Playfair football annuals for the league clubs

External links

* Crystal Palace FC
Steve Kember
Bob's '70-'71 Footballers * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kember, Steve 1948 births Men's association football midfielders English Football League players Chelsea F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. managers Crystal Palace F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Canada English football managers English men's footballers England men's under-23 international footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Leicester City F.C. players Living people North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Footballers from the London Borough of Croydon People from Croydon Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Brentford F.C. non-playing staff Crystal Palace F.C. non-playing staff Fulham F.C. non-playing staff English football scouts English football coaches