Stephen David Kirk (born 3 January 1963) is a Scottish 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 lea ...

who played for East Fife,

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. The club has won f ...

, and

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

Playing career

Born in

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...

, Kirk began his career with

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

side East Fife in 1979 and made 25 appearances for the

Methil Methil () is a coastal town in Fife, Scotland. Methil has ancient origins: two Bronze Age cemeteries have been discovered which date the settlement as over 8,000 years old. The town was first recorded as "Methkil" in 1207, and belonged to ...

side before moving to English

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

side

for £10,000 in 1981. He made just twelve appearances for Stoke during the 1981–82 season and after failing to hold down a place in the first team he was released from his contract. He returned to Scotland to play for

. Kirk returned to Bayview in 1982 and stayed for four years, scoring 35 times in 135 appearances and famously helping the Fifers beat Hibs in a memorable Scottish Cup third round replay in 1984, the same season East Fife clinched promotion from Division Two. In 1986, Kirk began a nine-year association with

, which saw him play over 300 league games and scoring in each round, would go on to score the winner in the 1991

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Fir Park Fir Park Stadium is a football stadium situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and was the temporary home of Gretna for the 2007–2008 SPL season. ...

in 1995, Kirk had spells with

and

before returning first club in East Fife in 1998, eventually becoming player/manager. Kirk's managerial role lasted some fifteen months before his departure in late 1999. Kirk's last senior club was

, whom he joined in late 2000, becoming player-manager in December 2003 and leaving the following August. From here, Kirk became player/manager at Dundonald Bluebell, adopting a similar position at Lochgelly Albert in September 2006. Kirk was appointed manager of Glenrothes Juniors on 30 June 2009. On 11 November 2021, it was announced that Kirk was to be inducted into the Motherwell F.C. Hall of Fame.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

; Motherwell *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1990–91

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirk, Steve Footballers from Kirkcaldy 1961 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Scottish Football League players English Football League players East Fife F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players Arbroath F.C. players Scottish football managers East Fife F.C. managers Arbroath F.C. managers Scottish Football League managers Men's association football forwards