Steven Charles Lynex (born 23 January 1958) 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, rugby lea ...

who made 360 appearances in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

playing for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

, Leicester City,

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

and Cardiff City, and played in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

and in the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

. He played as a winger.

Career

Lynex was born in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...

. He attended Churchfields School and played junior football for Sandwell Rangers before joining

in 1974 as an apprentice. In 1976, he was part of the Albion side that won the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

, and in January 1977 manager

Johnny Giles Michael John Giles (born 6 November 1940) is an Irish former association football player and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s. After retiring from management in 1985, Giles served as ...

gave him his first professional contract. In July of the same year, without having appeared for Albion's first team, Lynex tried his luck in Ireland; after a trial with

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

he followed Giles to

. He made his Rovers debut on 24 September 1977 at home to Shelbourne, scoring in the 4-1 win. During his time at Milltown he made 6 appearances in the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

, scoring 2 goals;Goggins, Robert. (6 January 2025). via Shamrock Rovers information office. "Steve Lynex appearances for Rovers: League - 41 (14 goals), FAI Cup: 6 (2 goals), League Cup - 7, European Cup Winners Cup: 4 (2 goals), Leinster Senior Cup: 2, LFA President's Cup: 1 (1 goal)" one of these goals was against

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

in the semi-final win, with a shot from outside the penalty area. He played a major role in the 1978 FAI Cup victory when he was brought down for the penalty which was the only goal of the game. Lynex scored two goals in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup wins over APOEL. Overall, he made 41 league appearances for Rovers, scoring 14 goals. He left Rovers in December 1978, and after a trial at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

he joined

in April 1979. After three years with Birmingham, Lynex moved to Leicester City, where he is remembered for his prolific scoring for a winger as well as for creating chances for

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...

and Alan Smith; he reached double figures of goals scored in three of his five full seasons at the club. He also occasionally appeared as a stand-in

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 ...

, in the days when the

only allowed one substitute to be selected, and teams rarely chose a goalkeeper as a substitute. After a loan spell at one former club Birmingham City, he went on to join another, West Bromwich Albion, and later played for Cardiff City, where he was nicknamed "Lethal Lynex" by the fans. He played his last Football League game in 1990 and then moved into

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

with Telford United and Trafford Park before turning out in local football with Mitchells and Butlers and Ansells. After retiring as a footballer he went into the licensed trade.

Honours

West Bromwich Albion *

winners: 1976 Shamrock Rovers *

winners: 1978 Birmingham City * Second Division

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

: 1979–80 Leicester City * Second Division promotion: 1982–83

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynex, Steve 1958 births Living people Footballers from West Bromwich English men's footballers Men's association football wingers West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Telford United F.C. players League of Ireland players English Football League players