Stephen Roy Middleton (born 28 March 1953) 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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring 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 intercepting ...

for local rivals

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

in the 1970s.

Football career

Middleton was born in

and attended Brune Park School in

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite ...

, where he played in goal for the school team and represented Gosport & Fareham Schools. In December 1967, he joined

as an associate schoolboy, signing as an apprentice in October 1969 and as a professional in July 1970. He made his debut for Southampton Reserves on 13 December 1969, when he conceded five goals at

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. Since 2011, the first te ...

. By 1973 he was the regular reserve team 'keeper and made his first-team debut in place of the injured Eric Martin on 25 August 1973 (the opening day of the 1973–74 season); after keeping goal for the first three matches of the season (one draw, two victories), Middleton lost his place to the fit again Martin. The signing of Ian Turner in March 1974 pushed Middleton down the order and in March 1975 he went on loan to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

, where he made ten league appearances before returning to The Dell. It was not until the start of the 1975–76 season that Middleton was able to command a regular place in the first team. He played the first 17 matches of the season before "suffering a crisis of confidence" leading to the recall of Turner in November 1975. Saints went on to win the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

with Turner in goal, defeating

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in 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 con ...

. At the start of the 1976–77 season, Turner injured his knee and manager

Lawrie McMenemy Lawrence McMenemy MBE (born 26 July 1936) is an English retired football coach, best known for his spell as manager of Southampton. He is rated in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' as one of the twenty most successful managers in post-war Engli ...

signed, first, Colin Boulton and then Jimmy Montgomery on loan, with Middleton making a few appearances before Peter Wells was signed from

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in December. In May 1977, Middleton was released and joined

. At the time he expressed his delight at joining his home-town club and criticised McMenemy's policy of signing ageing stars. His career at Pompey started well but after making a mistake in an FA Cup tie at

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

in December he conceded 12 goals in the next three league matches and was dropped. At the end of the season, he decided to retire from professional football.

Later career

After retiring from football, he ran a public house in Portsmouth but in 2003 he was a financial advisor for a

building society A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage lending. Building societies exist in the United Kingdo ...

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufac ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, Steve 1953 births Living people Footballers from Portsmouth English footballers Association football goalkeepers English Football League players Southampton F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Publicans