Stephen Leonard Palmer (born 31 March 1968) 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 was previously the academy recruitment manager of

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 ...

. He played as a defender from 1989 until 2006, notably in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

, before later going on to

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 ...

and

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

. Married with 3 daughters.

Early life

Palmer attended Dorothy Stringer High School, Brighton, and

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

, and is the only professional footballer of the modern era to be educated at Cambridge University, obtaining a degree in software engineering in 1989. Whilst studying he played for Cambridge University A.F.C. In April 1987 he played a single

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

match for a

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

side also containing future

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 ...

captain

Mike Atherton Michael Andrew Atherton (born 23 March 1968) is a broadcaster, journalist and a former England international cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman for Lancashire and England, and occasional leg-break bowler, he achieved the captaincy of E ...

.Cambridge University v Lancashire
CricketArchive Facing

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, Palmer dismissed former England player Graeme Fowler lbw for 49. He went on to score 18 with the bat, before being bowled by Paul Allott.

Playing career

He turned professional with

in 1989 and spent six years at the club before making a £135,000 move to

. Palmer established himself as a first team regular during another near six-year spell at

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of EFL Championship, Championship club Watford F.C., Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, w ...

and his departure on a free transfer in July 2001 caused some consternation amongst the club's supporters. Whilst at the club he broke Villa player, John Gregory's record by wearing every numbered shirt from 1 to 14 in the 1997–98 season. Placed in goal for the kick-off of the season's final home match versus

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

, he swapped shirts with goalkeeper Alec Chamberlain early in the game. He completed the set by wearing

Jason Lee Jason Michael Lee (born April 25, 1970) is an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and former professional skateboarder. He is known for playing Earl Hickey in the television comedy series ''My Name Is Earl'', for which he was nominated for ...

's number 9 shirt in the final match away at

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 which Watford won the Division 2 title. Watford secured back-to-back promotion the following season, with Palmer voted Player of the Season. Palmer signed for

in July 2001 and made his debut in August of that year in a 1–0 win against

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 ...

. He was captain and ever present in what was QPR's first season in the third tier since 1966–67. In total Palmer made 95 league appearances for QPR, scoring 5 goals. After leaving QPR in 2004 Palmer signed for

, playing for the club for two seasons, scoring once against Blackpool.

Coaching career

He retired from football in October 2005 and took up a position as

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

's Academy Performance Manager a month later. In December 2011 Palmer returned to

as Academy Recruitment Manager, leaving again in June 2012 to work with the Premier League setting up a performance tracking system for the

Elite Player Performance Plan The Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) is a youth development scheme initiated by the Premier League. The intention of the EPPP is to improve the quality and quantity of home-grown players produced by top English clubs. Measures introduced by t ...

(EPPP).Steve Palmer leaving Watford's Academy for Premier League role
Watford Observer, Accessed 17 August 2012

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Steve 1968 births Living people Footballers from Brighton English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Cambridge University cricketers Cambridge University A.F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Watford F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Premier League players English cricketers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. non-playing staff Watford F.C. non-playing staff 20th-century English sportsmen