Stephen Powell (born 20 September 1955) 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 played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

or defender. He spent the majority of his career at

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

where he played 420 times, placing him in the top ten for total appearances for the club. He also played for

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

in the NASL.

Early life

Powell, the son of ex-Derby County player Tommy Powell, went to Gayton Avenue Junior School, in the

Littleover Littleover is a village and suburb in the city of Derby, in Derbyshire, England, between Rose Hill, Derbyshire, Rose Hill, Normanton, Derbyshire, Normanton, Sunny Hill, Derbyshire, Sunny Hill and Mickleover, about southwest of Derby city centre ...

suburb of Derby, at the age of 11 he then moved to the Bemrose School just like his father once had many years before him.

Career

While at Bemrose School, Powell impressed the then Derby County managerial team of

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

and

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politic ...

enough for Clough to sign him for Derby County on a visit to the school premises. Powell then went on to make his first team debut aged 16 years and 30 days in a

Texaco Cup The Texaco Cup, officially known as the International League Board Competition, was an association football competition started in 1970, involving sides from England, Scotland, and Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions. It w ...

tie 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 ...

, which Derby County won 3–2. He made his league debut three days later aged 16 years and 33 days in the 2–1 win against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Whilst at Derby County, Powell played as defender and midfielder. Powell made 352 appearances in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

for ''The Rams'', scoring twenty goals. Powell won the player of the year (now named the Jack Stamps trophy) in the 1978–79 season. Powell went from a schoolboy star into an exceptional professional league player. Despite playing in a declining league side towards the end of his Derby County career, Powell was completely dedicated to Derby County. He was part of the team during some of their highest and lowest moments. Derby won the First Division title twice during his time at the club; he made three appearances in the 1971–72 success but played more regularly during the 1974–75 title winning season with 15 appearances. There was also a

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

semi-final appearance in 1973, relegation to the Second Division in 1980 and relegation to the Third Division in 1984. He retired in 1985 after well over a decade with the Rams, who had missed out on promotion back to the Second Division but would follow it up with two successive promotions. Powell and his father, Tommy appeared in 824 senior games between them for Derby County, scoring 85 goals. Powell later worked at Derby College.

Honours

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 ...

: 1971–72, 1974–75 *

: 1972

References

External links

*
NASL statsArticle at Sporting Heroes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Steve 1955 births Living people Footballers from Derby People educated at Bemrose School English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers England men's under-23 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders Derby County F.C. players Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players English football managers Burton Albion F.C. managers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in the United States