Stephen Leonard James "Steve" Restarick (born 28 November 1971) 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 lea ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

alongside a long career in English non-league football.

Career

Born in

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

, London, as a schoolboy, Restarick was on the books of London-based clubs

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

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

before moving to

to begin his apprenticeship in 1988. During his 2nd season, he netted 33 goals, including four goals in one game on his 18th birthday. Towards the end of his apprenticeship, Restarick made his

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 ...

debut, coming on as a substitute for Richard Wilkins during a 1–0 defeat to

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

on 7 April 1990 as Colchester edged closer to relegation to the

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

. Despite Colchester's relegation, Restarick was signed on a professional contract, loaned to

Bury Town Bury Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club, based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Ram Meadow. History Early history The club was established by William Lake at a meeti ...

during Autumn 1990, he featured in an experimental side in the Bob Lord Trophy against Fisher Athletic on 21 January 1991, scoring two in extra-time, his first senior goals for the club, as the U's went on to record a 3–2 victory. Later in March 1991, he joined Fisher on loan alongside fellow youth-team product John Pollard, scoring once in 11 games. During Colchester's Conference and

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

double-winning season, Restarick contributed first-team goals in three different cup competitions but found first-team opportunities hard to come by, failing to register a league goal. He was loaned to local club

Wivenhoe Town Wivenhoe Town F.C. is an English association football, football club based in Wivenhoe, Essex. The club are currently members of the and play at Broad Lane. History The club was established as Wivenhoe Rangers by Frank Slaughter and students ...

for a chunk of the 1991–92 season, finishing as Town's leading scorer with 11 goals in 17 games. As Colchester were promoted back to the Football League, Restarick was released, joining Chelmsford City where he scored 63 goals in 150 games for the club. This earned him a five-figure fee move to Conference side

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the , the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1983 afte ...

, where he scored four goals in 26 Conference games. He later played for

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. The ...

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The most prominent aspect of the club is its men's first team, who play in the , the seventh level of the E ...

, Gravesend & Northfleet and a second spell with Crawley. He then moved to

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

, turning out on loan at Hastings United before a signing for

Folkestone Invicta Folkestone Invicta Football Club is a football club based in Folkestone, Kent, England. They are currently members of the and play at Cheriton Road. History The club was established in 1936 and joined the East Kent Wednesday League for the 1 ...

. He was made

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

at Maidstone United and then made appearances for Chatham Town before returning to

where he retired at the end of the 2022-23 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Restarick, Steve 1971 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham People from Barking, London English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Colchester United F.C. players Bury Town F.C. players Fisher Athletic F.C. players Wivenhoe Town F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Dartford F.C. players Hastings United F.C. players Folkestone Invicta F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players Chatham Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players