David Steele (footballer)

David Morton Steele (29 June 1894 – 23 May 1964) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager.

David Steele
Personal information
Full name David Morton Steele
Date of birth (1894-06-29)29 June 1894
Place of birth Carluke, Scotland
Date of death 23 May 1964(1964-05-23) (aged 69)
Height 5 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1.74 m)[1]
Position(s) Wing half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Armadale
1913–1918 St Mirren 31 (4)
1914–1915 → Abercorn (loan) 5 (1)
1918–1919 Douglas Water Thistle
1919–1922 Bristol Rovers 70 (0)
1922–1929 Huddersfield Town 186 (1)
1929–1930 Preston North End ? (?)
1943 Bradford (Park Avenue) 3 (0)
National team
1923 Scotland 3 (0)
Teams managed
1936–1943 Bradford Park Avenue
1943–1947 Huddersfield Town
1948–1952 Bradford City
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Born in Carluke, Scotland, Steele was a wing half who started his football career as a part-timer first with Armadale then St Mirren[2] while he worked as a miner before the First World War.[3] After the war he moved to Scottish junior club Douglas Water Thistle.

In 1919, he joined then Southern League club Bristol Rovers playing for them during their first years in the league after they became members of the newly formed Division Three. Herbert Chapman signed Steele in a £2,500 deal to take him to Huddersfield Town in May 1922. Steele spent seven years at Huddersfield, winning a hat-trick of League Championships, two runners-up spot, an FA Cup runners-up medal in 1928, and three caps for Scotland. He joined Preston North End in May 1929 on a free transfer where he finished his playing days in July 1930.

Managerial career

Steele began his managerial career when he worked at Bury as a coach. Similar roles followed at Danish side Bold Klubben F.C. and Sheffield United.

In 1931 he spent some months in Aalborg in northern Denmark as a coach and introduced the WM-formation in Denmark.[4]

In May 1936, he was appointed Bradford Park Avenue manager. He spent six years at Park Avenue and even turned out as an emergency centre forward against Sheffield Wednesday in October 1942 scoring one goal.[3] He resigned in 1943 to rejoin Huddersfield Town. In the club's first post-war season, Huddersfield finished just one place above the relegation positions in Division One and Steele resigned.

He was working on the family's fruit farm when Bradford City tempted him back into football in July 1948.[3] He became the second man, after Peter O'Rourke to manage both Bradford league clubs. He won just one of his first 18 games in charge as City finished bottom of Division Three (North) in 1948–49. The following season City came 19th, before a 7th-place finish in 1950–51. Steele left in February 1952 with the club again struggling in the bottom half of the league. He returned to Huddersfield Town for a third time as a scout. His grandson, David Shaw played for Town in the 1970s. He also ran a pub in Stanningley.[3] He died in May 1964 aged 69.

Honours

Player

References
  1. Woolwinder (21 August 1922). "Few big transfers in the First Division of the Football League. Huddersfield Town". Athletic News. Manchester. p. 5.
  2. John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. Frost, Terry (1988). Bradford City A Complete Record 1903–1988. Breedon Books Sport. pp. 71–72. ISBN 0-907969-38-0.
  4. Jydsk Idræts Blad, 21-3-1931.
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