Luke Steele (footballer)

Luke David Steele (born 24 September 1984) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Stamford in the Northern Premier League Division One South East.

Luke Steele
Luke Steele playing for Panathinaikos
Personal information
Full name Luke David Steele[1]
Date of birth (1984-09-24) 24 September 1984
Place of birth Peterborough, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Stamford
Youth career
1993–1999 Peterborough United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2002 Peterborough United 2 (0)
2002–2006 Manchester United 0 (0)
2004–2005 → Coventry City (loan) 32 (0)
2006 → Coventry City (loan) 0 (0)
2006–2008 West Bromwich Albion 2 (0)
2006–2007 → Coventry City (loan) 5 (0)
2008 → Barnsley (loan) 14 (0)
2008–2014 Barnsley 195 (0)
2014–2017 Panathinaikos 66 (0)
2017–2018 Bristol City 5 (0)
2018–2020 Nottingham Forest 2 (0)
2019–2020 → Millwall (loan) 1 (0)
2020 → Millwall (loan) 0 (0)
2020– Stamford 0 (0)
National team‡
2002 England U18 3 (0)
2002–2003 England U19 9 (0)
2004–2005 England U20 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:54, 23 July 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8:08, 25 September 2015 (UTC)

Club career

Peterborough United

Born in Peterborough, Steele started his career at local side Peterborough United. In December 2001, Steele spent a week on trial with Manchester United, for whom he played in two matches with the club's under-17s side. He returned for three more under-17s appearances and two for the reserves on a month-long loan spell in March 2002.[2][3] After returning to Peterborough in April 2002, he made his senior debut in a 2–2 draw away to Reading on 13 April.[4] After another appearance in a 2–1 home win over Bury a week later,[5] Manchester United paid Peterborough £500,000 on 11 May to sign Steele on a four-year contract, with the fee potentially rising to £2.25 million after a certain number of first-team appearances.[6]

Manchester United

Steele began the 2002–03 season as the starting goalkeeper for the Manchester United reserve team, before being usurped by the likes of Ricardo and Roy Carroll, and becoming a regular in the under-19s. Over the course of the season, Steele made 27 appearances for the under-19s, including eight in the FA Youth Cup, in which Manchester United beat Middlesbrough 3–1 on aggregate in the final.[7][8] He also made a total of three appearances for the reserves, including a 2–1 defeat to Oldham Athletic in the Manchester Senior Cup on 13 February 2003.

In 2003–04, Steele competed for the starting place in the under-19s side with Tom Heaton, but made just four appearances between August and October before being ruled out for the rest of the season. He made his return in the build-up to the 2004–05 season, playing for the reserves in a friendly against Irish side Cobh Ramblers, before making his first appearance for the Manchester United first team in a 3–1 win over Burnley in Stan Ternent's testimonial on 17 August 2004; after coming on as a substitute for Tim Howard in the 29th minute, Steele was himself replaced by Heaton in the 76th. He then made two league appearances for the reserves before joining Coventry City on a three-month loan on 10 September 2004.[9] After conceding 30 goals in 18 appearances in those initial three months, the clubs agreed to extend Steele's loan until the end of the season.[10] He finished the season with 62 goals conceded in 36 matches.

Steele returned to Manchester United for the 2005–06 season, where, with Ricardo and Carroll having left the club, and Ben Foster and Tom Heaton out on loan, he became the club's third-choice goalkeeper behind Edwin van der Sar and Tim Howard. After coming on for Van der Sar in the 75th minute of a 3–0 pre-season friendly win over Beijing Hyundai,[11] Steele was an unused substitute in four more first-team matches that season, including two matches in the early rounds of Manchester United's League Cup-winning campaign and the FA Cup third round draw with Burton Albion. He also made 19 appearances for the reserves as they won the Premier Reserve League title, the North/South Play-off Shield and the Manchester Senior Cup.

In July 2006, Steele was part of the Manchester United party for their pre-season tour of South Africa, where he shared goalkeeping duties with Ben Foster. He only played in one of the three games, starting the final match against Kaizer Chiefs and making a noteworthy save from Shaun Bartlett's header before being replaced by Foster in the 77th minute.[12] He played in one more friendly match for the first team, a 2–1 defeat away to Preston North End, before joining Coventry City on loan for a second time on 4 August 2006. However, the loan was cut short after just six days when Steele and defender Paul McShane were transferred to West Bromwich Albion as part of the deal that took Tomasz Kuszczak to Manchester United.[13]

West Bromwich Albion

On 23 December 2006, Steele once again joined Coventry on an initial seven-day emergency loan[14] that was subsequently extended to the end of the season.[15]

Steele made his Albion debut in a 2–1 win away at Leicester City on 8 December 2007.[16]

In February 2008, he joined Barnsley on a one-month emergency loan. They required a goalkeeper for their fifth round FA Cup tie with Liverpool, as Heinz Müller was injured, while on-loan Tony Warner was cup-tied.[17] Steele delivered a Man of the Match performance on his debut in a surprise victory over the Premier League side at Anfield, allowing Barnsley to progress to the quarter finals.[18] He also won the FA Cup Player of the Round award for his performance in the game.[19] He then helped Barnsley reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup by keeping a clean sheet against Chelsea in a game which they won 1–0.

On 17 March 2008, Steele returned from his loan, with talks deadlocked over who should pay his wages during a proposed extended loan period. He rejoined Barnsley three days later, after the two clubs agreed a further loan period until the end of the season, with a view to a permanent transfer.[20] Steele represented Barnsley in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium, where they lost 1–0 against Cardiff City.[21]

Barnsley

A permanent transfer to Barnsley was completed on 21 May 2008, with Steele signing a one-year contract after his performances in the FA Cup.[22]

On 9 July 2008, Steele was fined £1,000 by the FA for breaching shirt sponsorship rules; during the 2007–08 season he regularly wore an undergarment bearing a logo that was visible above the collar of his official goalkeeping kit. The FA warned him several times of this misconduct but Steele continued to wear the undergarment and was subsequently fined.[23]

Panathinaikos

On 17 July 2014, Steele left Barnsley for Super League Greece club Panathinaikos after activating a clause allowing him to leave for nothing should the club be relegated from the Championship.[24] He made 29 league appearances during the 2014–15 season as Panathinaikos finished second behind Olympiacos, plus another eight appearances in other competitions. On 29 June 2015, he extended his stay in Greece for another three years by signing a new contract until 2018.[25] On 16 September 2016, English goalkeeper Luke Steele was included in UEFA Europa League's "Team of the Week", despite his team's home loss against AFC Ajax. After a string of below-par goalkeeping efforts in the month of November 2016, resulting in unfavourable team results and personal morale drop, Panathinaikos decided to remove him from first-choice keeper until further notice and bring youngster Odysseas Vlachodimos into the starting eleven.[26]

Bristol City

On 31 August 2017, Steele signed a one-year contract with Bristol City, with an option of a further year.[27]

He was released by Bristol City at the end of the 2017–18 season.[28] Following this, Steele had a trial with Sheffield United during pre-season against Bradford City, but was not taken on by the club.

Nottingham Forest

On 1 August 2018, Steele signed a two-year deal with Nottingham Forest.[29] He made his debut for Forest on 14 August in the first round of the 2018–19 EFL Cup against Bury as a substitute, after Jordan Smith had been sent off. The game finished 1–1 after 90 minutes with Forest going through to the second round 10–9 on penalties, one of which Steele scored for Forest.[30]

On 8 August 2019, Steele was loaned to Championship side Millwall until January 2020.[31]

On 31 January 2020, Steele was loaned back to Millwall for the remainder of the season.[32]

Stamford

On 12th December 2020 Steele featured for Peterborough Northern Star Reserves in a Peterborough District Division 1 league match and scored a hat trick whilst playing as a striker. He then joined Northern Premier League Division One South East side Stamford A.F.C. on 14 December 2020 after being convinced by good friend Jonny Hansen.[33]

International career

Steele is an England youth international, having played for his country at under-18, under-19 and under-20 level. He made his under-18 debut against Italy on 4 March 2002, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 3–0 defeat. In June that year, he was selected for a four-team tournament in Lisbon against Portugal, Norway and Slovakia;[34] he played in the games against Portugal and Slovakia.[35]

In September 2002, Steele progressed to the England Under-19s team, making his debut in a 3–1 away win over Hungary at Hidegkuti Nándor Stadium in Budapest. He was the team's first-choice goalkeeper throughout qualification for the 2003 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, playing the first two games of each qualification round, before Lee Camp took over once qualification was secure. Steele started all three games at the finals in Liechtenstein in July 2003, but England were eliminated with just one win in three group games.[36] Steele played just twice for the Under-20s, both friendlies, but he kept a clean sheet in both as England beat the Netherlands and Russia.[37]

Career statistics
As of match played 27 August 2019
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Peterborough United 1999–2000[38] Third Division 0000000000
2000–01[39] Second Division 0000000000
2001–02[40] Second Division 2000000020
Total 2000000020
Manchester United (loan) 2001–02[40] Premier League 0000000000
Manchester United 2002–03[41] Premier League 0000000000
2003–04[42] Premier League 0000000000
2004–05[43] Premier League 0000000000
2005–06[44] Premier League 0000000000
2006–07[45] Premier League 0000000000
Total 0000000000
Coventry City (loan) 2004–05[43] Championship 3202020—360
2006–07[45] Championship 000000—00
West Bromwich Albion 2006–07[45] Championship 0000000000
2007–08[46] Championship 200000—20
Total 200000—20
Coventry City (loan) 2006–07[45] Championship 502000—70
Barnsley (loan) 2007–08[46] Championship 1403000—170
Barnsley 2008–09[47] Championship 1000010—110
2009–10[48] Championship 3901030—430
2010–11[49] Championship 4601010—480
2011–12[50] Championship 3601010—380
2012–13[51] Championship 3304000—370
2013–14[52] Championship 3101010—330
Total 209011070—2270
Panathinaikos 2014–15[53] Super League Greece 29010—7[lower-alpha 1]0370
2015–16[53] Super League Greece 28020—8[lower-alpha 2]0380
2016–17[53] Super League Greece 9030—12[lower-alpha 3]0240
2017–18[53] Super League Greece 0000—0000
Total 66060—270990
Bristol City 2017–18[54] Championship 501040—100
Nottingham Forest 2018–19[55] Championship 201040—70
2019–20[56] Championship 000000—00
Total 201040—70
Millwall (loan) 2019–20[56] Championship 000020—20
Career total 32302301902703920
  1. Three appearances in UEFA Europa League, four appearances in Super League Greece play-offs
  2. Two appearances in UEFA Europa League, six appearances in Super League Greece play-offs
  3. Ten appearances in UEFA Europa League, two appearances in Super League Greece play-offs

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Millwall" (PDF). English Football League. p. 43. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  2. "Posh keeper's Old Trafford loan". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 5 March 2002. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  3. "Keeper impresses at Man Utd". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 12 March 2002. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  4. "Reading 2-2 Peterborough". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 13 April 2002. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  5. "Peterborough 2-1 Bury". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 20 April 2002. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  6. "Ferguson in Steele purchase". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 11 May 2002. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  7. "Man Utd youngsters shine". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 15 April 2003. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  8. "Man Utd land Youth Cup". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 25 April 2003. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  9. "Coventry make double swoop". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 10 September 2004. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  10. "Steele loan extended for season". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 14 December 2004. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  11. Marshall, Adam. "United's battle in Beijing". Sky Sports (BSkyB). Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  12. "Man Utd beaten in final tour game". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 22 July 2006. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  13. "Man Utd clear up Kuszczak details". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 11 August 2006. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  14. "Coventry seal Steele loan switch". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 23 December 2006. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
  15. "Coventry extend Steele loan deal". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 5 January 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2007.
  16. "Leicester City vs WBA". wba.co.uk. West Bromwich Albion FC. 8 December 2007. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 8 December 2007.
  17. "Steele joins Tykes on loan". wba.co.uk. West Bromwich Albion FC. 14 February 2008. Archived from the original on 17 February 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
  18. Bevan, Chris (16 February 2008). "Liverpool 1–2 Barnsley". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 18 February 2008.
  19. "Barnsley keeper wins FA Cup award". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 27 February 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
  20. "Cup hero Steele re-joins Barnsley". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 20 March 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
  21. McKenzie, Andrew (6 April 2008). "Barnsley 0–1 Cardiff". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 9 April 2008.
  22. "Barnsley complete Steele signing". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 21 May 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
  23. "Steele fined for kit rule breach". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 9 July 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  24. "Barnsley goalkeeper Luke Steele confirms departure". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 17 July 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  25. "Luke Steele renews until 2018". pao.gr. Panathinaikos FC. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  26. "Βγάζει Στιλ, ώρα για Οδυσσέα". sport-fm.gr. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  27. "Luke Steele explains what attracted him to Bristol City ahead of signing on transfer deadline day". www.bristolpost.co.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  28. "Gary O'Neil and Luke Steele among four released by Bristol City". BBC Sport. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  29. "Steele signs for The Reds". Nottingham Forest. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  30. "Nottingham Forest vs. Bury – 14 August 2018". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  31. "Steele departs on loan". www.nottinghamforest.co.uk. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  32. "Steele heads back to Lions on loan". www.nottinghamforest.co.uk. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  33. "Daniels Add Some Steele". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  34. "Steele lands England call". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 23 May 2002. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  35. "Luke Steele". TheFA.com. The Football Association. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  36. "England's Matches - The Under 19's - 1991-2010". England Football Online. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  37. "England's Matches - The Under 20's". England Football Online. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  38. "Games played by Luke Steele in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  39. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  40. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  41. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  42. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  43. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  44. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  45. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  46. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  47. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  48. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  49. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  50. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  51. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  52. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  53. "L. Steele: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  54. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  55. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  56. "Games played by Luke Steele in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
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