 Luke Steele playing forPanathinaikos | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Luke David Steele[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1984-09-24)24 September 1984 (age 41) | ||
| Place of birth | Peterborough, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper,Forward | ||
| 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) |
| 2020–2021 | Stamford | 2 | (0) |
| 2021 | Notts County | 3 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | Deeping Rangers | 9 | (2) |
| Total | 337 | (2) | |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2002 | England U18 | 3 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | England U19 | 9 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | England U20 | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2023–2025 | Peterborough Sports | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 12:17, 22 April 2021 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 8:08, 25 September 2015 (UTC) | |||
Luke David Steele (born 24 September 1984) is an English football manager and former professionalfootballer. He was most recently joint-manager ofNational League North sidePeterborough Sports.
As a player he played professionally as agoalkeeper but spent his final season in the game playing as aforward. He came through the youth academy atPeterborough United before signing forPremier League sideManchester United. Whilst with United he had an extensive loan spell withCoventry City which lead to a permanent, though short-lived, move toWest Bromwich Albion. He also played in theFootball League withBarnsley,Bristol City,Nottingham Forest andMillwall, as well as stints withGreek sidePanathinaikos. He ended his career with a stint atnon-leagueStamford before a spell withNotts County in theNational League. Between 2021 and 2022 he played for non-league sideDeeping Rangers as an outfield player.
He was capped internationally atEngland U18,U19 andU20 level.
Born inPeterborough, Steele started his career at local sidePeterborough United, where he played alongsideRyan Semple andSean St Ledger. In December 2001, Steele spent a week on trial withManchester 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 toReading on 13 April.[4] After another appearance in a 2–1 home win overBury 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]
Steele began the 2002–03 season as the starting goalkeeper for the Manchester United reserve team, before being usurped by the likes ofRicardo andRoy 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 theFA Youth Cup, in which Manchester United beatMiddlesbrough 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 toOldham Athletic in theManchester Senior Cup on 13 February 2003.
In 2003–04, Steele competed for the starting place in the under-19s side withTom 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 sideCobh Ramblers, before making his first appearance for the Manchester United first team in a 3–1 win overBurnley inStan Ternent's testimonial on 17 August 2004; after coming on as a substitute forTim Howard in the 29th minute, Steele was himself replaced by Heaton in the 76th. He then made two league appearances for the reserves before joiningCoventry 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, andBen Foster and Tom Heaton out on loan, he became the club's third-choice goalkeeper behindEdwin 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 overBeijing 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'sLeague Cup-winning campaign and theFA Cup third round draw withBurton Albion. He also made 19 appearances for the reserves as they won thePremier 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 againstKaizer Chiefs and making a noteworthy save fromShaun 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 toPreston 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 defenderPaul McShane were transferred toWest Bromwich Albion as part of the deal that tookTomasz Kuszczak to Manchester United.[13]
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 atLeicester City on 8 December 2007.[16]
In February 2008, he joinedBarnsley on a one-month emergency loan. They required a goalkeeper for their fifth round FA Cup tie withLiverpool, asHeinz Müller was injured, while on-loanTony Warner was cup-tied.[17] Steele delivered a Man of the Match performance on his debut in a surprise victory over thePremier 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 againstChelsea 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 atWembley Stadium, where they lost 1–0 againstCardiff City.[21]
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 the2007–08 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]
On 17 July 2014, Steele left Barnsley forSuper League Greece clubPanathinaikos 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 behindOlympiacos, 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 inUEFA Europa League's "Team of the Week", despite his team's home loss againstAFC 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 youngsterOdysseas Vlachodimos into the starting eleven.[26]
On 31 August 2017, Steele signed a one-year contract withBristol City, with an option of a further year.[27]
He was released by Bristol City at the end of the2017–18 season after making just 8 appearances, the highlight of which was in City's 2–1 win over defending champions Manchester United in the EFL Cup.[28][29] Following this, Steele had a trial withSheffield United during pre-season againstBradford City, but was not taken on by the club.
On 1 August 2018, Steele signed a two-year deal withNottingham Forest.[30] He made his debut for Forest on 14 August in the first round of the2018–19 EFL Cup againstBury as a substitute, afterJordan 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.[31]
On 8 August 2019, Steele was loaned to Championship sideMillwall until January 2020.[32]
On 31 January 2020, Steele was loaned back toMillwall for the remainder of the season.[33]
On 20 April 2021, Steele signed forNotts County on a short-term deal following an injury to first-choice goalkeeperSam Slocombe.[34]
Prior to Steele joining the club, he played for local clubsPeterborough Northern Star reserves and Spalding Sunday League side Jubilee as a striker,[35] as well as signing forNorthern Premier League Division One South East sideStamford on 14 December 2020 in his natural position.[36] In February 2021, following his time at Stamford, Steele was initially set to return to hometown club Peterborough as backup; however, theFootball League blocked the move due to Steele already playing for three clubs during the2020–21 season.[37]
Steele would go on to sign forDeeping Rangers as a forward.[38] On 4 January 2022, he scored the winning goal a 1–0 win overSleaford Town.[39]
Steele arrived at Peterborough Sports in February 2023. He immediately made an impact, along with joint-managerMichael Gash, winning Manager of the Month, remaining undefeated in March.[citation needed]
Steele is an England youth international, having played for his country atunder-18,under-19 andunder-20 level. He made his under-18 debut againstItaly 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 againstPortugal,Norway andSlovakia;[40] he played in the games against Portugal and Slovakia.[41]
In September 2002, Steele progressed to the England Under-19s team, making his debut in a 3–1 away win overHungary atHidegkuti Nándor Stadium in Budapest. He was the team's first-choice goalkeeper throughout qualification for the2003 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, playing the first two games of each qualification round, beforeLee 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.[42] Steele played just twice for the Under-20s, both friendlies, but he kept a clean sheet in both as England beat theNetherlands andRussia.[43]
In September 2005,[44] Steele was called up to the England Under-21s team, for the 2007 European Championship qualifiers against Austria and Poland. He was also called up in November 2005 for the England U-21 squad.[45]
On 8 February 2023, Steele agreed to become joint-manager ofPeterborough Sports alongsideMichael Gash.[46] Following a poor start to the2025–26 season that saw the club sitting bottom of the league with four points from eight matches, Gash and Steele were sacked.[47]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Peterborough United | 1999–2000[48] | Third Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000–01[49] | Second Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2001–02[50] | Second Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Manchester United (loan) | 2001–02[50] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Manchester United | 2002–03[51] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003–04[52] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2004–05[53] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2005–06[54] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2006–07[55] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Coventry City (loan) | 2004–05[53] | Championship | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 36 | 0 | |
| 2006–07[55] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| West Bromwich Albion | 2006–07[55] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007–08[56] | Championship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Coventry City (loan) | 2006–07[55] | Championship | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |
| Barnsley (loan) | 2007–08[56] | Championship | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | |
| Barnsley | 2008–09[57] | Championship | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |
| 2009–10[58] | Championship | 39 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 43 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11[59] | Championship | 46 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 48 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12[60] | Championship | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 38 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13[61] | Championship | 33 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 37 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14[62] | Championship | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 33 | 0 | ||
| Total | 209 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 227 | 0 | |||
| Panathinaikos | 2014–15[63] | Super League Greece | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 7[a] | 0 | 37 | 0 | |
| 2015–16[63] | Super League Greece | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 8[b] | 0 | 38 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17[63] | Super League Greece | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 12[c] | 0 | 24 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18[63] | Super League Greece | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 66 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 27 | 0 | 99 | 0 | |||
| Bristol City | 2017–18[64] | Championship | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | |
| Nottingham Forest | 2018–19[65] | Championship | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |
| 2019–20[66] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| Millwall (loan) | 2019–20[66] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| Career total | 323 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 392 | 0 | ||
Individual
