Jim Steele

Infobox Football biography
playername = Jim Steele


fullname = James Steele
height = height|ft=6|in=1
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1950|3|11
cityofbirth = Edinburgh
countryofbirth = Scotland
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Centre back
youthyears = 1965-1967
youthclubs = Hearts
years = 1967-1972 1972-1977 1976 1977-1980 1980
1981
clubs = Dundee Southampton → Rangers "(loan)" Washington Diplomats Memphis Rogues
Chicago Sting
caps(goals) = 075 (5) 161 (2) 005 (0) 71 (2) 7 (0)
nationalyears = 1971
nationalteam = Scotland Under 23
nationalcaps(goals) = 001 (0)
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Jim Steele, born Edinburgh 11 March 1950, is a former footballer, who helped Southampton F.C. win the FA Cup in 1976.

Playing career

Early career

After leaving school, Jim was a trainee mechanical engineer with the National Coal Board. As a 15-year-old he was playing for a village team in his native Scotland when Tynecastle Boys Club, who were affiliated to Scottish First Division team, Hearts, spotted his talent and signed him up as an apprentice.

Dundee

Dundee signed him as a 17 year old and he made his debut in the first team with a solitary appearance in the 1967-68 season against Stirling Albion at Annfield, playing in front of just 600 spectators. The following season he made just 5 appearances, but soon became a first team regular playing alongside Gordon Wallace, John Duncan, Jocky Scott and Ian Phillip.

Even at this early stage in his career, he was considered a hard man and usually came out of a tackle with the ball, but his toughness was allied to skill. He was a non-playing substitute for Scotland against Belgium in 1971.

The highlight of his Dundee career was in the UEFA Cup run of UEFA Cup 1971-72, when Dundee beat German side FC Koln, but went out to AC Milan despite a 2-0 victory in the home leg.

These high profile games brought him to the attention of English clubs and soon Leeds United and Southampton expressed an interest. Dens boss Davie White accepted an offer of £80,000 from Saints manager Ted Bates and Steele was off to The Dell.

In his 5 years at the club, he made 86 first team appearances, scoring 5 goals, and gained a reputation as a tall, granite-hard defender with a bad disciplinary record. Just before leaving Dundee in January 1972, Jim gained his solitary international recognition at under-23 level for Scotland.

outhampton

His transfer to English first division club Southampton for a club record fee of £80,000 was shrouded in secrecy as manager Ted Bates moved swiftly to secure Jim’s services from under the noses of many bigger clubs. He made his debut for Southampton on 29 January 1972 in a 4-1 victory at home over Nottingham Forest.

He had an aggressive, no holds barred attitude which soon made him a favourite with Saints’ fans but often got him into trouble with referees. He was a versatile player and was able to play at left-back, as a sweeper or in the centre of defence and soon became a fixture in the first eleven, rarely missing a game for the next 4 seasons except when under suspension for disciplinary reasons.

The pinnacle of his career came in Southampton’s FA Cup final victory over Manchester United on 1 May 1976 when his performance at the centre of Saints’ defence, alongside Mel Blyth, earned him the man of the match award.

Unfortunately, this honour was the peak of his career, and after the first few games of the 1976-77 season he was replaced by Malcolm Waldron.

He was briefly loaned out to Glasgow Rangers in November 1976, playing 5 games, including the Old Firm derby against Celtic but did not fit into Jock Wallace’s plans and returned to The Dell.

After his return to Southampton, he seemed to have re-established himself in the team being virtually ever-present from mid-December onwards, including appearing in 5 FA cup matches before Saints were eliminated by the team they had beaten in the previous season’s final, Manchester United, who went on to win the 1977 FA Cup. Unfortunately, he was sent off in the replay on March 8 against United after a series of bad-tempered exchanges with Jimmy Greenhoff, scorer of United’s 2 goals.

On 16 March 1977, Saints were playing Anderlecht in the European Cup-winners’ Cup when Jim made a mistake in defence allowing Van der Elst to get past him to score the winning goal. This error, coupled with the sending-off, led to a falling-out with manager Lawrie McMenemy, who was intent on a wholesale re-building of the team in order to gain promotion back to Division 1, and Jim made his final appearance for Saints away to Nottingham Forest on 22 March 1977.

In total he made 201 appearances for Southampton, scoring just 2 goals. With his on-field talents he should really have played at a higher level and won more honours but his career was somewhat damaged by his maverick attitude and off-field activities.

United States

In the close season of 1977, he moved to the United States and, although still relatively young, he never played again in British football.

He spent 3 years with Washington Diplomats in the NASL followed by a short spell at Memphis Rogues and the Chicago Sting. [ [http://www.nasljerseys.com/Players/S/Steele.Jim.htm NASL Stats] ]

He was employed as a foreman at an electrical plant in Washington, before returning to Britain in 1994.

Return to Britain

Having also run a bar in Washington and with friends running a pub in Southampton, it seemed natural to enter the pub trade when he returned to Britain.

He did holiday-relief management at Black Horse pub in Naunton, Gloucestershire and ran Naunton Downs Golf Club's bar for seven months before he and wife, Jill, took over at the Black Bear pub in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire.

Honours

As a player

With Southampton F.C.

* FA Cup winner 1976

References

*cite book
author=Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk
title=In That Number - A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC
publisher=Hagiology
year=2003
id=ISBN 0-9534474-3-X

*cite book
author=Tim Manns
title=Tie a Yellow Ribbon: How the Saints Won the Cup
publisher=Hagiology
year=2006
id=ISBN 0-9534474-6-4