| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stanley Frederick Steele | ||
| Date of birth | 5 January 1937 | ||
| Place of birth | Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, England | ||
| Playing position | Half-back/Inside-forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Foley and Hewitt's | |||
| Port Vale | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1955–1961 | Port Vale | 185 | (66) |
| 1961 | West Bromwich Albion | 1 | (0) |
| 1961–1965 | Port Vale | 148 | (22) |
| 1965–1967 | Port Elizabeth City | 43 | (5) |
| 1967–1968 | Port Vale | 2 | (0) |
| 1968 | Port Elizabeth City | 17 | (0) |
| Eastwood Town | |||
| Armitage | |||
| Total | 396+ | (93+) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| Great Haywood | |||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Stanley Frederick "Stan" Steele (born 5 January 1937) is a former English footballer. He is noted for playing 370 Vale games (335 in the league) and scoring 97 Vale goals (88 in the league). His parents named him Stanley Frederick in honour of Stanley Matthews and Freddie Steele.[1]
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Steele graduated from the Port Vale juniors to sign professional forms in May 1955. He made his debut on 6 October 1956 in a 3–1 defeat to Middlesbrough and by April 1957 was a regular in the first team. He played 199 consecutive games between April 1957 and March 1961 and in both the 1957–58 and 1958–59 seasons he scored 22 goals to become the club's top scorer. He was selected to play in the Third Division South representative team in 1957. He was sold to West Bromwich Albion for £10,000 in March 1961, but returned to Vale for the same fee in July of that year. He never really found the same form before his departure however and was given a free transfer in April 1965.
He played for South African side Port Elizabeth City, but rejoined Vale on trial in January 1968. He did not re-sign however, only playing two games, and in the match against Aldershot on 3 February 1968 managed to score an 'incredible' own goal by lobbing Stuart Sharrat's head as Vale lost 3–0. He played for Eastwood and Armitage before retiring.[2]
Upon his retirement from playing, he become the coach of Great Haywood.