Luke Steele (footballer)

Luke Steele

Personal information
Full name	Luke David Steele
Date of birth	(1984-09-24) 24 September 1984
Place of birth	Peterborough, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Barnsley
Number	1
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999–2002	Peterborough United	2	(0)
2002	→ Manchester United (loan)	0	(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–	Barnsley	176	(0)
National team
2002	England U18	1	(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 03:55, 7 February 2014 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Luke David Steele (born 24 September 1984 in Peterborough) is an English football player. He is a goalkeeper currently playing for Barnsley.

Football career

Luke Steele went to school at Arthur Mellows Village College, Glinton, Peterborough, where he is still involved in various charity events.^{[citation needed]} He started his career at local side Peterborough United. On 8 June 2002 he signed for Manchester United for £500,000. He was loaned to Coventry City for part of the 2004–05 season.

For the 2005–06 season he returned to Old Trafford and, following the departures of Ricardo and Roy Carroll, was third choice keeper for the senior side behind Edwin van der Sar and Tim Howard.

In 2002–03, Steele kept goal for United in their FA Youth Cup triumph.

In summer 2006, Steele joined West Bromwich Albion, as part of the deal that took Tomasz Kuszczak to Manchester. However, he was initially loaned to Coventry City for the season only to be recalled after less than a week and no appearances. On 23 December 2006, he once again joined Coventry on a seven-day emergency loan.^[1] This was subsequently extended to the remainder of the season.^[2] Steele made his Albion debut in a 2–1 win away at Leicester City on 8 December 2007.^[3]

In February 2008 he joined Barnsley on an emergency loan for one month. They required a goalkeeper for their fifth round FA Cup tie with Liverpool, as Heinz Müller was injured, whilst on loan Tony Warner was cup-tied.^[4] 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.^[5] He also won the FA Cup Player of the Round award for his performance in the game.^[6] 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.^[7] Steele represented Barnsley in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium, where they lost 1–0 against Cardiff City.^[8] His permanent transfer to Barnsley was completed on 21 May 2008, with Steele signing a one-year contract.^[9]

On 9 July 2008, Steele was made a scapegoat when he was fined £1,000 by the FA for breaching shirt sponsorship rules; during the 2007–08 season he, like many other high profile players, regularly wore an undergarment which had a logo that was visible above the collar of his official goalkeeping kit. The FA warned him various times of this misconduct but Steele continued to wear the undergarment and was subsequently fined.^[10]

Career statistics

As of 7 February 2014^[11]

References

External links

• Luke Steele profile at barnsleyfc.co.uk
• Luke Steele profile at wba.co.uk
• Luke Steele career stats at Soccerbase
• Profile at UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database