| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stephen Victor Death | ||
| Date of birth | 19 September 1949 | ||
| Place of birth | Elmswell, Suffolk, England | ||
| Date of death | 26 October 2003 (aged 54) | ||
| Place of death | Reading, England | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps (Gls)† | |
| 1967–1969 | West Ham United | 1 (0) | |
| 1969–1982 | Reading | 471 (0) | |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Steve Death (19 October 1949 – 26 October 2003) was an English football goalkeeper who played for Reading for almost the entirety of his career. Death was one of the longest-serving players to appear for Reading.
Career
Death was an England schoolboy international who made one League appearance for West Ham before joining Reading, originally on loan, in 1969. He went straight into the team as first choice goalkeeper, and made the position his own for the next ten years with a total of 537 first team appearances.
Death set many other records during his time at Elm Park. He was elected Player of the Season four times for seasons 1969/70, 1972/73, 1973/74 and 1976/77, won PFA Divisional Awards in 1973-74 and 1978-79, collected a Division Four Championship plaque in 1978-79, kept 26 clean sheets in that season, and at one stage made 156 consecutive first team appearances. This is still a Club record. Until January 31, 2009, Death held the record of 1,103 minutes without conceding a goal in English league football. [1] This record was subsequently broken by Edwin van der Sar playing for Manchester United versus Everton on 31 January 2009.
Death was given a testimonial in the 1979-80 season, with over 7,000 watching his Testimonial Match against a Young England XI managed by his former boss at West Ham, Ron Greenwood. He left the game in 1982 and returned to his native Suffolk. He subsequently returned to Reading to work as a greenkeeper at a local golf course. He died of cancer in 2003, aged 54.
References
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