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Steve Bull

Football player infobox2
playername = Steve Bull


fullname = Stephen George Bull
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1965|3|28|df=y
cityofbirth = Tipton
countryofbirth = England
currentclub = Stafford Rangers (manager)
position = Striker (retired)
height = height|ft=5|in=11
youthyears = 1981–1984
1984–1985
youthclubs = Tipton Town
West Bromwich Albion
years = 1985–1986
1986–1999
2000–2001
clubs = West Bromwich Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Hereford United
Total
caps(goals) = 004 00(2)
475 (250)
006 00(2)
485 (254)
nationalyears = 1989
1989–1991
1989–1990
nationalteam = England U21
England B
England
nationalcaps(goals) = 005 00(3)
005 00(2)
013 00(4)
manageryears = 2008–
managerclubs = Stafford Rangers

Stephen George "Steve" Bull, MBE, (born 28 March 1965 in Tipton) is an English former footballer who is best remembered for his 13-year spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers. He played there from 1986 until his retirement from playing in 1999, and holds the club's goalscoring record with more than 300 goals in all competitions.

Bull is currently manager of Stafford Rangers of the Blue Square North, having being appointed on 21 February 2008.

He was capped 13 times for the England team between 1989 and 1991, scoring four goals.

Playing career

Early years

Bull was born on Tipton's Moat Farm estate (known locally as the "The Lost City") and started school in September 1969 at Wednesbury Oak Primary School and moved up to Willingsworth High School in September 1976, by which time he was excelling in school football teams. The junior teams he played for included Ocker Hill infants, Red Lion and Newey Goodman. He left school in 1981 to join non-league Tipton Town. During this time he also held down a succession of factory jobs in addition to playing local league games.

He began his professional career, aged 19, after being recommended to West Bromwich Albion in 1984 by his Tipton Town manager Sid Day, who also worked as a scout for the Baggies. After initially having to train with the club's youth ranks, he was quickly offered a pro contract and moved into first team contention. He made his senior debut on 23 October 1985, replacing Garth Crooks in a 2–1 Full Members Cup win against Crystal Palace. [cite book | last = Matthews | first = Tony | title = The Who's Who of West Bromwich Albion | publisher = Breedon Books | date = 2005 | pages = p. 40 | isbn = 1-85983-474-4] [cite book | last=Matthews | first=Tony | title=West Bromwich Albion: The Complete Record | publisher=Breedon Books | year=2007 | pages = p. 395 | isbn=978-1-85983-565-4] He played four First Division games for Albion, scoring twice, during Albion's relegation season of 1985–86. In November 1986, he was sold to local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, along with Andy Thompson, for £65,000 where he remained until the end of his professional career in 1999.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Over 13 years at Wolves, Bull broke no less than four of the club's goalscoring records. He became their all-time leading goalscorer with 306 goals in competitive games (250 of them in the Football League, also a club record) and became their highest goalscorer in a single season when he scored 52 goals in competitive games during the 1987–88 season. He also scored a club record of 18 hat-tricks. His debut for Wolves, then languishing in the (old) Division Four, was against Wrexham on November 22, 1986. He went on to make 464 league appearances for the club, 561 appearances in total.

He is regarded as such a legend at the club that one of the main stands at their home ground, Molineux, is named after him. This commemoration was made in June 2003, with the stand having previously being known as the "John Ireland Stand".

Bull scored 52 goals in all competitions during the 1987-88 season as Wolves won the Fourth Division championship and became the first of only three teams (later matched by Burnley and Preston North End) to have been champions of all four divisions in the English league. The following season he inspired Wolves to a second successive promotion, this time as Third Division champions, with 50 goals - marking a tally of 102 goals in two seasons. While still playing in the Third Division, he was selected for the England team and scored on his debut against Scotland at Hampden Park.

Bull continued to perform well in the second tier of the English league, and stayed loyal to his Midlands roots despite interest from the likes of Aston Villa, Coventry City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Ajax, PSG, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Liverpool, Rangers, Lazio, Boca Juniors, Newcastle United and even Italian giants Juventus and Genoa, who reportedly had a £3.5m bid turned down prior to the 1990 World Cup.

Although he played a handful of First Division games for West Bromwich Albion in the mid 1980s, the rest of his career was spent outside the top division. He came close to achieving his ambition of reaching the top flight in 1995 and 1997, but Wolves lost in the play-offs both times.

During his final two seasons at Molineux, his chances of first-team football were reduced by a series of knee injuries. In July 1999, the 34-year-old Bull finally gave in and announced his retirement. However, he soon returned to playing as player-coach of Hereford United for a season in the Conference, working with Graham Turner, the manager who had signed him for Wolves.

Known by his adoring fans as 'Bully' for his club loyalty, rapport with supporters and passion for the game he received an MBE for services to Association Football in December 1999, shortly after retiring as a first class player.

In May 2003, Bull appeared in a testimonial game for West Brom's Bob Taylor at The Hawthorns. He amused many of the Albion fans in attendance by dramatically falling to the ground when the chant went up, "Stand up if you hate the Wolves".

On 29 July 2006, Bull made one final appearance for Wolves in his 20th anniversary testimonial game against Aston Villa at Molineux, playing the first seven minutes of the match.

International career

Bull was capped 13 times by England, and scored 4 goals in the build up to Italia 90, including on his full debut against Scotland on May 27, 1989. He went on to score two more goals in a friendly against Czechoslovakia in 1989–90, one of which was voted in as number 37 of England's 50 Greatest Goals. His final England goal came against Tunisia, which earned him a place in Bobby Robson's World Cup squad.

Despite starting his international career well, he did not score another goal for England after this. He played four times during Italia 90 - three times as a substitute against Republic of Ireland, Holland and Belgium and once as a starter against Egypt. His final match for England was on October 17, 1990, against Poland, but was not picked again by his future Wolves manager, Graham Taylor.

In total he scored nine goals in 23 appearances for his country at full, U-21 and "B" team levels.

Honours

*Division Four (IV): 1988
*Associate Members Cup: 1988
*Division Three (III): 1989

Management career

On February 21 2008, Bull entered management with Conference National side Stafford Rangers. He had previously worked as a coach at this level with Hereford United in the 2000–01 season and had completed his UEFA Pro B coaching license in the years in between. The team were mired in the relegation zone at the time of his appointment and he was unable to prevent relegation.

Personal life

Bull's cousin, Gary, was also a professional footballer.

References

External links

* [http://www.bullybully.net Official Site]
* [http://www.wolves.premiumtv.co.uk/page/GoldenOldies/0,,10307~65346,00.html Official Wolves site profile]
* [http://fly.to/bully The Unofficial Steve Bull Home Page]
* [http://freespace.virgin.net/steve.bull9/ A tribute to Steve Bull]
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Источник: Steve Bull