Steve Redmond

Steve Redmond

Personal information
Full name	Stephen Redmond
Date of birth	(1967-11-02) 2 November 1967 (age 55)
Place of birth	Liverpool, England
Position(s)	Central defender
Youth career
1982–1984	Manchester City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1984–1992	Manchester City	235	(7)
1992–1998	Oldham Athletic	205	(4)
1998–2003	Bury	151	(6)
2003	Burscough	1	(0)
2003–2004	Leigh RMI	25	(1)
Total		617	(18)
International career
1987	England U18	8	(1)
1988–1989	England U21	14	(0)
Managerial career
1999–2000	Bury (joint caretaker-manager)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Stephen Redmond (born 2 November 1967) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender for Manchester City, Oldham Athletic and Bury. Captain of the Manchester City youth team that won the 1986 FA Youth Cup, Redmond made his first-team debut at 18. He quickly established himself in the side, and was named the club's Player of the Year in 1988. The same year, he became the youngest ever Manchester City captain. Between 1987 and 1990 he played every single game in three straight seasons.

Redmond transferred to Oldham Athletic in 1992, where he spent six years. He then played for Bury for five seasons, and also had a period as caretaker-manager in the 1999–2000 season. He left Bury in 2003, and spent a season in non-league football before retiring.

Career

Born in Liverpool, Redmond signed schoolboy forms with Manchester City in October 1982, ^[1] choosing City ahead of his hometown club Liverpool. ^[2] As a junior, he played for Blue Star, a Manchester City affiliated team based in Cheadle. His Blue Star teammates included Paul Lake, Andy Hinchcliffe and Ian Brightwell. ^[3] He signed his first professional contract in November 1984. ^[1]

Redmond was part of a promising group of young players from the same intake, of whom he and Paul Moulden were the first to play for the first team. ^[4] His debut came in February 1986, against Queen's Park Rangers. ^[1] In total he made eight senior appearances that season, ^[5] including the final of the 1986 Full Members Cup. ^[1] At the same time, Redmond was also captain of the youth team, who progressed to the final of the FA Youth Cup. In the final, City beat local rivals Manchester United over two legs, and as captain it was Redmond who lifted the trophy. ^[1]

In the 1986–87 season, Redmond made 32 first team appearances, ^[6] mainly at centre-half, but also sometimes as a sweeper. ^[7] He also played enough reserve matches to claim a Central League winner's medal. ^[1] The first team fared less well, and were relegated to the Second Division at the end of the season. As the club season came to a close, Redmond received a call-up to the England under-19 team for a tour of South America. ^[8]

In the Second Division, Redmond was first-choice centre-half, and started every game. ^[9] This included a 10–1 victory against Huddersfield Town that was the club's biggest win in the 20th Century, and a goalscoring tally that has not been equalled in English professional football since. ^[10] At the end of the season he was voted the club's Player of the Year. ^[1] Club captain Kenny Clements left Manchester City in the 1988 close season, and Redmond was appointed as his successor. At 20, he became the club's youngest ever captain. ^[5] He again started every single match, as Manchester City gained promotion to the First Division. A third season as an ever-present followed in 1989–90. ^[1] He continued to play regularly until March 1992, when he lost his place to Michel Vonk, ^[11] and was transfer-listed shortly thereafter. ^[12]

Redmond received his first call-up to the England under-21 team in 1988, and later captained the side. Redmond was the first player from Manchester City's 1986 Youth Cup winning squad to gain under-21 honours, ^[13] though several others soon followed. In October 1988 five of them were called up at the same time: Redmond, Ian Brightwell, Andy Hinchcliffe, Paul Lake and David White. ^[14]

In total Redmond played for Manchester City 287 times and scored seven goals. In August 1992 he transferred to Oldham Athletic. Redmond and Neil Pointon went from City to Oldham in exchange for Rick Holden and £300,000. ^[15] Redmond was part of the Oldham team that reached the FA Cup semi-final in 1994, but Redmond missed the semi-final itself through suspension. ^[16] He played 239 times for Oldham between 1992 and 1998, and scored four goals. In summer 1998 he joined former Oldham manager Neil Warnock at Bury, on a Bosman transfer. ^[17] When Warnock left the club in December 1999, Redmond and Andy Preece became joint caretaker-managers. ^[18] Preece was appointed manager on a permanent basis at the end of the season, and Redmond became player-assistant manager. After five years at Bury, Redmond ended his career with a spell in non-league football. He played a single game for Burscough, ^[19] and then joined Leigh RMI of the Football Conference in August 2003, ^[20] and spent a season at the club.

At the time of an interview in June 2011, Redmond was working for a builder's merchant, Travis Perkins. ^[21] Redmond has three children. ^[22] His son, Daniel, is also a professional footballer, who plays in the Welsh Premier League, for TNS. ^[23]

References

1. Penney, Ian (1995). The Maine Road Encyclopedia. Edinburgh: Mainstream. pp. 164–5. ISBN   1-85158-710-1.
2. Clayton, David (2002). Everything under the blue moon: the complete book of Manchester City FC – and more!. Edinburgh: Mainstream publishing. pp. 169–70. ISBN   1-84018-687-9.
3. James, Gary (2005). The Official Manchester City Hall of Fame. Hamlyn. p. 58. ISBN   0-600-61282-1.
4. Lake, Paul; Lake, Joanne (2011). I'm Not Really Here: A Life of Two Halves. London: Century. p.  51. ISBN   978-1-84605-824-0.
5. James, The Official Manchester City Hall of Fame, p. 64.
6. James, Gary (2006). Manchester City – The Complete Record. Derby: Breedon. p. 441. ISBN   1-85983-512-0.
7. Frank McGhee (30 November 1986). "Sweeping up after Europe". The Observer.
8. Cynthia Bateman (12 March 1988). "Machin backs his minors for a major surprise". The Guardian. p. 14.
9. James, Manchester City – The Complete Record, p. 443.
10. Ian Farrell (February 2008). "Caught in a landslide". When Saturday Comes. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
11. James, Manchester City – The Complete Record, p. 185.
12. Cynthia Bateman (6 March 1992). "Wegerle joins the Balckburn bonanza". The Guardian. p. 16.
13. Dennis Signy (13 October 1988). "Rocastle comes in as crowd puller – England v Denmark". The Times.
14. "Five City youngsters called up by Sexton". The Times. 21 October 1988.
15. Russell Thomas (6 August 1992). "United wait on Dublin as Everton join chase". The Guardian. p. 14.
16. Cynthia Bateman (9 April 1994). "Royle happy to stay on for Oldham's great adventure". The Guardian. p. 21.
17. Neil Bonnar (20 June 1998). "Warnock lines up a triple swoop". Lancashire County Publications.
18. "The Sharp end: Newcastle, Scunthorpe, Bury". When Saturday Comes. March 2000. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
19. David Bassett (22 August 2003). "Linnets defender makes swift exit after attracting Conference outfit". Liverpool Echo.
20. "Ex City star Redmond signed for RMI". LeighRMI-Mad.co.uk. Leigh Railway Mechanics Institute Football Club. 21 August 2003. Archived from the original on 27 November 2003. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
21. "Where are they now? Steve Redmond". Manchester City FC official website. June 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
22. "Steve Redmond's wife tells it how it is". Manchester Evening News. 5 January 2002. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
23. "First New Signing Ahead of 2018/2019, as Ruscoe Looks to the Future". 24 May 2018.

External links

• Steve Redmond at Soccerbase