Steve Guppy
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| Steve Guppy | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stephen Andrew Guppy | |
| Date of birth | 29 March 1969 | |
| Place of birth | Winchester, England | |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | |
| Playing position | Winger | |
| Youth career | ||
| 1987–1989 1989 |
Colden Common Southampton |
|
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1989–1994 1994 1994–1997 1997–2001 2001–2004 2004 2004 2004 2004–2005 2005–2006 2006–2007 2008 |
Wycombe Wanders Newcastle United Port Vale Leicester City Celtic Leicester City Leeds United Stoke City Wycombe Wanderers D.C. United Stevenage Borough Rochester Rhinos |
178 (25) 1 (0) 105 (12) 146 (9) 33 (0) 15 (0) 3 (1) 4 (0) 14 (1) 5 (0) 27 (2) 23 (1) |
| National team | ||
| 1990 1993 1998 1999 |
England U-21 England semi-pro England B England |
1 (0) ? (?) 1 (0) 1 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Stephen Andrew (Steve) Guppy (born 29 March 1969) is a retired English football winger, and currently an assistant coach with the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.
He was once rated as the second best crosser in Europe, behind David Beckham.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Club career
Guppy was spotted playing for his local team, Colden Common and offered a chance with Southampton in March 1989. He made a handful of appearances in the Saints reserves at the end of the 1988-89 season (but failed to break into the first team) before moving to Jim Kelman's Wycombe Wanderers in September 1989.[2] He turned professional with Wycombe in 1992, at the age of 23.[1] Prior to turning pro he worked on building sites.[3]
At Wycombe, he first teamed up with newly appointed Martin O'Neill and helped take them into the Football League as Conference champions in 1992-93 as well as completing the non-league double by winning the FA Trophy. He was a virtual ever-present in Wycombe's debut 1993-94 season in the Football League at the end of which they secured promotion to Division Two via the play-offs.
In August 1994, he was snapped up by Kevin Keegan's Newcastle United for a fee of £150,000.[2] He made one first team appearance as a substitute in the League Cup in Newcastle's 2–0 defeat of Manchester United.[1] He subsequently moved on to Port Vale in November 1994 for £225,000.[4] Vale was a step down, but another top manager- in the form of John Rudge, helped him focus on being a first team performer again.[1] In nearly three seasons at the then Division One club he became a firm fan favourite and is now classed a club legend after his memorable performances on the left wing.
In February 1997 he was tracked down by his former boss Martin O'Neill, who paid £850,000 to take him to Premier League club Leicester City for the first time.[2] It was in his first spell with the Foxes that he was most successful, playing in over 140 matches under O'Neill. He gained League Cup honours with Leicester City in 2000, having also reached the final in the previous season.
In August 2001 re-joined O'Neill at Celtic for £700,000,[5] where he spent 2 and half years, barely featuring in the first team.[2] During his time at Celtic, they won the Scottish Premier League. After being released by Celtic in January 2004 he briefly re-joined Leicester City but was released by them in the summer of 2004.[6] He then spent a brief spell at Leeds United in August 2004[7] before gaining a short term deal at Stoke City[8] followed by a short spell back at Wycombe.[2][9] He moved to the USA[10] but his short stint in Major League Soccer with Washington based D.C. United was not memorable, as he was released by the club after playing in just five league games in which he was featured in a starting line-up alongside Freddy Adu in midfield.
In August 2006 he signed for Stevenage Borough,[11] scoring his first goal for them in a 1-1 draw at Exeter City.
With Jeff Kenna, Guppy became the first player to play at both the new Wembley and the old Wembley.[1] This was achieved on 12 May 2007 when Kidderminster Harriers played Stevenage Borough in the FA Trophy 2007 at the new Wembley Stadium. Stevenage Borough won 3–2 despite being 2–0 down at half time. Due to Stevenage winning, Guppy is the first ever person to win medals at both the old and new Wembley Stadium.[1]
In 2008 he tried to break America again, signing with the Rochester Rhinos. Guppy logged 1,520 minutes of playing time in 21 league matches, starting in most of his appearances. He tallied 2 assists, both of which came off of his trademark crosses from the left wing. Guppy's first goal for the Rhinos came off of a header on 26 September in the final 10 minutes of the first-round, first leg play-off tie against the Charleston Battery. One sour note came when he was ejected from a 24 June U.S. Open Cup match against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds after he kicked an opposing player in the back of the leg with his studs up. As a result, he was forced to sit out the club's 2-0 defeat to D.C. United on 1 July in Boyds, Maryland, knocking the Rhinos out of the competition.
On 5 November 2008, it was reported that Guppy would be accepting an assistant coaching position with the Colorado Rapids. Having had one more year on his coaching contract with the Rochester Rhinos, Rochester released Guppy from his duties, allowing him to move onto a higher level of coaching.
[edit] International career
It was whilst at Leicester that he gained his only England cap, playing against Belgium on 10 October 1999.[2]. Guppy remains the only footballer to have play for England under-21, England semi-pro, England B and the full England teams.
[edit] Honours
- with Wycombe Wanderers
- FA Trophy winner: 1993
- Conference National champion: 1992-93
- Football League Third Division play-off winner: 1994
- with Leicester City
- Football League Cup winner: 2000
- with Celtic
- Scottish Premier League champion: 2001–02
- Scottish Cup runner-up: 2002
- with Stevenage Borough
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f "Steve Guppy: Final odyssey of a one-cap wonder". The Independent. 6 May 2007. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/steve-guppy-final-odyssey-of-a-onecap-wonder-447678.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-23.
- ^ a b c d e f "STEVE GUPPY". chairboys.ndirect.co.uk. http://www.chairboys.ndirect.co.uk/players/guppy_steve.htm. Retrieved on 2009-05-23.
- ^ "Guppy love". BBC Sport. 25 November, 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tv_and_radio/football_fever/1040489.stm. Retrieved on 2009-05-23.
- ^ Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 121. ISBN 0952915200. http://www.amazon.ca/Port-Vale-Personalities-Jeff-Kent/dp/0952915200.
- ^ "Sylla and Guppy for Celtic". BBC Sport. 1 August, 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/1468459.stm. Retrieved on 2009-05-23.
- ^ "Foxes release 13 players". BBC Sport. 17 May, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/leicester_city/3722251.stm. Retrieved on 2009-05-23.
- ^ "Leeds release midfield duo". BBC Sport. 8 September, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/leeds_united/3638152.stm. Retrieved on 2009-05-23.
- ^ "Guppy signs for Stoke". BBC Sport. 13 September, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/3652332.stm. Retrieved on 2009-05-23.
- ^ "Guppy rejoins Wycombe Wanderers". BBC Sport. 26 November, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/w/wycombe_wanderers/4045043.stm. Retrieved on 2009-05-23.
- ^ "Guppy leaves Wycombe for US move". BBC Sport. 1 March, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/w/wycombe_wanderers/4309177.stm. Retrieved on 2009-05-23.
- ^ "Stevenage sign Guppy and Morison". BBC Sport. 18 August 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/stevenage/5262598.stm. Retrieved on 2009-05-23.
