Eric Steele is a former English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer turned coach, currently employed as a goalkeeping coach at Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

.

Biography

Steele began his playing career as a goalkeeper at Newcastle United

Newcastle United F.C.

Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

 in 1972, where he was part of the squad that won the Anglo-Italian Cup

Anglo-Italian Cup

The Anglo-Italian Cup is a defunct European football competition that was played intermittently between 1970 and 1996 between clubs from England and Italy. Founded by Gigi Peronace in 1970, following the success of the Anglo-Italian League Cup, it was played as a professional tournament until 1973...

 and won caps at England under-18 level. He then joined Peterborough United

Peterborough United F.C.

Peterborough United Football Club are a professional English football club based in Peterborough. Peterborough United formed in 1934 and played in the old Midland League, which they won six times; eventually being admitted to the Football League in 1960, replacing Gateshead. Their home ground is...

, and established himself as first-choice 'keeper, setting a record for most consecutive league appearances (124). That record would later be beaten by another Peterborough player, George Boyd (144). He later joined Brighton & Hove Albion, Watford

Watford F.C.

Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...

, and Derby County

Derby County F.C.

Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

, winning five promotions in 12 years with those clubs.

In 1988, he retired to run a pub, before establishing Eric Steele Coaching Services, which provided goalkeeping coaching to Manchester City

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

, Leeds United

Leeds United A.F.C.

Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

, Derby County, and Barnsley

Barnsley F.C.

Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...

, as well as working overseas in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Steele was at Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield Town F.C.

Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...

 as goalkeeping coach and left at the end of the 1997/98 season when he joined Derby County when they came calling again in 1998, and he spent four years coaching there before being appointed goalkeeping coach at Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 in 2001. Steele left his post at Aston Villa in 2006.

In 2006 Eric visited Australia, where he worked with junior and senior goalkeepers in Victoria and Perth. He worked with well known coaches and helped improve Australian goalkeepers.

In 2007, he became the new Manchester City

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

 goalkeeping coach, following the departure of Tim Flowers

Tim Flowers

Timothy David "Tim" Flowers is an English former football goalkeeper and the former manager of Conference North team Stafford Rangers.-Club career:...

 to Coventry City

Coventry City F.C.

Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

 as assistant to Iain Dowie

Iain Dowie

Iain Dowie is a former footballer and manager. He is currently without a club. He has previously managed Hull City and Queens Park Rangers and was assistant manager of Newcastle United...

.

Steele left his job at City on 27 June 2008 after being part of the backroom team under managers Stuart Pearce

Stuart Pearce

Stuart Pearce OBE is an English football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the England national under-21 team and the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic football team...

 and Sven-Göran Eriksson

Sven-Göran Eriksson

Sven-Göran Eriksson , in Sweden commonly referred to just by his nickname Svennis, is a Swedish ex-football manager. From October 2010 to October 2011 he managed Football League Championship side Leicester City....

. Mark Hughes

Mark Hughes

Leslie Mark Hughes, OBE , is a former Welsh international footballer. As an international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals....

, who had left Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

 to take charge of Manchester City, brought with him Kevin Hitchcock

Kevin Hitchcock

Kevin Hitchcock is an English former football goalkeeper who made nearly 300 appearances in the Football League and Premier League playing for Mansfield Town, Chelsea and Northampton Town.-Career:...

, replacing Steele as goalkeeping coach. Paul Ince

Paul Ince

Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince is an English football manager and a former professional player. He has managed Blackburn Rovers, Milton Keynes Dons and Macclesfield Town...

 soon appointed him as goalkeeping coach at Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

. However, just weeks after joining Blackburn, Steele attracted the attention of Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

, who had been in search of a new goalkeeping coach since Tony Coton

Tony Coton

Anthony Philip "Tony" Coton is an English former footballer who made 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League playing as a goalkeeper for Birmingham City, Watford, Manchester City and Sunderland...

 had been forced to retire through injury. In preparation for Steele's departure, Blackburn signed Bobby Mimms

Bobby Mimms

Robert Andrew "Bobby" Mimms is an English former football goalkeeper.-Playing career:Born in York, Mimms began his footballing career as an apprentice at Halifax Town. However, he failed to break into the first team and joined Rotherham United in November 1981 for a fee of £15,000...

 from Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...

as their new goalkeeping coach. Manchester United confirmed the signing of Steele on 4 August.