Stephen "Steve" Charles (born 10 May 1960) is a former professional footballer who played in The Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 as a midfielder for five different clubs, and was until recently manager of Conference North side Gainsborough Trinity

Gainsborough Trinity F.C.

Gainsborough Trinity Football Club are an English football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.Between 1896 and 1912 they were members of the Football League. They are currently in the Conference North, and play their home matches at The Northolme, which has a capacity of 4,304...

. He is also a graduate of Sheffield University, where he gained a degree in mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, and a Master's degree

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 in sports science

Sports science

Sport science is a discipline that studies the application of scientific principles and techniques with the aim of improving sporting performance...

.

Charles attended Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 in the United States where he was the 1979 Ivy League

Ivy League

The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...

 MVP and a 1979 First Team All American.

A former English schoolboy international, Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

-born Steve Charles began his football career at Sheffield United

Sheffield United F.C.

Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

 while still a university student. He signed a professional contract with the Blades in January 1980, and went on to make over a hundred appearances for the Blades, helping the team gain promotion from Division Four in 1982

1981-82 in English football

The 1981–82 season was the 102nd season of competitive football in England.It was also the first season that the Three points for a win system was introduced.- First Division :Three points for a win was introduced for the first time in England...

. In November 1984, he moved to Wrexham where he spent two-and-a-half years and lifted the Welsh Cup

Welsh Cup

The Welsh Cup is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams from Wales.The Football Association of Wales is the organising body of this competition, which has been run every year since its inception in 1877-78...

 in 1986.

In the summer of 1987, Charles moved to Mansfield Town

Mansfield Town F.C.

Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...

 for a £15,000 transfer fee, making his debut on 15 August 1987 against Bristol City

Bristol City F.C.

Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...

. In his first season at Field Mill

Field Mill

Field Mill is a multi-use stadium in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England.It is currently occupied by its main tenant, Mansfield Town.The stadium has a capacity of around 10,000 when fully open, but due to the Bishop Street Stand being closed and safety restrictions, the ground currently holds less...

, he was ever-present in the side and scored 12 goals, many of them from free kicks. He spent six seasons at Mansfield, playing 278 games for the club in all competitions, scoring 47 goals. He is a member of the Mansfield Town Hall of Fame. He left to join Scarborough

Scarborough F.C.

Scarborough Football Club was an English football club based in the seaside resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. They were one of the oldest football clubs in England, formed in 1879, before they were wound up on 20 June 2007, with debts of £2.5 million.In the 2006–07 season...

 in February 1993, and also had a short loan spell at Scunthorpe United

Scunthorpe United F.C.

Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....

 near the end of his time in Mansfield.

Charles played nearly 150 games for Scarborough during a three-year spell, and then continued his career in the non-league game, where he played for Stalybridge Celtic

Stalybridge Celtic F.C.

Stalybridge Celtic are an English full time professional football club from Stalybridge, Greater Manchester in North West England. The club, which plays its home matches at Bower Fold, is currently in the Conference North in the sixth tier of the English football league system...

 and Boston United

Boston United F.C.

Boston United Football Club are an association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. They currently play in the Conference North. The club is known as 'the Pilgrims' in reference to the Pilgrim Fathers, who fled from Boston to the USA and founded Boston, Massachusetts. The club's...

until he was 40 years old. From 2007 until August 2009, he was manager of Gainsborough Trinity.