Stuart Slater
Encyclopedia
Stuart Slater is a former professional footballer
who played as a winger and forward
for West Ham United
, Celtic
, Ipswich Town
, Leicester City
and Watford
. He also represented England at under-21 and B level.
and supported Ipswich Town
.
as an apprentice in 1986 and after a tough first year, he became a star of the youth team. He made his first appearance for West Ham, still an apprentice, when he came on as substitute for Ray Stewart
in the Division One home game against Derby County
in October 1987.
He was offered a professional contract in April 1988 just after his seventeenth birthday and made a second appearance in the 1987–88 season when he came on as substitute in the home game against Coventry City
in the same month.
He made his first start for West Ham against Southampton
in August 1988, when a clash of heads with Russell Osman
led to him being taken off in the first minute. He recovered to win the Man of the Match award in his next two games, against Charlton
and Newcastle United
, and scored his first goal for the club in a F.A. Cup 5th round tie against Charlton in February 1989.
Playing in Division Two in 1989–90, he scored nine goals in 50 league and cup appearances as West Ham reached the semi-final of the League Cup, and made three substitute appearances for the England Under 21 team in 1990.
Manager Billy Bonds
switched him to the left wing towards the end of the 1989–90 season where he excelled to the extent that after a 5–0 home defeat of Sheffield United
in March 1990, the Sheffield United defender, Chris Wilder
, shook Slater's hand, saying, "That's the closest I've been to you all evening."
A similar performance came against Everton
in the sixth-round of the FA Cup in March 1991, when he also scored West Ham's second goal from 20 yards, as West Ham won 2–1 to reach the semi-finals.
West Ham returned to Division One in 1991–92 but, troubled by an Achilles injury, Slater failed to scored a goal in 51 appearances. He turned down the offer of a new contract and left the club in August 1992 for Celtic
.
, then manager of Celtic, took Slater to Glasgow in a £1.5 million deal in August 1992.
Slater made his debut in the same month, coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 away draw against Rangers
, but did not make an impression at Celtic and thirteen months later he returned south to Ipswich Town
, having scored three goals in 43 appearances.
He joined Ipswich Town in a £750,000 deal in September 1993, where he linked up again with his former manager at West Ham, John Lyall
, in the Premier League. He stayed at Ipswich for three seasons scoring four goals in 84 appearances before leaving on a free transfer.
After a short spell on trial at Leicester City
, Slater joined Watford
. Injuries limited him to only 35 league appearances for the Watford in almost three years and he eventually moved to Australia
, joining NSL
club, Carlton S.C.
, in August 1999.
Slater returned to England
a year later to join Football Conference
club Forest Green Rovers in October 2000, for who he made 24 league and cup appearances in the 2000–01 season and played in the FA Trophy
final at Villa Park in May 2001, when Rovers were beaten 1–0 by Canvey Island
.
He was unable to agree a new contract with Rovers and followed manager Frank Gregan to League of Wales
side Aberystwyth Town
in July 2001. Poor results in the first months of the 2001–02 season saw Frank Gregan depart and Slater follow him to Southern League
club, Weston-super-Mare, in December 2001, where he stayed for the next three years, helping Weston-super-Mare to promotion to the Southern League Premier Division in 2003.
He played his final game for Weston-super-Mare in a 1–1 draw, in which he scored, at Bishop Stortford
in October 2004.
In January 2009, Slater joined Wivenhoe Town
, managed by his former West Ham
team-mate, Julian Dicks
, but never made an appearance for the team.
He currently is a Physical Education teacher at Kings Langley School.
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
who played as a winger and forward
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
for West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
, Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
, Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
, Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
and 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...
. He also represented England at under-21 and B level.
Background
Slater was raised in rural Suffolk and played in the local junior leagues as a boy. He played for Colchester's 'Langham Lions' alongside Jason DozzellJason Dozzell
Jason Irvin Winans Dozzell is an English former professional association footballer who made more than 500 Football League appearances for Ipswich Town, Tottenham Hotspur, Northampton Town and Colchester United...
and supported Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
.
West Ham United
Slater joined West HamWest Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
as an apprentice in 1986 and after a tough first year, he became a star of the youth team. He made his first appearance for West Ham, still an apprentice, when he came on as substitute for Ray Stewart
Ray Stewart (footballer)
Raymond "Ray" Strean McDonald Stewart is a former Scottish international footballer of the late 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. During his career he played for Dundee United, West Ham United, St...
in the Division One home game against 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...
in October 1987.
He was offered a professional contract in April 1988 just after his seventeenth birthday and made a second appearance in the 1987–88 season when he came on as substitute in the home game against 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...
in the same month.
He made his first start for West Ham against Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
in August 1988, when a clash of heads with Russell Osman
Russell Osman
Russell Charles Osman is a retired England international footballer.-Playing career:Osman was born in Repton, Derbyshire, the son of Rex Osman who played a handful of games for Derby County in the early 1950s...
led to him being taken off in the first minute. He recovered to win the Man of the Match award in his next two games, against Charlton
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
and 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...
, and scored his first goal for the club in a F.A. Cup 5th round tie against Charlton in February 1989.
Playing in Division Two in 1989–90, he scored nine goals in 50 league and cup appearances as West Ham reached the semi-final of the League Cup, and made three substitute appearances for the England Under 21 team in 1990.
Manager Billy Bonds
Billy Bonds
William Arthur "Billy" Bonds MBE is a former professional footballer and manager, who is most often associated with West Ham United with whom he spent 27 years as player and manager...
switched him to the left wing towards the end of the 1989–90 season where he excelled to the extent that after a 5–0 home defeat of 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...
in March 1990, the Sheffield United defender, Chris Wilder
Chris Wilder
Christopher John "Chris" Wilder is an English former footballer, and current manager of Oxford United.Previously, he was the last manager of Halifax Town F.C., becoming their manager in July 2002 just after relegation from the Football League and remaining there until June 2008, when the club was...
, shook Slater's hand, saying, "That's the closest I've been to you all evening."
A similar performance came against Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
in the sixth-round of the FA Cup in March 1991, when he also scored West Ham's second goal from 20 yards, as West Ham won 2–1 to reach the semi-finals.
West Ham returned to Division One in 1991–92 but, troubled by an Achilles injury, Slater failed to scored a goal in 51 appearances. He turned down the offer of a new contract and left the club in August 1992 for Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
.
Career after leaving West Ham United
Former West Ham team-mate, Liam BradyLiam Brady
Liam Brady is a former Irish association football player, and former assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland national football team....
, then manager of Celtic, took Slater to Glasgow in a £1.5 million deal in August 1992.
Slater made his debut in the same month, coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 away draw against Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
, but did not make an impression at Celtic and thirteen months later he returned south to Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
, having scored three goals in 43 appearances.
He joined Ipswich Town in a £750,000 deal in September 1993, where he linked up again with his former manager at West Ham, John Lyall
John Lyall
John Angus Lyall was an English footballer and manager of Scottish descent. His mother, Catherine, was from the Isle of Lewis, his father, James, was from Kirriemuir. He was born in Ilford, Essex.- Youth team career :...
, in the Premier League. He stayed at Ipswich for three seasons scoring four goals in 84 appearances before leaving on a free transfer.
After a short spell on trial at Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
, Slater joined 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...
. Injuries limited him to only 35 league appearances for the Watford in almost three years and he eventually moved to 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...
, joining NSL
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...
club, Carlton S.C.
Carlton S.C.
Carlton Soccer Club is a defunct Australian association football club. It participated in the National Soccer League from the 1997/98 season until round eight of the 2000/2001 season, after which it folded. The club was strongly linked to the Carlton Australian Rules club, and suffered from poor...
, in August 1999.
Slater returned to England
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...
a year later to join Football Conference
Football Conference
The Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Some Football Conference clubs are fully professional, such as Luton Town, but most of them are semi-professional...
club Forest Green Rovers in October 2000, for who he made 24 league and cup appearances in the 2000–01 season and played in the FA Trophy
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams...
final at Villa Park in May 2001, when Rovers were beaten 1–0 by Canvey Island
Canvey Island F.C.
Canvey Island F.C, known as the Gulls or Yellow Army, are an English football club founded in 1926 that play in the Isthmian League Premier Division....
.
He was unable to agree a new contract with Rovers and followed manager Frank Gregan to League of Wales
League of Wales
The Welsh Premier League is the national football league for Wales. It has both Professional and Semi-Professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 2002, the league was known as the League of Wales, but changed its name as part of a sponsorship deal...
side Aberystwyth Town
Aberystwyth Town F.C.
Aberystwyth Town F.C. is a football team, playing in the Welsh Premier League.The club was founded in 1884, and plays at Park Avenue, Aberystwyth, where their ground accommodates 5,000 spectators with 1,002 of that capacity seated....
in July 2001. Poor results in the first months of the 2001–02 season saw Frank Gregan depart and Slater follow him to Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
club, Weston-super-Mare, in December 2001, where he stayed for the next three years, helping Weston-super-Mare to promotion to the Southern League Premier Division in 2003.
He played his final game for Weston-super-Mare in a 1–1 draw, in which he scored, at Bishop Stortford
Bishop's Stortford F.C.
Bishop's Stortford F.C. is an English football club based in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. The club are currently members of the Conference North and play at Woodside Park.-History:The club was established in 1874...
in October 2004.
In January 2009, Slater joined Wivenhoe Town
Wivenhoe Town F.C.
Wivenhoe Town F.C. is an English football club based in Wivenhoe, Essex. The club are currently members of the Eastern Counties League Premier Division and play at Broad Lane.-History:...
, managed by his former West Ham
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
team-mate, Julian Dicks
Julian Dicks
Julian Andrew Dicks , is a retired football player and manager, last attached to Isthmian League Division One North club Grays Athletic.-Playing career:...
, but never made an appearance for the team.
He currently is a Physical Education teacher at Kings Langley School.