Steve was brought up in Blackburn and now lives near Chorley. He watched his first game at Ewood in 1962, aged 10, and a few years later he was refereeing schoolboy cup finals on the hallowed turf. This led to a long career as a referee in schoolboy, youth, amateur and semi-professional football, including fifteen seasons as a Referee in Non-League Football and twelve seasons as a Linesman on Football League, F.A. Cup and European games.
A sales and marketing professional for some well-known brands, he eventually set up a specialist recruitment company which he expanded nationally. He took early retirement in 2008 to concentrated on his love of history, especially local history and the First World War. In 2010, he was instrumental in seeing a statue erected to the Chorley Pals in the town - they fought in the First World War as part of the famous ‘Accrington Pals’ Battalion. After delivering that project, he devised and managed the National Lottery funded ‘Chorley Remembers’ heritage project between 2011 and 2018.
Steve has been presenting illustrated talks on Lancashire history, railways, the First World War and football topics since 2003. He is a supporter of the ‘Remember the Rovers’ and the Sporting Memories Network, giving his talks free of charge to those worthy groups.
In 2022 he approached the Club to set up the ‘Rovers in uniform’ project, researching the men who wore blue & white and served in uniform in two World Wars and whilst doing National Service. A book is due out in 2024 about 175 former Rovers players he has found to date who wore a uniform, adding to two books he has had published about the 221 Chorley Pals and the 330 men from the nearby villages of Brindle and Hoghton who fought in the First World War.
With his background and experience, it was only natural for the Supporters Trust to ask him to join the Board and to lead on heritage issues. He is looking forward to playing his part in promoting and protecting the Rovers history and heritage, as well as working with the club and supporters leading up to the Club’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2025.
Steve can be contacted on heritage@roverstrust.co.uk
