Steve Bull
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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Stephen George Bull | ||
Date of birth | 28 March 1965 | ||
Place of birth | Tipton, Staffordshire, England | ||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Position(s) | Striker | ||
Youth career | |||
1981–1984 | Tipton Town | ||
1984–1985 | West Bromwich Albion | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1984–1985 | Tipton Town | 20 | (17) |
1985–1986 | West Bromwich Albion | 4 | (2) |
1986–1999 | Wolverhampton Wanderers[1][2] | 474 | (250) |
2000–2001 | Hereford United | 6 | (2) |
Total | 504 | (327) | |
International career | |||
1989 | England U21 | 5 | (3) |
1989–1991 |
England B | 5 | (2) |
1989–1990 | England | 13 | (4) |
Managerial career | |||
2008 | Stafford Rangers | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Stephen George Bull MBE (born 28 March 1965) is an English former professional footballer who is best remembered for his 13-year spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers. He played there from 1986 until his retirement from playing in 1999, and holds the club's goalscoring record with 306 goals, which included 18 hat-tricks for the club.
He was capped 13 times for the England team between 1989 and 1990, scoring four goals.
Playing career
Early years
Bull was born in Tipton and started school in September 1969 at
He began his professional career, aged 19, after being recommended to
Bull played three
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Bull's debut for Wolves, then languishing in the Fourth Division, was against
In over 13 years at Wolves, Bull broke four of the club's goalscoring records. He became their all-time leading goalscorer with 306 goals in competitive games (250 of them in the
Bull's first season at the club saw him score a total of 19 goals for Wolves - 15 of them in the Fourth Division, in which they finished fourth - although they lost out on promotion after being beaten by Aldershot in the playoffs.[10]
In the 1987–88 season, Wolves won the Fourth Division championship and became the first of only five teams (later matched by Burnley, Preston North End, Portsmouth and Sheffield United) to have been champions of all four divisions in the English league. Bull's impressive total of 52 goals in all competitions during the season included 34 goals in the league, with league hat-tricks against Exeter City and Darlington. He also scored hat-tricks in cup competitions against Cheltenham Town and Brentford.[11] His 50th goal came just 15 months after signing for Wolves, when he found the net twice in a 4–0 home win against Peterborough United on 9 February 1988.
On 24 January 1989, after just over two years at the club, he took his Wolves goal tally to over 100 with a hat-trick in a Third Division game against Bristol City at Molineux, which Wolves won 3–0.
In the
In
He started the 1990–91 season in style with both goals at home to promotion favourites Oldham Athletic, who came away from the Molineux with a 3–2 victory. These goals took his tally in all competitions to 150 goals in just under four years with Wolves. A hat-trick in a 4–0 home win over Bristol City took him to 11 Second Division goals by 6 October, and he reached the 20-goal margin (for the fourth reason running) on 26 February as they beat Port Vale 3–1 at home. A hat-trick at home to Oxford United in a thrilling 3–3 draw came the following month, and Bull finished the season with 25 goals in the league and 26 in all competitions, although once again Wolves missed out on the playoffs and the chance of promotion.[14]
Late in the
At the end of the 1994-95 season, when Wolves finished fourth in Division One but lost in the playoff semi-finals, Bull came close to making a £1.5 million transfer to Premier League club
He scored his 250th goal for Wolves in a 1–1 league draw with Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park on 3 May 1995.
Bull played only one game in the English top flight — coming on as a substitute, ironically replacing Andy Thompson (who would follow him to Wolves the following season), for West Bromwich Albion in 1986 — the rest of his career was spent in the lower divisions. He came close to achieving his ambition of reaching the Premier League in 1995 and 1997, but Wolves lost in the play-offs both times.
During his final two seasons at Molineux, his chances of first-team football were reduced by a series of knee injuries. He reached the 300-goal milestone
He scored his last hat-trick in all competitions, two years after his final league hat-trick, on 18 August 1998 in a 5–0 home win over
Bull's final goal for the club came against Bury on 26 September 1998[22] and his final competitive appearance for the club came on the last day of the 1998–99 season against Bradford City.[23] By January 1999, however, reports were circulating that Bull would soon be retiring as a player due to an ongoing knee problem.[24]
On 13 July 1999, at the age of 34, Bull finally admitted defeat in his battle to fully regain fitness and announced his retirement after 13 years with Wolves.[25]
However, he soon returned to playing as player-coach of Hereford United for a season in the Conference, working with Graham Turner, the manager who had signed him for Wolves.
Known by his fans as 'Bully' for his club loyalty, rapport with supporters and passion for the game and also known as the "Tipton Skin" for his trademark closely cropped haircut, he received an MBE for services to Association Football in December 1999, shortly after retiring as a first class player.
Bull is regarded as a legend at Wolves and one of the main stands at their home ground,
On 29 July 2006, Bull made one final appearance for Wolves in his 20th anniversary testimonial game against
International career
Bull was capped 13 times by England, and scored 4 goals, all coming in the buildup to Italia 90. He scored his first goal on his debut after replacing an injured John Fashanu against Scotland on 27 May 1989, with a low right-footed shot to the net. Two more goals came in a friendly against Czechoslovakia on 25 April 1990. His final England goal came against Tunisia, which earned him a place in Bobby Robson's World Cup squad.
Despite starting his international career well, he did not score another goal for England after this. He played four times during Italia 90 - three times as a substitute against Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium and once as a starter against Egypt. His final match for England was on 17 October 1990 against Poland, but he was not picked again by his future Wolves manager, Graham Taylor.
Bull was still technically a Third Division player when he won his first cap, at the end of the 1988–89 season, as Wolves had not yet played in Division Two after their promotion that season. He remains the last player to be capped by England from outside the top two tiers, and one of only five post-war players so honoured.[26]
In total, he scored nine goals in 23 appearances for his country at full, U-21 and "B" team levels.
Management career
On 21 February 2008, Bull entered management with
Personal life
He is the cousin of West Bromwich born former footballer Gary Bull, who played for clubs including Barnet, Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City.[28] In November 2022, Bull launched his own clothing line entitled 'SB9' using the famous gold and black; it comprises t-shirts, hoodies, caps, beanies, polos, gilets, track suit trousers and shorts.
Honours
- Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Third Division: 1988–89
- Fourth Division: 1987–88
- 1987–88
- Individual
- PFA Team of the Year: 1987–88 Fourth Division,[29] 1988–89 Third Division,[30] 1989–90 Second Division,[31] 1990–91 Second Division[32]
- Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE): December 1999
- Freeman of the City of Wolverhampton: September 2018
Career statistics
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other[33] | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
West Bromwich Albion | 1985–86 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
1986–87 | Second Division | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | |
Total | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 3 | ||
Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1986–87 | Fourth Division | 30 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 37 | 19 |
1987–88 | Fourth Division | 44 | 34 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 58 | 52 | |
1988–89 | Third Division | 45 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 55 | 50 | |
1989–90 | Second Division | 42 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 27 | |
1990–91 | Second Division | 43 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 48 | 27 | |
1991–92
|
Second Division | 43 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 23 | |
1992–93 | First Division | 36 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 42 | 19 | |
1993–94 | First Division | 27 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 15 | |
1994–95 | First Division | 31 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 39 | 19 | |
1995–96 | First Division | 44 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 17 | |
1996–97
|
First Division | 43 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 23 | |
1997–98 | First Division | 31 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 9 | |
1998–99 | First Division | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 6 | |
Total | 474 | 250 | 20 | 7 | 33 | 18 | 34 | 31 | 561 | 306 | ||
Hereford United | 2000–01 | Conference | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
Career total | 484 | 254 | 20 | 7 | 35 | 19 | 38 | 31 | 577 | 311 |
References
- ^ Steve Bull Archived 28 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine Wolves Stats. Retrieved Nov 2012.
- Albion!" Retrieved Nov 2012.
- ISBN 1-85983-474-4.
- ISBN 978-1-85983-565-4.
- ISBN 978-1-85983-565-4.
- ISBN 978-1-85983-565-4.
- ^ Ronay, Barney (5 February 2010). "Interview Steve Bull". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
- ^ "1986-1987 Season". Wolves-stats.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ "1996-1997 Season". Wolves-stats.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ "1986-1987 General Stats". Wolves-stats.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ "1987-1988 Season". Wolves-stats.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ "1988-1989 Season". Wolves-stats.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ "1989-1990 Season". Wolves-stats.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ "1990-1991 Season". Wolves-stats.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ "STEVE BULL MBE : Official Website". Bullybully.net. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ "Doug Ellis promised me a move to Aston Villa says Wolves legend Steve Bull". Birmingham Mail. 14 October 2012.
- ^ "New Straits Times - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
- ^ Smyth, Rob (17 July 2008). "On Second Thoughts: Leeds United's 1991-92 title". The Guardian. London.
- ^ [1] Archived 12 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "1997-1998 Season". Wolves-stats.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ "Bully's 306 Goals". 18 July 2012. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012.
- ^ "Wolves 1 Bury 0". Sporting Life. 26 September 1998. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
- ^ Shaw, Phil (9 May 1999). "Bradford crown Jewell's season - Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Bradford City 3". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 12 May 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
- ^ "Football: Wolves will go with Flo. - Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ "Football: BRAVE BULLY FORCED TO QUIT. - Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- Peter Taylor, 4 caps while playing for Crystal Palacein 1975-76.
- ^ "Bully out as Stafford Rangers boss". Express & Star. 12 December 2008. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008.
- ^ "Football Gary Bull, the Nottingham Forest striker, has joined Second Division Brighton". The Independent. London. 18 August 1995. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022.
- ^ Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 147.
- ^ Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 147.
- ^ Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 148.
- ^ Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 148.
- Full Members Cup, Anglo-Italian Cup, FA Trophy
External links
- Official website bullybully.net
- Profile at the Official Wolves site
- Steve Bull at Soccerbase
- Steve Bull at England Football Online