Steve Death
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'''Steve Death''' ([[19 October]] [[1949]] – [[26 October]] [[2003]]) was a [[Goalkeeper (football)|goalkeeper]] with [[Reading F.C.|Reading Football Club]].
Death will always be remembered as one of the longest-serving and best-liked players ever to appear for Reading. He was an England schoolboy international who made one League appearance for [[West Ham United F.C.|West Ham]] before joining Reading, originally on loan, in 1969. He went straight into the team as first choice goalkeeper, and made the position his own for the next ten years with a total of 537 first team appearances.
Death set many other records during his time at [[Elm Park]]. He was elected 'Player of the Season' four times, won PFA Divisional Awards in 1973-74 and 1978-79, collected a Division Four Championship plaque in 1978-79, kept 26 clean sheets in that season, and at one stage made 156 consecutive first team appearances. This is still a Club record. Death holds the Football League record of 1,103 minutes without conceding a goal.[http://football.guardian.co.uk/theknowledge/story/0,13854,1408352,00.html]
Death was given a testimonial in the 1979-80 season, with over 7,000 watching his Testimonial Match against a Young England XI managed by his former boss at West Ham, [[Ron Greenwood]]. He left the game in 1982 and returned to his native [[Suffolk]]. He subsequently returned to Reading to work as a greenkeeper at a local golf course. He died in 2003, aged 54.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Death, Steve}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:Reading F.C. players]]
[[Category:West Ham United F.C. players]]