Steve Howard

Steven John "Steve" Howard (born May 10 1976 in Durham, England) is a Scotland football (soccer) currently playing for Football League One side Leicester City F.C..

He is a supporter of Newcastle United F.C. and has been known to celebrate with his right arm aloft in the same fashion as Newcastle idol Alan Shearer. He fulfilled a life long ambition of playing at St James' Park when he played in the Derby side which drew 2-2 at Newcastle on December 23, 2007.

Club career

Early career

Howard began his career at non-league Tow Law Town F.C., whilst working as a roofer as his day-job. He worked 12 hour shifts and also dug up roads before moving to Hartlepool United F.C. in 1995. He moved on to Northampton Town F.C. as their record signing for £120,000 in February 1999.

Luton Town

Luton Town F.C. signed him for £50,000 on March 22 2001 with another £25,000 due if Luton avoided relegation, which they failed to do.

Howard was almost sacked from Luton in late 2001 after an incident during an away game against York City F.C.. The Hatters had been awarded a penalty, and Steve grabbed the ball from the designated penalty taker and promptly missed. However, an infringement was noticed and the penalty was ordered to be re-taken. Against the protests of the senior players and the management team, Howard once again grabbed the ball and stepped up to take the penalty, missing once again. He was substituted immediately afterwards and he walked straight into the changing rooms. After reclaiming his place in the team, Howard went on to score 24 goals as Luton finished runners-up in the Football League Third Division and Howard won the Golden Boot for that Division.

The 2002–03 season saw Howard partnered by Hatters favourite Tony Thorpe. Many pundits expected Thorpe to be the striker to hit 20+ goals that season, but it was Howard who again finished as the Hatters' top scorer, this time with 23. Howard was part of the squad of players that dug deep and stuck together as the awful mess of the 2003 take-over saga unravelled. During that season, Howard suffered from a hernia and missed a large chunk of the season, but again he finished as the Hatters' top scorer, this time with 16 goals.

In the summer of 2004 a transfer to Sheffield Wednesday F.C. for £500,000 appeared to be imminent after Wednesday announced that Luton had accepted a bid for him. Luton then came out and denied accepting a bid. After much confusion, Howard stayed at Luton and earned himself a Football League One winner's medal. With 18 goals, Howard played a crucial part in Luton's promotion season, earning himself a place in the League One Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year alongside five of his Luton team-mates.

Howard signed a new deal in 2005, despite interest from a host of clubs in Luton's new league. In his first season at the Football League Championship level, he managed to hit 15 goals in 45 appearances. This is more impressive because Howard played a large chunk of the season at centre-half following an injury crises. Howard scorred more than 100 goals for Luton and is the third all time scorer. He wore the number 19 and one match he scored on the 19th minute. Steve is regarded by Luton fans as a club legend, with over 100 goals in all competitions (96 in the league), five years of service, two promotions and a never-say-die attitude.

On July 22 2006, he signed for Derby County F.C. for £1 million.

Derby County

Howard made his Derby County debut in a 2-2 draw with Southampton F.C. on the opening day of the 2006-07 in English football.His £1 million fee made him Derby's biggest signing for over 5 years and he initially struggled to repay it as he failed to score in his first seven appearances for the club. He finally broke his duck with the winner in a 1-0 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. at Molineux and went on to score in four consecutive games, the first player to do so for the club since Fabrizio Ravanelli in 2001.

Howard quickly became a fan's favourite as his work rate and goals helped the Rams to finish third in the Championship for the 2006/07 and eventually earn promotion to the Premiership for the first time in 5 years following a 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion F.C. in the 2007 Football League playoff final. He finished the season as Derby County's top scorer with 19 goals, of which The_Football_League_2006-07 Championship and 3 in Cup competitions, two of which were vital goals in the Coca Cola Championship Play-off Semi-Final first leg against Southampton at the St. Mary's Stadium, giving Derby a 2–1 lead prior to the second leg at Pride Park. Howard was also nominated for the January 2007 Championship Player of the Month award and was awarded the Jack Stamps Trophy as Derby's Player Of The Season for 2006/07.

Howard, and Derby as a team, found adapting to the Premier League 2007-08 difficult and he only managed one goal in the top flight, scoring his club's first away goal of the season in a 4–1 defeat against Manchester United F.C. at Old Trafford on 8 December 2007. He also missed a vital penalty in a 2-1 home defeat to Blackburn Rovers F.C. on 30 December 2007. It proved to be his last contribution in a Derby County shirt and he was sold to midland rivals Leicester City F.C. on January 1, 2008 for a fee of £1.5 million.

Leicester City

Howard signed a three-and-a-half year contract following his move to Leicester, making his debut in a 3-1 defeat to Queens Park Rangers on 1 January. He scored his first goal in an M69 Derby on January 12, in which Leicester won 2-0, and also managed a hat-trick in a 4-1 away win over West Bromwich Albion F.C. on 15 March, then being named in the Championship Team of the Week as a result. Despite scoring 6 goals in 20 league games, Howard could not prevent his first season at Leicester from ending in relegation.

International career

Along with Middlesbrough F.C.'s James Morrison (footballer) and Aston Villa F.C.'s Gabriel Agbonlahor, Howard was one of a number of English players identified in June 2007 as being eligible to play for Scotland national football team. In November 2007, Howard - along with Morrison - was named in the Scotland B national football team squad for the match against Republic of Ireland B national football team. Howard scored on his debut.

Playing Record

Stats correct as of March 17, 2008

Note: Premier League (level 1) and The Football League (levels 2-4) games only