Rams' Goalkeeping Coach an Award Winner at The 2014 FA Licensed Coaches' Club Coaching Awards.
Derby County’s Goalkeeping Coach Eric Steele was named as the Goalkeeping Coach of the Year at The 2014 FA Licensed Coaches' Club Coaching Awards on Thursday evening.
Alongside Steele, 14 more coaches from across grassroots and elite football were recognised for their achievements over the past year, while four new coaching legends were also inducted into The FA’s Hall of Fame.
Head of FA Learning and founder of the awards, Jamie Houchen, believes the diverse and wide-ranging set of prizes and nominees make the coaching awards unique as well as celebrating the whole game.
“When we launched the Coaching Awards last year we wanted to get football people from every corner of the game in the room together to celebrate and promote their achievements," said Houchen.
“We wanted to show how everybody involved in coaching plays a part in making English football and English coaching a better place.
“Every footballer, whatever level they progress to play at, begins playing football at school, in a grassroots club, soccer school or community scheme and it is just as important to highlight their achievements as it is to congratulate those working at the top-level of the domestic and international game.”
Steele, who has an outstanding reputation as one of the best Goalkeeping Coaches around, began his playing career as a goalkeeper at Newcastle United in 1972, where he was part of the squad that won the Anglo-Italian Cup.
The shot-stopper then went on to join Peterborough United, where he established himself as first-choice 'keeper.
He later joined Brighton and Hove Albion, Watford, and Derby County, winning five promotions in 12 years with those clubs.
After hanging up his gloves, Steele established ‘Eric Steele Coaching Services’, which provided coaching to Manchester City, Leeds United, Derby, and Barnsley, as well as working overseas in Australia, Switzerland, Norway, Germany and the United States.
Steele left a role with Huddersfield Town prior to his appointment as goalkeeping coach with the Rams in 1998. He spent the next four years with Derby, before agreeing a move to Premier League side Aston Villa.
In 2007, he became the new Manchester City goalkeeping coach, following the departure of Tim Flowers to Coventry City as assistant to Iain Dowie. Steele left his job at City in 2008 after being part of the backroom team under managers Stuart Pearce and Sven-Göran Eriksson.
Paul Ince soon appointed him as goalkeeping coach at Blackburn Rovers; however, just weeks after joining Blackburn, Steele attracted the attention of Manchester United, who had been in search of a new goalkeeping coach since Tony Coton had been forced to retire through injury. Steele remained with the Red Devils until as recently as May 2013, when David Moyes took over following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
He returned to Derby in September 2013, following Steve McClaren's appointment as Head Coach.
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