Tiny Keeper Steve Death, Record Breaker, Shy Genius and Maverick by Alan Hester
The extraordinary story of Steve Death, once the shortest goalkeeper in the Football League at just 5 feet 7 inches. He was good enough to keep Peter Shilton out of the England Schoolboys side, yet he spent his career in Divisions Three and Four and became a lower-league legend. This tale of a shy genius, record-breaker and maverick covers: Death’s time as part of the legendary West Ham United academy under Ron Greenwood when he trained and played alongside World Cup-winning trio Sir Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters and Bobby MooreHow only his lack of height stopped him playing at the highest levelHow he carved out a brilliant career in Divisions Three and Four, playing 537 games for Reading and winning Player of the Year four times on the first occasion while still on loan How in 1979 he set a Football League record for the longest run of clean sheets—that record still stands! His modest life outside of football, living quietly with his family in a club house at the old Elm Park groundExclusive first-hand accounts from West Ham and Reading players, journalists, supporters and family membersDescribed on his debut as ‘an insignificantly built bundle of daredevil energy’, Death played without gloves, caught crosses one-handed and saved penalties instinctively. His remarkable story provides a fascinating insight into the lost world of 1970s lower-league football.
ROYAL MAIL TRACKED 48 [Delivered to You 1st Week April 2025] Published: March 24, 2025 Price: £25.00 ISBN-10: 1801509514 ISBN-13: 9781801509510 Hardback: 256 pages Dimensions: 240 x 160 mm
