| Steve Stacey 22:06 - Sep 6 with 3193 views | tractorian |
There's been a lot of publicity in the press and on local television here in Bristol about a local lad called Steve Stacey.
There's a long article about him here:
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/bristol-city-stacey-l
It's reported he moved from Bristol City to Ipswich, must have been about 60 years ago. It coincides with the time when I went off to do my National Service so I missed him. Does anyone else remember him? |  | | |  |
| Steve Stacey on 22:19 - Sep 6 with 3106 views | jaykay |
i very dont think so it was 50 years ago . when i was 20 |  |
| forensic experts say footers and spruces fingerprints were not found at the scene after the weekends rows |
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| Steve Stacey on 22:45 - Sep 6 with 3026 views | 66notout |
Cheers for that, a fascinating life story that makes for an interesting read, and it’s a pity he hasn’t included a trip to Ipswich in his itinerary, although the fact that he played a mere three league games for Town probably explains why. |  | | |
| Steve Stacey on 22:47 - Sep 6 with 3017 views | tuxcedo |
| Steve Stacey on 22:19 - Sep 6 by jaykay |
i very dont think so it was 50 years ago . when i was 20 |
He played fullback for town and for a while he and Colin Harper Coached at Everton school which is now an old people’s home at westerfield house in tuddenham road. That was in the late 1960s |  | | |
| Steve Stacey on 23:07 - Sep 6 with 2972 views | EatonBlue |
I saw him make an inauspicious debut for Town in September 1968 0-2 v Liverpool.
He was signed by Bill McGarry, who was replaced as manager by Bobby Robson soon afterwards. As I recall, Stacey and Robson did not get on and Stacey's wife accused Robson of not playing him because he was black. |  | | |
| Steve Stacey on 23:35 - Sep 6 with 2938 views | bluefunk |
I remember him signing, iirc he got injured in his second game and didn’t really feature much after that |  | | |
| Steve Stacey on 00:45 - Sep 7 with 2870 views | frenchblue |
| Steve Stacey on 22:47 - Sep 6 by tuxcedo |
He played fullback for town and for a while he and Colin Harper Coached at Everton school which is now an old people’s home at westerfield house in tuddenham road. That was in the late 1960s |
Was that after Roy Bailey coached there? |  | | |
| Steve Stacey on 08:24 - Sep 7 with 2692 views | PJH |
| Steve Stacey on 23:35 - Sep 6 by bluefunk |
I remember him signing, iirc he got injured in his second game and didn’t really feature much after that |
Yes, signed from Wrexham by Bill McGarry on 12th September 1968 and played at home to Liverpool two days later but got injured and subbed in that game.
Played two games under Bobby Robson in April 1969, the second one also coincidentally against Liverpool and that was his last first team game for us.
He moved to Bristol City in September 1970.
When he signed for us black players were still comparatively rare in English football. |  | | |
| Steve Stacey on 08:58 - Sep 7 with 2639 views | ElephantintheRoom |
I recommend a blog by my good self 'strange and spectacularly silly signings' or words to that effect. He remains one of the daftest signings in the club's history. Stacey was a panic signing by Bill McGarry when Bill Baxter got injured in the first season back in the top division. He got injured in his first match (v Liverpool - quite a step up from Wrexham) and Baxter recovered before he did. His big claim to fame was being the first african american to play in British football and overcoming a difficult childhood (and life) for reasons that still exist to this day but we pretend only exist on twitter. | |
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| Steve Stacey on 09:07 - Sep 7 with 2608 views | PJH |
| Steve Stacey on 08:58 - Sep 7 by ElephantintheRoom |
I recommend a blog by my good self 'strange and spectacularly silly signings' or words to that effect. He remains one of the daftest signings in the club's history. Stacey was a panic signing by Bill McGarry when Bill Baxter got injured in the first season back in the top division. He got injured in his first match (v Liverpool - quite a step up from Wrexham) and Baxter recovered before he did. His big claim to fame was being the first african american to play in British football and overcoming a difficult childhood (and life) for reasons that still exist to this day but we pretend only exist on twitter. |
I cannot remember the exact circumstances but looking at The Men Who Made The Town Billy Baxter only missed two games(plus one later in the season) with Bobby Bell making his debut in the second one with Stacey out injured.
You might be right but as Baxter's injury was only short term I am not sure that that was the only reason for signing Steve Stacey.
Billy Houghton was also injured at the time and missed six league matches so possibly with both he and Baxter being out there was a need for another defender. | | | |
| Steve Stacey on 10:21 - Sep 7 with 2523 views | ElephantintheRoom |
| Steve Stacey on 09:07 - Sep 7 by PJH |
I cannot remember the exact circumstances but looking at The Men Who Made The Town Billy Baxter only missed two games(plus one later in the season) with Bobby Bell making his debut in the second one with Stacey out injured.
You might be right but as Baxter's injury was only short term I am not sure that that was the only reason for signing Steve Stacey.
Billy Houghton was also injured at the time and missed six league matches so possibly with both he and Baxter being out there was a need for another defender. |
Baxter's injury was not as bad as first feared - or maybe he gritted his teeth and played with a knee full of cortisone. And the other reason for Steve's less than auspicious Town career is that he wasn't very good. One of Robson's few forays into the loan market was to divest himself temporarily of Stacey before Bristol City took the bait. | |
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| Steve Stacey on 10:28 - Sep 7 with 2509 views | Sibelius8 |
| Steve Stacey on 23:07 - Sep 6 by EatonBlue |
I saw him make an inauspicious debut for Town in September 1968 0-2 v Liverpool.
He was signed by Bill McGarry, who was replaced as manager by Bobby Robson soon afterwards. As I recall, Stacey and Robson did not get on and Stacey's wife accused Robson of not playing him because he was black. |
That game vs Liverpool is etched in my memory. It was 14 at the time and standing near the front of Churchman's Stand. I distinctly remember that Stacey had to endure a considerable amount of abuse from the home crowd for being black. He was often booed by his own "fans" when he received the ball. My father and I found this rather shocking, even then. | | | |
| Steve Stacey on 13:02 - Sep 7 with 2411 views | gazzer1999 |
In the interview he states he is visiting his former clubs, but nothing of coming here. Surely we should invite him to visit us, maybe the club or the folks on this forum could make contact with him to visit here. |  | | |
| Steve Stacey on 13:22 - Sep 7 with 2384 views | monty_radio |
| Steve Stacey on 08:24 - Sep 7 by PJH |
Yes, signed from Wrexham by Bill McGarry on 12th September 1968 and played at home to Liverpool two days later but got injured and subbed in that game.
Played two games under Bobby Robson in April 1969, the second one also coincidentally against Liverpool and that was his last first team game for us.
He moved to Bristol City in September 1970.
When he signed for us black players were still comparatively rare in English football. |
So rare in fact that I remember the Star reporting that we had signed a "colourful player" by which I subsequently understood that they had either meant to use another similar word commonly in use then to describe black people, or had drawn the report from somewhere without seeing him.
He was an earlier Paz or Civelli in that I was always hoping that he might recover from injury and come good for us, but it didn't happen. | |
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| Steve Stacey on 15:23 - Sep 7 with 2326 views | pablovian |
I remember when Steve Stacey was signed by Bill McGarry. The transfer fee was significant for the time (35,000 pounds, as I recall), and McGarry had a good eye for talent. High expectations were dashed immediately by serious injuries.
Years later, McGarry complained that when he visited Ipswich, his successes at the club were never mentioned. People only wanted to talk about the signing of Steve Stacey. |  | | |
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