Steve Death – A tribute to a Reading Legend
In remembrance of Steve Death, who died the Sunday before, a minutes silence was observed at Madejski Stadium
prior to the game against Huddersfield Town on Tuesday, October 28, 2003. Steve’s league record of 1103 minutes
played without giving up a goal while playing for the Royals will go down in history. Steve signed with Reading in
1969 and went on to make 537 starts, making him the team’s first choice custodian during the 1970s. Many Reading
supporters have happy recollections of Steve Death, a true Reading legend:
When I learnt of Steve Death’s passing, I was devastated. Steve played for the first and best Reading team I ever saw,
which dominated the 1978–79 division four championship. Part of Death, Peters, Hicks, Bennnet, and White’s
almost constant back five In addition to setting a league record of more than 1000 minutes without giving up a goal,
Steve finished the season with eleven clean sheets.
Steve was frequently accused of being unable to play at a higher level due to his lack of height; if this were true,
Reading would benefit. Steve was a fantastic goalie, incredibly nimble, and capable of controlling his area when
necessary despite his diminutive stature. Any Reading supporter from that era would probably find it difficult to
recall a goal that was given up because of Steve.
He always struck me as a bit of loner, a quiet man who just got on with doing his job with as little fuss as possible. I
got the impression that he departed the club on bad terms as he seemed to disassociate himself from the club in later
years, which I find sad as Steve was a Royal’s legend in every sense of the word.
Since I recently learnt about Steve Death, I simply wanted to send you a message. The man was my all-time Reading
idol and hero, and I am devastated. I witnessed his debut for the Biscuitmen against Brighton in 69/70, and right
away, he was a far better player than Roy Brown (who knows why he sold Arthur Wilkie and Mike Dixon to acquire
Brown!). Despite his small stature (5’7″) and unable to kick to save his life, he was courageous, nimble, and amazing
to see.
He was playing behind an invisible defence throughout that first season; we had the league’s most effective attack
but no defence, which led to outcomes like 2-6 Southport, 5-1 Tranmere, 6-2 Barnsley, and 6-3 Barrow. Hey, I
The best of Steve? – 1976, we had gone up from Div 4 (under Charlie Hurley, see Eamon Dunphy’s book) and were
struggling, on a very wet Autumn day Swindon came to Elm Park and proceded to piss all over Reading, but Steve
was breath taking, many great saves, perfect handling (greasy ball, no poncy modern latex gloves, just bare hands),
and a brilliant penalty save.
Reading had four attacks and four goals in the meantime. Near the end of the game, Swindon finally threw one over
little Steve to a thunderous applause. I overheard a Swindon fan yell, “Pick that one out you bastard”; the cheer
wasn’t sarcastic, but rather thankful that they had finally defeated Steve.
Steve has had such an impact on me that, even in my late forties, I still play goalie since it was my dream job. I like to
think it is a fitting homage to Steve, even though it is currently in the planning stages of a seven-a-side league.
As one of the older-but-not-quite-so-older generation of Royals fans, I can feel proud of having seen this “giant”
many times at Elm Park. However, you asked for memories, and the one that struck me this evening was seeing him
play the proverbial blinder against Sunderland, FA Cup 3rd round 1973. He literally stopped everything the likes of
Porterfield, Tueart, Hughes, Watson, etc. etc. threw at him for 90 minutes.
If he hadn’t made the one error of dropping the ball at Tueart’s feet, who scored the first goal, Sunderland would not
have advanced to Wembley that season, and Leeds very likely would have won the Cup instead. They were disallowed
the only other time they managed to get the ball past him!
What would a fine, fine player like him be valued today? They claimed that Heaven’s eleventh captain had arrived
after Bobby Moore passed away; with him in defence, Steve in goal, and a certain Mr. Friday up front, they would
have an invaluable squad.
Geoff (a regular at South Bank and Tilehurst End since 1968)
Steve Death passed away, which is very sad news because he was my favourite player from the early to mid-1970s. He
had his head seriously kicked during a 1-0 victory over Hartlepool (a late winner, I seem to recall) during the 75/6
promotion season. Steve stopped to sign an autograph for me after the game, despite his terrible injury that would
keep him out for the remainder of the season (for John Turner to fill in). He was holding a pen in one hand and a
cigarette in the other.
Happy Days I was also present for the Port Vale game at the end of the 78/9 season, when we smashed the record
and won the league. His hasty departure from the box while skidding on heavy snow against Scunthorpe—the game
ought to have been postponed—was the only error I can recall. He missed the ball just long enough for a goal to cause
us to lose 1-0, but we still won the league.
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