Steve Watson

Steven Craig "Steve" Watson (born 1 April 1974 in North Shields, England) is a former English footballer, who retired after being released by Sheffield Wednesday on 15 May 2009.

Watson began his career with Newcastle United, playing on a regular basis. At the time of his debut, as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat to Wolves on 10 November 1990, he was the youngest person ever to play for Newcastle, a record he holds to this day. Watson appeared 24 times that season, firstly under Jim Smith and then under Ossie Ardiles as Newcastle struggled in the old Second Division.

Watson featured prominently during the 1991-92 season as Kevin Keegan returned to Newcastle and relegation to the old Third Division was famously avoided. During his seven years at the club, he wore a jersey with every shirt number 2–11 at least once, earning a reputation as a key all round capable footballer integral to The Entertainers style of play

Watson remained in the Newcastle first team picture under Kevin Keegan and his successor Kenny Dalglish, but was sold by Ruud Gullit, to the surprise of Newcastle fans, in a desperate attempt to make funds available. Steve was hugely popular with the Newcastle faithful and years later the feeling amongst the Toon Army is that Watson should never have left. Whilst at Newcastle, he played in the 1998 FA Cup Final.

Steve Watson was transferred to Aston Villa for £4m in October 1998. At Villa he scored once against Southampton in the League Cup.

He moved to Everton in the summer of 2000 in a £2.5m deal. When boss Walter Smith found his squad decimated by injury, Watson found himself a regular striker alongside Tomasz Radzinski, a role he had started to play at the beginning of his career before transferring to the defence. His time with Everton was blighted with injury, although he did enjoy some time in the first team for the 2003–2004 season, the highlight of which was a hat-trick against Leeds United in September 2003.

Watson was signed by West Bromwich Albion prior to the 2005–06 season. He made his Albion debut as a late substitute in a 0–0 draw away at Manchester City on 13 August 2005. His only goal for the club was scored on 2 January 2006, in a 2–1 home defeat against his former club Aston Villa.

On 9 February 2007, he joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan until the end of the 2006–07 season and made his debut away at Burnley in a 1–1 draw on 10 February at Turf Moor. Before he joined them, the Yorkshire side had lost five matches in a row. However, they won six, drew four and only lost once when Watson was in the side. He was primarily signed by Brian Laws due to his versatility to play in central midfield alongside playmaker Glenn Whelan, but also excelled when called upon at centre-back. Due to a clause in his contract, he missed Wednesday's 1–0 victory over his parent club West Brom and was then re-called with only two games remaining. Watson moved to Wednesday permanently in July 2007 on a free transfer. His first goal for the club came as a 90th-minute equaliser against West Brom at The Hawthorns on 6 November.

On 2 July 2008 it was announced that Watson would succeed Lee Bullen as club captain for the 2008–09 season, taking charge of off-the-field matters, with Richard Wood retaining his role as team captain and being responsible for on-the-field affairs. On 19 October Watson scored the winner in the Steel City Derby against Sheffield United; his volleyed lob over Paddy Kenny in the 35th minute gave Wednesday a 1–0 win. On 14 May 2009 Sheffield Wednesday decided to release Watson due to long term injury problems.

On 13 November 2010, he was appointed as the new Development Coach at Football League One side Huddersfield Town, joining up with his ex-Newcastle team-mate Lee Clark. On 24 August 2012, he was appointed coach at Birmingham City of the Championship. He was sacked along with Clark on 20 October 2014. On 4 July 2016, he was appointed assistant manager at National League side Macclesfield Town.

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