Steve Bloomer	Derby County FC, Middlesbrough FC 23 appearances, 28 goals (2 on his debut) P 23 W 15 D 6 L 2 F 76: A 19 78% successful 1895-1907 captain: one minutes played: 2070
Profile
Full name	Stephen Bloomer
Born	20 January 1874 in Bridge Street, Cradley, Worcestershire [registered in Stourbridge, March 1874]. The Bloomer family moved to Derby after 1879, but before the 1881 census. Attended St. James' Church of England Boarding School, Derby.
Birth notes	Born in Cradley, not Cradley Heath.
Baptised	5 October 1874 at St Peter's Parish Church, Cradley
Census Notes
	According to the 1881 census, Stephen is the eldest of three children to Caleb and Mareb (née Dunn) living at 44 Yates Street in Litchurch. His father is a puddler.
	According to the 1891 census, Stephen now has three more younger siblings. They live at 87 Yates Street with just their widowed father. Stephen is a striker in the blacksmith industry.
	According to the 1901 census, a professional footballer and married to Sarah, with two daughters, Violet and Hetty, living at 81 Cummings Street in Derby.
	According to the 1911 census, Stephen is still a professional footballer, still married and now a third daughter, Doris. They live at 35 Portland Street in Derby. Passenger Lists in 1922 has Steve still living at 35 Portland Street. The 48 year-old is stated as a footballer. He was on the CPL Minnedosa travelling from Montréal to Southampton, on 11 August.
	Married: to Sarah Walker, 19 August 1896 at St. Thomas Church, Derby [registered in Derby, Derbyshire, September 1896]. Four children, Hetty Winifred, Violet Pretoria, Doris Alexandra and Patricia K. (died five weeks old). Sarah died suddenly on 9 April 1936 at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Alf Quantrill. Her address was stated as Portland Street in Derby.
	Died: 16 April 1938 in Derby, aged 64 years 86 days [registered in Derby, June 1938]. Funeral service held at Derby Cathedral, Wednesday, 20 April. Buried in Nottingham Road Cemetery, Derby (left), along with his wife.
	Height/Weight: 5' 8½", 11st. 9lbs [1899], 5' 7", 10st. 12lbs [1901], 5' 7½", 11st. 0lbs [1904].
	Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] & FindMyPast.com
Biographies	Steve Bloomer: The Story of Football's First Superstar - Peter J. Seddon (Breedon, 1999) Destroying Angel: Steve Bloomer ~ England's First Football Hero - Peter J. Seddon (JMD Media, November 2010 [update of his 1999 publication)
Club Career
	Started playing football with St. James' School FC in the Derbyshire Minor League, then in 1888 Bloomer joined Derby Swifts FC. He also briefly played for Tutbury Hawthorn FC, before being discovered by John Goodall. He scored 206 goals in 355 league appearances before he joined Middlesbrough FC in March 1906 for a £750 transfer fee. He had been registered with Burton Wanderers FC at Christmas 1892 while still a Derby player. He was suspended by the FA on 20 February 1893. After he made 125 league appearances, with a return of 61 goals, he returned to County in 1911. His second stint saw him score 53 goals in 98 league outings, bringing his total upto 291 goals in 473 County league appearances. His English League goals records of 352 was finally beaten by Billy Dean in 1936. Bloomer reluctantly retired at the end of the 1913-14 season, at the age of 40, having accepted a coaching position in Germany. However, when he returned to the Baseball Ground after coaching in Netherlands, Bloomer did play a few games for the County reserves, the team he was coaching.
	Club honours: Football League runners-up 1895-96; FA Cup runners-up 1897-98, 1898-99, 1902-03 (injured); Football League Division Two winners 1911-12;
	Individual honours: Football League (fifteen appearances); Top goalscorer Football League Division One (=20, 1895-96), (22, 1896-97), (23, 1898-99), (23, 1900-01), (20, 1903-04);
	Distinctions: England's Alf Quantrill married Bloomer's eldest daughter, Hetty in 1921. As well as playing for the football side, Bloomer also starred with the Baseball Club, Derby County Baseball Club won the Championship in 1895, 1897 and 1898. His memorial (left) was erected in October 1996 in Cradley.
	Source: Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990].
England Career
Player number	One of four who became 218th players (220) to appear for England.
Position(s)	Centre-forward, Inside-right
First match	No. 53, 9 March 1895, England 9 Ireland 0, a British Championship match at Derbyshire County Cricket Ground, Nottingham Road, Derby, aged 21 years 48 days.
Last match	No. 91, 6 April 1907, England 1 Scotland 1, a British Championship match at St. James' Park, Gallowgate, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, aged 33 years 76 days.
Major tournaments	British Championships 1894-95, 1895-96, 1896-97, 1897-98, 1898-99, 1899-1900, 1900-01, 1901-02, 1903-04, 1904-05, 1906-07;
Team honours	British Championships winners 1894-95, 1897-98, 1898-99, 1900-01, 1903-04, 1904-05;
Individual honours	England's Top Goalscorer (three 1895, six 1896 equalling the record, four 1897, five 1901), Joint Top Goalscorer (one 1900, one 1907). Topped the England's goalscorers list from 1898 until 1956, when he was overtaken by Nat Lofthouse, shared with Vivian Woodward from 1911. Topped the England appearance list from 1905 until 1909, when he was overtaken by Bob Crompton.
Distinctions	Scored in his first ten internationals, a record that still stands. He was the first of only two players, the other being Bobby Charlton, to hold the England record for most goals and most appearances. His international career was the longest until Bob Crompton broke it. His goalscoring span was the longest until Stan Matthews broke it. He was the oldest goalscorer from April 1907 until March 1914.
England Disgrace
"A DRUNK AND DISORDERLY INTERNATIONALIST. At Derby Police Court yesterday, Stephen Bloomer, the well-known footballer, was summoned for having been drunk and disorderly on Sunday last. He had only just returned from Glasgow, where the previous day he kicked two of England's goals against Scotland. Defendant did not appear but was represented by a solicitor, whose only statement was an expression of regret. A fine of 10s. and costs was imposed." - Dundee Advertiser, Thursday, 7 April 1898 & Dundee Courier, Friday, 8 April 1898.
Beyond England
Bloomer accepted the job of coach with the Britannia Berlin 92 Sports Club, in Berlin, arriving in the German capital just three weeks before the First World War broke out and, as an alien, spent almost all of the next four war years as an internee at the Civilian Detention Camp, on the racecourse at Ruhleben, six miles from Berlin. Following peacetime, Bloomer coached FC Blauw-Wit Amsterdam, before he returned to Derby County FC as reserve team coach. He then coached Real Unión Club de Irún, based in Bilbao, Spain. Winning the 1924 Cope del Rey and the Campeonato de Guipuzcoa. He returned to Derby, becoming the club's groundsman until his death. A bust (right) was finally unveilled in January 2009 at Pride Park Stadium. - An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who. Douglas Lamming (1990). Hatton Press, p.37./Darlington Northern Echo - 18 August 2007/CradleyLinks

Steve Bloomer - Match History
Club: Derby County F.C. - 21 full caps F.A. International Select Committee - 23 full capsx
Age 21
1	53	9 March 1895 - England 9 Ireland 0, County Ground, Derby	BC	HW	Start 4, 58	cf
2	55	6 April 1895 - England 3 Scotland 0, Goodison Park, Liverpool		HW	Start 30	ir
Age 22
3	56	7 March 1896 - Ireland 0 England 2, Cliftonville Gardens, Belfast	BC	AW	Start 75	ir
4	57	16 March 1896 - Wales 1 England 9, Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff		AW	Start 25, 40, 60, 83, 89	ir
-	58	4 April 1896 - Scotland 2 England 1, Celtic Park, Glasgow		AL	withdrew injured
Age 23
5	59	20 February 1897 - England 6 Ireland 0, Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham	BC	HW	Start 19, 85	ir
6	60	29 March 1897 - England 4 Wales 0, Bramall Lane, Sheffield		HW	Start 44	ir
7	61	3 April 1897 - England 1 Scotland 2, Sports Arena, Penge		HL	Start 19	ir
Age 24
8	64	2 April 1898 - Scotland 1 England 3, Celtic Park, Glasgow	BC	AW	Start 23, 72	ir
Age 25
9	65	18 February 1899 - England 13 Ireland 2, Roker Park, Sunderland	BC	HW	Start 40, 89	ir
10	66	20 March 1899 - England 4 Wales 0, Ashton Gate, Bristol		HW	Start 44, 86	ir
11	67	8 April 1899 - England 2 Scotland 1, Aston Lower Grounds, Birmingham		HW	Start	ir
Age 26
12	70	7 April 1900 - Scotland 4 England 1, Celtic Park, Glasgow	BC	AL	Start 35	ir
Age 27
13	72	18 March 1901 - England 6 Wales 0, St. James' Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne	BC	HW	Start 35,60,80,85	ir
14	73	30 March 1901 - England 2 Scotland 2, Sports Arena, Crystal Palace		HD	Start 80	ir
Age 28
15	74	3 March 1902 - Wales 0 England 0, The Racecourse, Wrexham	BC	AD	Start	ir
16	75	22 March 1902 - Ireland 0 England 1, Balmoral Showgrounds, Belfast		AW	Start	ir
void		5 April 1902 - Scotland 1 England 1, Ibrox Park, Glasgow		AD	captain	ir
17	76	3 May 1902 - England 2 Scotland 2, Aston Lower Grounds, Birmingham		HD	captain	ir
Age 30
-	80	29 February 1904 - Wales 2 England 2, The Racecourse, Wrexham	BC	AD	reserve
-	81	12 March 1904 - Ireland 1 England 3, Cliftonville Gardens, Belfast		AW	reserve
18	82	9 April 1904 - Scotland 0 England 1, Celtic Park, Glasgow		AW	Start 64	ir
Age 31
19	83	25 February 1905 - England 1 Ireland 1, Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough	BC	HD	Start 50	ir
20	84	27 March 1905 - England 3 Wales 1, Anfield Road, Liverpool		HW	Start	ir
21	85	1 April 1905 - England 1 Scotland 0, Sports Arena, Penge		HW	Start	ir
Club: Middlesbrough F.C. - 2 full caps
Age 33
22	90	18 March 1907 - England 1 Wales 1, Craven Cottage, Fulham	BC	HD	Start	ir
23	91	6 April 1907 - England 1 Scotland 1, St. James' Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne		HD	Start 42	ir

Notes

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