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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Steven George Bull | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
| Current team | retired | ||
Steven George Bull (born 28 March 1965) is an English footballer who had a long and successful career with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
His career was launched with Tipton Town. He transferred to Wolves from the club's arch-rivals, West Bromwich Albion in 1986 for a fee of £65,000 and played there until to 1999, he holds a number of club records:
- Top goal-scorer : 306 goals
- Top league goal-scorer : 250 goals
- Most goals in a season : 52 goals (1987/88)
- Most hat-tricks : 18
- International Caps : 13
- International Goals : 4
He is regarded as such a legend at the club that one of the main stands at their football ground, the Molineux, is named after him.
His debut for Wolves was against Wrexham on 22 November, 1986. He made 464 league appearances for the club, 561 appearances in total. On leaving Wolves, he went on to play 12 games for Hereford United where he rejoined his old manager Graham Turner.
Bull scored 52 goals in all competitions during the 1987-88 season as Wolves won the Fourth Division championship and became the first of only two teams (the other is Burnley) to have been champions of all four divisions in the English league. The following season he inspired Wolves to a second successive promotion, this time as Third Division champions, with a total of 53 goals - marking an incredible tally of 105 goals in 2 seasons. While still playing in the Third Division, he was selected for the England team and scored against Scotland on his debut at Hampden Park.
Bull continued to perform well in the second tier of the English league, and stayed loyal to his Midlands roots despite interest from the likes of Aston Villa, Coventry City, Newcastle United and even the Italian giants Juventus. He was determined to restore Wolves to their rightful place in the top division.
Steve Bull was capped 13 times for the England team, and scored a total of 4 goals in the build up to Italia 90. He famously scored on his England debut after coming on as a substitute against Scotland in 1989. He went on to score 2 more goals in a friendly against Czechoslovakia in 1990 - 1 of which was voted in as number 37 of England's 50 Greatest Goals. His final England goal was against Tunisia, which earned him a place in Bobby Robson's World Cup Squad.
Despite starting his international career well, Steve Bull did not score another goal for England. He played 4 times during Italia 90 - 3 times as a substitute against Republic of Ireland, Holland and Belgium and once as a starter against Egypt. His final match for England was in October 1990 against Poland, but was not picked by his future Wolves manager, Graham Taylor.
He came close to achieving his amibition of reaching the top flight in 1995 and 1997, but Wolves lost in the playoffs both times. During his final two seasons at the Molineux, his chances of first-team football were reduced by a series of knee injuries. And in July 1999, the 34-year-old Bull finally gave in and announced his retirement.
But he soon returned to playing as player-coach of Hereford United in the Conference, working under his former Wolves manager Graham Turner.
Known by his adoring fans as 'Bully' for his club loyalty, rapport with supporters and passion for the game he received an MBE for services to Association Football in December 1999, shortly after retiring as a first class player.
Steve Bull played a handful of First Division games for West Bromwich Albion during the mid 1980's, but apart from that his career was spent outside the top division.