Steve Potts (footballer)


Steven John Potts is an English football coach and former professional footballer. He played as a defender and is associated with his time spent at West Ham United. He also represented the English national team eleven times at youth level.

Football career

Potts started his career at West Ham United as an apprentice in 1983, making his first appearance against Queens Park Rangers on 1 January 1985. Known as Pottsy, he played for West Ham United for the next seventeen years. Primarily a fullback, Potts developed into a 'utility' player, he spent large portions of his career playing at centre-half despite being undersized for such a position. He also on occasion featured in midfield.
Potts was West Ham United Club captain for a 3 years between 1993 and 1996, and was voted Hammer of The Year in 1993 and 1995, and runner up in both 1992 and 1994. During his career he amassed a total of 505 appearances for the club, scoring only one goal, in a 7–1 win against Hull City in 1990. His last competitive appearance for the club was on 7 March 2001 against Chelsea, although he stayed on until 2002. In 1997 he was awarded a testimonial by West Ham. The game was played on 2 August 1997 and was a 2–0 win against QPR.
Potts transferred to Dagenham & Redbridge on 13 September 2002 and played there for a full season before retiring from football.
In August 2011 he was appointed as coach for the West Ham United under-16 team. Potts was promoted to manage the West Ham United under-18 team in December 2012, taking charge of a 1–0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in his maiden game. In January 2015, Potts was named as West Ham United Under-21 team coach.

Personal life

In August 2007, he completed The Knowledge and qualified to drive a Hackney carriage. In 2008, he ran the London Marathon in aid of the charity Children with Leukaemia, raising £24,052.99 in the process.
His son, Daniel is a professional footballer and currently plays for Luton Town.

Career statistics

Honours

;West Ham