Steve Stacey is just the sort of character we wanted to celebrate when we first had the idea for our book ‘Football’s Black Pioneers’. Steve is hardly a household name and yet he was an important pioneer in the 1960s and early 1970s. He was the first black player at three clubs who are still in the English Football League (Charlton, Ipswich and Exeter City), he also played for Bristol City, Wrexham and Chester (the latter two were in the League at the time) but wasn’t the first black player at any of them.
Exeter City were Steve’s last League club and he made 64 appearances in all competitions over the course of the 1971/72 and 1972/73 seasons, scoring one goal (in a 1st round FA Cup game away at Walton & Hersham).
In a career that was hampered by injuries he nevertheless made a total of 192 appearances for the six clubs he represented from when he first signed as a professional with Bristol City in 1961 until his final appearance for Exeter City on 24th March 1973.
Now is an opportune time to celebrate Steve’s contribution because he made his Exeter debut 49 years ago today on 14th August 1971.