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Steve Bloomer English forward, who is remembered as one of the
legendary figures of late-Victorian and Edwardian football. Bloomer remains a
legend at Derby County and the club anthem, Steve Bloomer's Watchin' is
played before every home game. Although Bloomer was born in Worcestershire his
parents, Caleb Bloomer and Merab Dunn, moved to Derby when he was still
young. During a career with Derby County and Middlesborough, he was first
choice for the England, scoring 28 goals in 23 Home Internationals - in fact
Bloomer scored in his first ten games for England. His most famous feat was
during a match between England and Scotland, when he found the back of the net
with a left- footed strike from the centre circle. His League career lasted from 1892 to 1914 and was distinguished by an impressive 353 goals in 598 games (292 goals for Derby in 473 matches). He was also able to shoot powerfully and accurately with either foot and his specialty was the daisy cutter - a low shot, hit with great power, speed and accuracy. While playing for County he was the leading scorer for 14 consecutive seasons and scored 17 hat-tricks in the league. Despite his goalscoring exploits for the club, Bloomer failed to win a major trophy during his first spell with County. However he did help them reach two consecutive FA Cup finals in 1898 and 1899. He scored his last league goal for County against Sheffield United on September 6 1913, and his last match was against Burnley on January 31 1914 when he was 40 years and 11 days. He later worked as a coach in Germany and was interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp, during the First World War. Immediately after the war he coached in The Netherlands and in 1923 he became coach of Real Unión in Spain. In 1924 he guided them to victory in the Copa del Rey, beating FC Barcelona in the semi-finals and then Real Madrid in the final. After returning to England he served as player-coach with Derby Reserves, worked as a newspaper columnist and as a groundsman at the Baseball Ground. In late 1937, while severely ill, Derby County paid for him to go on a cruise to Australia and New Zealand. He died three weeks after returning home in April 1938. He is buried in Nottingham Road Cemetery, Derby. |
