Steve Watts
Encyclopedia
Steve Watts is a retired English
footballer
who last played for Sutton United
. Watts is also a professional poker
player who played in the World Series of Poker
in 2009. He made over 100 football league appearances for Leyton Orient.
, despite interest from Millwall
. Watts made 48 starts for Orient in the next two seasons, and 29 appearances as substitute, scoring 22 goals, before going to Margate
on loan on 13 September 2002. At Margate he played in five games, scoring 3 goals and receiving 2 yellow cards. On his return to Brisbane Road in October he came on as sub in seven games, before another loan spell on 12 December, this time to Lincoln City
, where he made five appearances. He had a brief loan spell at Welling United.
Orient manager Paul Brush
placed Watts on the transfer list, claiming doubts in his work-rate and commitment, as his part-time modelling career seemed to be making too much of an impact.
Watts trialled at Bristol Rovers in January 2003. He was loaned again, this time to Dagenham & Redbridge on 10 February 2003, making four appearances and scoring 1 goal. In March he was then signed by Shrewsbury Town manager Kevin Ratcliffe
. Watts revealed that Swansea City manager Brian Flynn
also made contact with him prior to his signing for the Gay Meadow
side on transfer deadline day.
side Dagenham & Redbridge for the 2003-04 season. Watts was to depart The Daggers the same season, initially to Singapore, however this move fell through.
.
In December 2006 Watts left Fisher by mutual consent. In that time Wattsy, as he was affectionally known to the Fisher fans, helped Fisher win the London Senior Cup
2004/06 - 2005/06, Isthmian League Cup 2005/06, Isthmian League Premier Division play-off promotion 2005/06 and the Southern League
Eastern Division Championship 2004/05. In just two and a half seasons at the club Watts scored 95 goals for the Fish. In his first season Watts bagged 48 goals in the Southern League Eastern Division and finished as the league's top scorer.
A year later Watts fired Fish to promotion as he chipped in with 37 goals winning the Isthmian League Player of the year award in the process. In the 2005/06 Premier Division play offs, scoring the winner in the semi final against AFC Wimbledon
and a 30 yard curler just 4 days later in the final. New Fisher manager Sami Muduroglu said on the move; 'Steve has been a fantastic servant to this football club. Everyone at the club is extremely sorry to see him go but it was a personal decision made by Steve, not the club. Steve feels that at 29, he needs to concentrate on other directions in his life and could no longer commit to full time football. I respect that decision and I hope the supporters can understand Steve's reasons as well. His been brilliant for this football club and everyone at Fisher wishes Steve all the best with his future endeavours.'
Watts returned to football briefly with Bromley
. His signing was announced on 9 December 2006 by Bromley manager Mark Goldberg.
Watts's tenure at the Kent
side lasted less than a month before he was signed by Paul Doswell at Hampshire
side Eastleigh
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
footballer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
who last played for Sutton United
Sutton United F.C.
Sutton United Football Club is an English football club currently playing in the Conference South. They are based in Sutton, London, and play their home games at the Borough Sports Ground in Gander Green Lane....
. Watts is also a professional poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
player who played in the World Series of Poker
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...
in 2009. He made over 100 football league appearances for Leyton Orient.
Dulwich Hamlet and Fisher Athletic
Watts started his career with Dulwich Hamlet and moved to Fisher Athletic in the summer of 1998. He moved to Leyton Orient in October 1998 after winning The Sun newspaper's 'Search for a Striker' competition.Leyton Orient
His debut for Leyton Orient was on 12 August 2000, away at Plymouth Argyle. He signed a three-year contract for Orient manager Tommy TaylorTommy Taylor (footballer born 1951)
Thomas Frederick Taylor is an English football manager and former footballer. As a footballer, he played as a defender. He is the former manager of Belper Town.-Career:...
, despite interest from Millwall
Millwall
Millwall is an area in London, on the western side of the Isle of Dogs, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the south of the developments at West India Docks, including Canary Wharf.-History:...
. Watts made 48 starts for Orient in the next two seasons, and 29 appearances as substitute, scoring 22 goals, before going to Margate
Margate F.C.
Margate Football Club is an English football team based in the seaside resort of Margate, Kent, currently playing in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was known for a number of years during the 1980s as Thanet United....
on loan on 13 September 2002. At Margate he played in five games, scoring 3 goals and receiving 2 yellow cards. On his return to Brisbane Road in October he came on as sub in seven games, before another loan spell on 12 December, this time to Lincoln City
Lincoln City F.C.
Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
, where he made five appearances. He had a brief loan spell at Welling United.
Orient manager Paul Brush
Paul Brush
Paul Brush is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for West Ham United, Crystal Palace and Southend United...
placed Watts on the transfer list, claiming doubts in his work-rate and commitment, as his part-time modelling career seemed to be making too much of an impact.
Watts trialled at Bristol Rovers in January 2003. He was loaned again, this time to Dagenham & Redbridge on 10 February 2003, making four appearances and scoring 1 goal. In March he was then signed by Shrewsbury Town manager Kevin Ratcliffe
Kevin Ratcliffe
Kevin Ratcliffe is a former Welsh footballer who spent most of his career playing for Everton. He was born in Mancot, near Queensferry in North Wales.-Club career:...
. Watts revealed that Swansea City manager Brian Flynn
Brian Flynn
Brian Flynn, is a Welsh football manager and former Welsh international player.On 13 September 2010 Flynn was confirmed caretaker manager of the Wales national football team after John Toshack stepped down...
also made contact with him prior to his signing for the Gay Meadow
Gay Meadow
The Gay Meadow is the former home ground of Shrewsbury Town FC, a football club in England. It was situated just outside the town centre of Shrewsbury, on the banks of the River Severn and it opened in August 1910....
side on transfer deadline day.
Shrewsbury Town and Dagenham & Redbridge
Watts debuted for Shrewsbury Town in April 2003. He started 7 games and came on as sub in 8 more, however his tally was only one goal. On 17 October 2003 he was signed on a free transfer to Football ConferenceFootball Conference
The Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Some Football Conference clubs are fully professional, such as Luton Town, but most of them are semi-professional...
side Dagenham & Redbridge for the 2003-04 season. Watts was to depart The Daggers the same season, initially to Singapore, however this move fell through.
St. Albans City
Watts was signed by St. Albans City in February 2004. He made 21 appearances, scoring nine times and receiving three cautions. He is remembered for his stunning injury time goal against Bedford Town in the play-off win which saw City promoted to the Conference South.Fisher Athletic (second spell) and Bromley
The summer of 2004 saw Watts return to one of his first clubs, Fisher Athletic. In October 2006 he was nominated for the Football Association's Player of the FA Cup Round, for his hat-trick in Fisher's 6-1 defeat of Metropolitan PoliceMetropolitan Police F.C.
Metropolitan Police F.C. is the football club of the Metropolitan Police Service, although in recent years there has been a relaxation in the rule that players had to be serving members of the police force...
.
In December 2006 Watts left Fisher by mutual consent. In that time Wattsy, as he was affectionally known to the Fisher fans, helped Fisher win the London Senior Cup
London Senior Cup
The London Senior Cup is the County Senior Cup of the London FA. The London Senior Cup was first won by Upton Park in 1882. Although the leading professional sides in London no longer compete, the Cup has been won in the past by the likes of Arsenal , Brentford, Wimbledon and...
2004/06 - 2005/06, Isthmian League Cup 2005/06, Isthmian League Premier Division play-off promotion 2005/06 and the Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
Eastern Division Championship 2004/05. In just two and a half seasons at the club Watts scored 95 goals for the Fish. In his first season Watts bagged 48 goals in the Southern League Eastern Division and finished as the league's top scorer.
A year later Watts fired Fish to promotion as he chipped in with 37 goals winning the Isthmian League Player of the year award in the process. In the 2005/06 Premier Division play offs, scoring the winner in the semi final against AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is a professional English football club that traces its origins to Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton. Based at Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames, the club are members of Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football....
and a 30 yard curler just 4 days later in the final. New Fisher manager Sami Muduroglu said on the move; 'Steve has been a fantastic servant to this football club. Everyone at the club is extremely sorry to see him go but it was a personal decision made by Steve, not the club. Steve feels that at 29, he needs to concentrate on other directions in his life and could no longer commit to full time football. I respect that decision and I hope the supporters can understand Steve's reasons as well. His been brilliant for this football club and everyone at Fisher wishes Steve all the best with his future endeavours.'
Watts returned to football briefly with Bromley
Bromley F.C.
Bromley Football Club are an English football club based in Bromley, in Greater London, England. They currently play in the Conference South, and play their home matches at Hayes Lane.-Early years:...
. His signing was announced on 9 December 2006 by Bromley manager Mark Goldberg.
Watts's tenure at the Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
side lasted less than a month before he was signed by Paul Doswell at Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
side Eastleigh
Eastleigh F.C.
Eastleigh Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Eastleigh, Hampshire. The club are currently members of the Conference South and play at the Silverlake Stadium.-History:...
.
Eastleigh
Watts debuted for Eastleigh on 20 January 2007 in the Conference South, in the 0-1 home defeat to Salisbury City. He came on as substitute with 30 minutes to go and was given a yellow card. On 3 May 2008 Watts was released by the Spitfires.Sutton United
In June 2008 Watts followed new Sutton United manager Paul Doswell to Gander Green Lane, joing several other former Spitfires players at United including Karim El-Salahi, Chris Collins, Matt Hann, David Hughes, Rob Marshall and Jack Smith. A knee injury kept Watts on the sidelines until the last month of the 2008-09 season. In the 2009-10 season, Watts appeared more frequently. By the start of the 2010-11 season, Watts had made 34 appearances in all competitions for The Us, scoring 8 goals. At the end of the 2010–11 season, after making 15 appearances (eleven from the bench) and suffering from injury, Watts retired.External links
- http://www.footballtransfers.co.uk/profile/steve-watts/4162/
- http://www.sacfc.co.uk/tpl/player.php?id=30
- http://eastleighfc.blogspot.com/2006/12/watt-signing.html
- http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=118589