Cherry Picking: Life Between the Sticks

Steve Cherry was born into a large family in 1960 in the Nottinghamshire pit village of Calverton. His family initially assumed that he would follow his father and brother into the nearby pit, but it was clear from an early age that he had a special relationship with football, and this quickly became his main obsession in life. Aged 15, Steve was already goalkeeping in the local colliery team playing with and against full grown miners when he was spotted by a scout from Derby County, then in the top table of English football. He signed as a schoolboy before turning professional, and was capped for England several times in his youth before eventually winning Derby County’s ‘Player of the Year’ in 1983. He then played for Walsall, again winning ‘Player of the Year’, before heading south for Plymouth Argyle where he distinguished himself by winning ‘Player of the Year.’ After a short time at Chesterfield he joined the boyhood club of his dreams, Notts County just after Neil Warnock arrived. County progressed from the bottom of Division Three up to the top of English football via two Wembley play-off wins, and yet again Steve won ‘Player of the Year’. He left Notts in 1995 for a return to Plymouth Argyle via Watford, then Rotherham United, Rushden & Diamonds, and several other clubs. In his later years Steve used his love of the game to coach young boys in many different teams until only recently hanging up his boots. Steve worked with some of the best football managers in the business and played against some of the English football greats. He played for a dozen clubs in 743 League games and is still fondly remembered and welcomed back at all of them.