fullname years caps goals clubs birth_place managerclubs nationalteam totalcaps nationalcaps manageryears nationalyears totalgoals image article_title name nationalgoals
frederick charles steele 1949 -- 1951 1951 -- 1953 224 53 25 140 39 12 mansfield town port vale hanley , stoke-on-trent , england kr reykjavík iceland mansfield town port vale port vale england 302 6 1946 -- 1965 1946 1949 -- 1951 1951 -- 1957 1962 1936 -- 1937 191 freddie steele stokefootballer.jpg freddie steele -lrb- footballer -rrb-
 freddie steele 8
freddie steele -lrb- footballer -rrb-

frederick charles `` freddie '' steele -lrb- 6 may 1916 -- 23 april 1976 -rrb- was a footballer who played as a forward for stoke city and england .
he also had spells at mansfield town and port vale as a player-manager , leading vale to a league title .
he remains a legendary figure in the histories of both stoke and vale .
his nephew is former england cricketer david steele .
signing with stoke city in 1931 at the age of fifteen , he set a club record when he scored 33 league goals in the 1936 -- 37 season .
during the season his 214-day-long international career also made for impressive reading , as he hit eight goals in six games for england .
however a series of misfortunes severely disrupted his playing career .
picking up a serious knee injury in 1937 , he retired two years later after suffering from depression -- aged just 23 .
after an improvement in his physical and mental state he resumed his career , only to have it cut short again , this time due to the outbreak of world war ii .
guesting for several clubs , he also had a spell in iceland where he coached kr reykjavík and was appointed manager of the national team for their first ever international match in 1946 .
he continued his stoke career after the war , before joining mansfield town as player-manager in 1949 .
in 1951 he was appointed as port vale manager .
his six years with the club were some of the most significant in the club 's history , as he masterminded a third division north title winning season , as well the club 's only ever fa cup semi-final appearance .
after the team he cultivated proved to be ` past it ' by 1957 , he too left the club .
returning as manager in 1962 , his second spell would prove less successful and he left the club for good three years later .
