Steve Death (19 September 1949 – 26 October 2003) was a goalkeeper with Reading Football Club. Death will always be remembered as one of the longest-serving and best-liked players ever to appear for Reading. He was an England schoolboy international who made one League appearance for West Ham before joining Reading, originally on loan, in 1969. He went straight into the team as first choice goalkeeper, and made the position his own for the next ten years with a total of 537 first team appearances. Death set many other records during his time at Elm Park. He was elected 'Player of the Season' four times, won PFA Divisional Awards in 1973-74 and 1978-79, collected a Division Four Championship plaque in 1978-79, kept 26 clean sheets in that season, and at one stage made 156 consecutive first team appearances. This is still a Club record. Death holds the Football League record of 1,103 minutes without conceding a goal.[1] Death was given a testimonial in the 1979-80 season, with over 7,000 watching his Testimonial Match against a Young England XI managed by his former boss at West Ham, Ron Greenwood. He left the game in 1982 and returned to his native Suffolk. He subsequently returned to Reading to work as a greenkeeper at a local golf course. He died in 2003, aged 54.
