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Bloomer, Steve
Steve Bloomer (born January 20, 1874, Cradley, Worcestershire; died April 16, 1938, Derby) was an English footballer and manager who played for Derby County, Middlesbrough and England before the First World War.
He is still a legend at Derby County and the club anthem, Steve Bloomer's Watchin', is played before every home game. During his career Bloomer was a prolific goalscorer for both club and country. In 536 English First Division games he scored 317 goals and, after Jimmy Greaves and Dixie Dean, he is the third highest all-time goalscorer in the division. While at Derby he was top scorer in the First Division on five occasions in 1896, 1897, 1899, 1901 and 1904. In 1896, together with Johnny Campbell of Aston Villa, he was also the top goalscorer in any European league. He also scored 28 goals in 23 appearances for England. In his last international against Scotland in 1907 he scored a stunning goal.
Bloomer also played baseball for Derby County Baseball Club and helped them become British champions three times in the 1890s. He also played cricket at an amateur level.
After retiring as a footballer he became a coach with Britannia Berlin in Germany and during the First World War he was interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp.
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.
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Family Life
Although Bloomer was born in Worcestershire his parents, Caleb Bloomer and Merab Dunn, moved to Derby when he was still young.
Bloomer’s brother, Philip also briefly played for Derby County. However he only played one first team game and died of peritonitis in May 1896.
In that same year, Bloomer married Sarah Walker. They had four daughters; two of whom died before they reached the age of 18. A third daughter married Alf Quantrill, who played for County and England as an outside-left.
Towards the end of his life, Bloomer lived with his other daughter, Doris Richards, following the death of his wife in 1936. Mrs Richards' son, Steve Richards, was a journalist who covered football and acted as ghost writer for a number of players' autobiographies and columns. Steve Bloomer's nephew, Ted Measures, signed for Arsenal F.C. in 1932.
Playing career
Early Years
As a youth he played football for St. James' School in the Derbyshire Minor Football League and on one occasion scored 14 goals in a single game. He then played for Derby Swifts between 1888 and 1891, before briefly playing for Tutbury Hawthorn in April 1892. However his appearance for this club in a cup competition against Gresley Rovers F.C. was declared illegal as he had already signed professional forms with Derby County.
Derby County
Bloomer scored four times on his Derby County debut, against Darley Dale. He made his English First Division debut on September 3 1892 in a 3-1 away win against Stoke City. He scored his first league goal for Derby on September 24 1892 in a home game against West Bromwich Albion. One of his best seasons came in 1896-7 when he scored 31 goals in 33 League and FA Cup games hitting 5 hat-tricks; between November 14 1896 and April 5 1897 he scored 21 goals in 20 games. He also scored 6 goals for County in a game against Sheffield Wednesday in January 1899.
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 in the 1898 final, a 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest. After four years at Middlesbrough he returned to County in 1910 and helped them win the Second Division title in 1911. He scored his last league goal for County was 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.
Middlesbrough FC
In March 1906 Bloomer joined Middlesbrough for a fee of £750. Among team mates at his new club were Alf Common, the first £1,000 footballer, and Fred Pentland. He was topscorer at Middlesbrough in both the 1906-07 and 1907-08 seasons. He also scored four goals in a game against Woolwich Arsenal on January 5 1907.
England International
Between 1895 and 1907, Bloomer also made 23 England appearances. He scored twice on his debut in March 3 1895 in a 9-0 win against Ireland. He subsequently scored 19 times in his first 10 matches for England and eventually finished his international career with 28 goals. On March 16 1896 Bloomer scored 5 goals for England against Wales and on March 18 1901 he scored 4 goals against the same opposition. Bloomer thus became the first player to score two hat-tricks for England and was also the first to score 4 goals for England twice. During his international career Bloomer’s team mates included John Goodall, Frank Becton, Jack Reynolds, Ernest Needham, Fred Spiksley, Samuel Wolstenholme and Vivian Woodward and he helped England win the British Home Championship eight times.
Playing Style
Bloomer, although possessing only a slight frame, was a menace to defenders through his quick thinking and trickery. He was also able to shoot powerfully and accurately with either foot. It is said that he was a perfectionist who practiced heavilly his shooting, prefering to shoot with great power and accuracy rarely raising the ball off the surface of the pitch. This shot became known as a "daisy cutter" due to the fact that the ball moved so quickly across the grass.
Prisoner in Germany
After retiring as a player, Bloomer went to Germany in July 1914 to coach Britannia Berlin 92. However within three weeks of arriving the First World War broke out and he found himself interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp in the Spandau district of Berlin.
Bloomer was one of several former professional footballers among the detainees. Others included his former England colleagues Fred Spiksley and Samuel Wolstenholme, his former Middlesbrough team mate Fred Pentland, a Scotland international, John Cameron, John Brearley, once of Everton and Tottenham Hotspur and a German international Edwin Dutton who had previously played for Britannia Berlin 92.
The camp contained between 4,000 and 5,500 prisoners. Gradually a mini-society evolved and football became a popular activity. The Ruhleben Football Association was formed and cup and league competitions were organised with as many as 1,000 attending the bigger games. The teams adopted the names of established teams and in November 1914, Bloomer captained a Tottenham Hotspur team, that also included Dutton, to victory in a cup final against an Oldham Athletic. Spiksley also played in the game, refereed by Wolstenholme, although it is uncertain which team he played for. On May 2 1915 an England XI featuring Pentland, Wolstenholme, Brearley and Bloomer played a World XI captained by Cameron. Bloomer also played cricket at the camp and in May 1915 a Rubleben XI, featuring Bloomer and Brearley, played a Varsities XI in the Ruhleben Cricket League. In July 1916 a Lancashire XI, featuring Bloomer, beat a Yorkshire XI that included Wolstenholme.
Bloomer's full life story may be read in Steve Bloomer - the Story of Football's First Superstar by Peter Seddon, published by Breedon Books in 1999.
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Derby County:Steve Bloomer - First World War memories
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