Luke Steele

After coming on for Van der Sar in the 75th minute of a 3–0 pre-season friendly win over Beijing Hyundai, Steele was an unused substitute in four more first-team matches that season, including two matches in the early rounds of Manchester United's League Cup-winning campaign and the FA Cup third round draw with Burton Albion.

He also made 19 appearances for the reserves as they won the Premier Reserve League title, the North/South Play-off Shield and the Manchester Senior Cup.

He only played in one of the three games, starting the final match against Kaizer Chiefs and making a noteworthy save from Shaun Bartlett's header before being replaced by Foster in the 77th minute.

Luke David Steele (born 24 September 1984) is an English football manager and former professional footballer.

He is joint-manager of National League North side Peterborough Sports.

As a player he played professionally as a goalkeeper but spent his final season in the game playing as a forward.

He came through the youth academy at Peterborough United before signing for Premier League side Manchester United.

Whilst with United he had an extensive loan spell with Coventry City which lead to a permanent, though short-lived, move to West Bromwich Albion.

He also played in the Football League with Barnsley, Bristol City, Nottingham Forest and Millwall, as well as stints with Greek side Panathinaikos.

He ended his career with a stint at non-league Stamford before a spell with Notts County in the National League.

Between 2021 and 2022 he was playing for non-league side Deeping Rangers as an outfield player.

He was capped internationally at England U18, U19 and U20 level.

Born in Peterborough, Steele started his career at local side Peterborough United, where he played alongside Ryan Semple and Sean St Ledger.

In December 2001, Steele spent a week on trial with Manchester United, for whom he played in two matches with the club's under-17s side.

He returned for three more under-17s appearances and two for the reserves on a month-long loan spell in March 2002.

After returning to Peterborough in April 2002, he made his senior debut in a 2–2 draw away to Reading on 13 April.

After another appearance in a 2–1 home win over Bury a week later, Manchester United paid Peterborough £500,000 on 11 May to sign Steele on a four-year contract, with the fee potentially rising to £2.25 million after a certain number of first-team appearances.

Steele began the 2002–03 season as the starting goalkeeper for the Manchester United reserve team, before being usurped by the likes of Ricardo and Roy Carroll, and becoming a regular in the under-19s.

Over the course of the season, Steele made 27 appearances for the under-19s, including eight in the FA Youth Cup, in which Manchester United beat Middlesbrough 3–1 on aggregate in the final.

He also made a total of three appearances for the reserves, including a 2–1 defeat to Oldham Athletic in the Manchester Senior Cup on 13 February 2003.

In 2003–04, Steele competed for the starting place in the under-19s side with Tom Heaton, but made just four appearances between August and October before being ruled out for the rest of the season.

He made his return in the build-up to the 2004–05 season, playing for the reserves in a friendly against Irish side Cobh Ramblers, before making his first appearance for the Manchester United first team in a 3–1 win over Burnley in Stan Ternent's testimonial on 17 August 2004; after coming on as a substitute for Tim Howard in the 29th minute, Steele was himself replaced by Heaton in the 76th.

He then made two league appearances for the reserves before joining Coventry City on a three-month loan on 10 September 2004.

After conceding 30 goals in 18 appearances in those initial three months, the clubs agreed to extend Steele's loan until the end of the season.

He finished the season with 62 goals conceded in 36 matches.

Steele returned to Manchester United for the 2005–06 season, where, with Ricardo and Carroll having left the club, and Ben Foster and Tom Heaton out on loan, he became the club's third-choice goalkeeper behind Edwin van der Sar and Tim Howard.

In July 2006, Steele was part of the Manchester United party for their pre-season tour of South Africa, where he shared goalkeeping duties with Ben Foster.

He played in one more friendly match for the first team, a 2–1 defeat away to Preston North End, before joining Coventry City on loan for a second time on 4 August 2006.

However, the loan was cut short after just six days when Steele and defender Paul McShane were transferred to West Bromwich Albion as part of the deal that took Tomasz Kuszczak to Manchester United.

On 23 December 2006, Steele once again joined Coventry on an initial seven-day emergency loan that was subsequently extended to the end of the season.

Steele made his Albion debut in a 2–1 win away at Leicester City on 8 December 2007.

In February 2008, he joined Barnsley on a one-month emergency loan.

They required a goalkeeper for their fifth round FA Cup tie with Liverpool, as Heinz Müller was injured, while on-loan Tony Warner was cup-tied.

Steele delivered a Man of the Match performance on his debut in a surprise victory over the Premier League side at Anfield, allowing Barnsley to progress to the quarter finals.

He also won the FA Cup Player of the Round award for his performance in the game.

He then helped Barnsley reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup by keeping a clean sheet against Chelsea in a game which they won 1–0.

On 17 March 2008, Steele returned from his loan, with talks deadlocked over who should pay his wages during a proposed extended loan period.

He rejoined Barnsley three days later, after the two clubs agreed a further loan period until the end of the season, with a view to a permanent transfer.

Steele represented Barnsley in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium, where they lost 1–0 against Cardiff City.

A permanent transfer to Barnsley was completed on 21 May 2008, with Steele signing a one-year contract after his performances in the FA Cup.