Steve Reginald Cherry (born 5 August 1960) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made over 690 league and cup appearances in a 20-year career in the Football League and Conference, playing in the top five divisions of the English game.
Cherry was spotted playing for Calverton Youth Wing by Derby County and joined the club on a two-year apprenticeship in 1976, becoming professional two years later. He won three caps for the England Youth Team in 1978. He started his first competitive senior game in February 1980 and played eight games on loan at Port Vale during the 1980–81 season. He established himself in the first team at Derby during the 1982–83 season and was voted the club's Player of the Year in May 1983. The club were relegated out of the Second Division at the end of the 1983–84 season. He was transferred to Walsall in August 1984. He was voted as Walsall's Player of the Season at the end of the 1984–85 campaign but lost his first-team place at the end of the following campaign and was sold to Plymouth Argyle for a £19,000 fee in November 1986. After a poor start to his Plymouth career, he improved and was named the club's Player of the Year in 1988. He then asked for a transfer and joined Chesterfield on loan during the 1988–89 season before being sold to Notts County for a £70,000 fee in February 1989.
Cherry was Neil Warnock's first signing as Notts County manager, and the club found instant success under Warnock's stewardship, winning promotions from the Third Division to the First Division via the play-offs in 1990 and 1991. Though County were relegated back to the second tier, he was named the club's Player of the Year in 1992. He played in two Anglo-Italian Cup finals, as County finished as runners-up in 1994 and champions in 1995. He moved on to Watford in July 1995 before rejoining Plymouth Argyle on loan in February 1996. He helped Plymouth to win the Third Division play-offs in 1996, his third such success with Neil Warnock and fifth appearance at Wembley. He then saw out his career with brief stays at Rotherham United, Kettering Town, Rushden & Diamonds, Rothwell Corinthians, Gainsborough Trinity, Stalybridge Celtic, Mansfield Town, Oldham Athletic, Lincoln City, Kidsgrove Athletic and Belper Town. He won the Staffordshire Senior Cup with Kidsgrove in 2004. He later coached at Notts County and Macclesfield Town.
Early life Steve Reginald Cherry was born at Nottingham General Hospital on 5 August 1960 and grew up in Calverton, Nottinghamshire. He was born into a mining family: his parents were Harold and Lonorah Cherry, a colliery electrician and housewife respectively. As a teenager, he attended a brief goalkeeping course at Nottingham Forest and had an unsuccessful trial with Notts County, though turned down the opportunity to play for Clifton All Whites after feeling dejected from his failed trial with Notts County. In 1975, at the age of 15, he played in goal for local village teams Calverton Colliery and Calverton United, as well as for Calverton Youth Wing. He had the opportunity to follow his father into the mines should his fledging football career not work out.
Career Derby County Cherry started his career with a five-day trial at Derby County, having been scouted by Ernie Roberts playing for Calverton Youth Wing in a 7–1 defeat to Ilkeston U16s. Having impressed during the trial he was placed in the club's youth team on wages of £12.50-a-week and in 1976 he signed a two-year apprenticeship contract. He was on the bench for the first round of the UEFA Cup against Irish club Finn Harps in the 1976–77 season due to Colin Boulton being out on loan and Steve Bowtell being illegible. He represented the Midland Intermediate League, though had his reserve team opportunities limited until Boulton left the club. He was given his first professional contract in 1978, still with six months left to run of his apprenticeship contract. He was called up to the England Youth Team later in the year and won four caps: two playing against Las Palmas Select' team, one against the USSR and one against Italy. He was dropped in favour of John Lukic after a 2–1 defeat to Italy.
Cherry started his first competitive game for Derby as John Middleton was ruled unfit due to a shoulder injury for a First Division fixture against Southampton at the Baseball Ground on 16 February 1980. The match finished 2–2, with David Watson and Graham Baker scoring for the visitors. He kept his first-team place for the following game at home to Tottenham Hotspur, which Derby won 2–1; however, he was then sidelined after injuring his ankle slipping on the pavement outside his home whilst trying to prevent his kitten from running away. He returned to the starting eleven in a 3–1 win against Manchester City on 24 April and was named as man of the match. Derby were relegated at the end of the 1979–80 season and the club signed two new goalkeepers: 34-year-old Roger Jones and 24-year-old Yakka Banovic.
Cherry was not selected by Derby manager Colin Addison throughout the 1980–81 season and also picked up an ankle injury in October. Upon his return to fitness he joined Port Vale on loan in November. Manager John McGrath had sold regular custodian Trevor Dance, and was forced to enter the loan market after Mark Harrison was struck down with injury. Cherry was in goal for eight matches, four each in the Fourth Division and FA Cup. He conceded three goals in his final game for the "Valiants" in a 3–0 defeat at Enfield in a Third Round FA Cup Replay that was played on live television on 6 January 1981, the club's first defeat to non-League opposition in over 50 years. He admitted his performance that day was "embarrassing". Banovic was transfer-listed early in the 1981–82 season and Cherry was picked as stand in for an injured Jones against Bolton Wanderers on 23 September. The team struggled and Addison was replaced as manager by Johnny Newman in January. Derby finished the campaign 16th in the Second Division, with Cherry limited to just four appearances.
The 1982–83 season also started badly, and Cherry replaced Banovic in goal in October. Though Cherry was pleased with his own performance and that of the team, losses continued, and Newman resigned the following month. New manager Peter Taylor kept Cherry in goal, who would save a penalty from Kevin Keegan in a 1–0 defeat to Newcastle United at St James' Park on 27 December. On 8 January, he kept a clean sheet as Derby beat East Midlands derby rivals Nottingham Forest 2–0 in the FA Cup. They went on to beat Chelsea in the following round and reached the fifth round of the competition, where they were knocked out by Manchester United. Writing in his autobiography, Cherry cited the defeat to United as his career-best performance as he made difficult saves to deny Frank Stapleton, Norman Whiteside and Steve Coppell, and was only beaten late on by Whiteside for the game's only goal. His performance was described on Match of the Day as "a most accomplished exhibition in the art of goalkeeping" by Jimmy Hill, with Bob Wilson adding that he was "brilliant". Derby avoided relegation after going on a 15-match unbeaten run towards the end of the 1982–83 season and ended up posting a 12th-place finish. Cherry was voted the club's Player of the Year in May 1983.
The 1983–84 season opened with a 5–0 defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The team continued to lose games and concede goals, leaving Cherry to bemoan poor defending that frequently left him exposed. Derby performed well in the FA Cup, though, and Cherry kept a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw away at Plymouth Argyle in the sixth round, denying Gordon Staniforth on multiple occasions. However, he conceded directly from a corner kick in the replay and felt "lower than the village idiot", whilst goalscorer Andy Rogers admitted the goal was "an absolute fluke". Derby were relegated at the end of the campaign, and Cherry rejected new manager Arthur Cox's offer of a new three-year contract starting at £275-a-week. He also turned down an offer of £450-a-week from former Derby manager Tommy Docherty, who was now in charge at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Walsall Derby teammate Steve Buckley recommended Cherry to his brother, Walsall manager Alan Buckley, who won Cherry's signature with the promise of a £17,500 signing-on fee. Walsall paid Derby a £25,000 fee in August 1984. He replaced Ron Green as the "Saddlers" number one and enjoyed a good start to the 1984–85 Third Division campaign. Walsall played former club Derby four times during the season as they drew them in the first round of the Associate Members' Cup and Cherry was subjected to taunting from Derby fans throughout the games, which he admitted "was an occupational hazard, but it still gets to you". He was an instant success with the Walsall fans however, and was voted as the club's Player of the Season.
Walsall beat Preston North End 7–3 and Port Vale 2–1 (after a replay) to reach the third round of the FA Cup against First Division club Manchester City on 4 January 1986. City won the tie 3–1 after Peter Hart's back-pass to Cherry was held up in the snow short of the goalkeeper, leaving Paul Simpson to convert a simple chance to take the lead. Walsall went on to post a sixth-place finish at the end of the 1985–86 season, with former club Derby claiming the third and final automatic promotion place. Buckley was sacked, much to Cherry's surprise, and new manager Tommy Coakley brought in goalkeeper Mark Prudhoe to be the club's new number one. Demoted to the reserves, Cherry was permitted to look for a move away from Fellows Park. Despite being injured with a sprained thumb he came on as a substitute in a youth team game against Derby County, playing outfield, and scored a headed goal past Mark Grew.
Plymouth Argyle Cherry was sold to Plymouth Argyle for £19,000 fee in November 1986, having impressed on a week-long trial at the Second Division club, and took a signing-on fee of £18,000. Manager Dave Smith brought him in as a replacement for popular 34-year-old goalkeeper Geoff Crudgington, and gave Cherry his debut in a 1–0 defeat at Stoke City on 6 December. It was the start of a poor run of form for the "Pilgrims" and Cherry became unpopular with supporters at Home Park. He was booed before the FA Cup tie with Arsenal on 31 January and frequently abused during the match as Plymouth were beaten 6–1. Argyle missed out on the play-offs by three points at the end of the 1986–87 season after losing the final game of the campaign 4–2 at Derby County.
Cherry felt that long travel times from Devon to his Midlands home were not helping his form, so he moved to Plymouth in the summer of 1987. He enjoyed a good 1987–88 season and a much-improved relationship with the fans, being rewarded with the club's Player of the Year award with 34% of the vote, more than double the percentage received by second-placed Mark Smith. However, he put in a transfer request as he and his wife missed their families in Nottingham. Manager Ken Brown allowed him to live in Nottingham and train at the City Ground with Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest team whilst he looked for a new club and whilst Plymouth looked for a new goalkeeper. The club finally found their replacement by signing Rhys Wilmot from Arsenal, which allowed Cherry to join Chesterfield in the Third Division for a three-month loan period from January. He made his debut for Paul Hart's "Spireites" on 2 January and recalled making one of his best-ever saves in the 3–1 win at Sheffield United. He played his final game for Chesterfield on 11 February, keeping a clean sheet in a 3–0 win over Notts County at Saltergate and impressing County manager Neil Warnock in the process.
Notts County