# Steve Book

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**Steven Kim Book** (born 7 July 1969) is an English former professional [football goalkeeper](/source/Goalkeeper_(association_football)) who is the former goalkeeping coach at [Cheltenham Town](/source/Cheltenham_Town_F.C.).

Book represented a number of clubs in the English [football league system](/source/English_football_league_system) during a career which began in 1988 at [Welton Rovers](/source/Welton_Rovers_F.C.) and concluded with a two-year stint as player-goalkeeping coach at [Cheltenham Town](/source/Cheltenham_Town_F.C.) between 2010 and 2012. He then retired from playing to focus on coaching at Cheltenham Town.

## Career

### Early career

The son of former professional goalkeeper [Kim Book](/source/Kim_Book) and nephew of the former [Manchester City](/source/Manchester_City_F.C.) manager [Tony Book](/source/Tony_Book), Book began his career on the South-West non-league circuit with clubs such as [Paulton Rovers](/source/Paulton_Rovers_F.C.), [Welton Rovers](/source/Welton_Rovers_F.C.), [Frome Town](/source/Frome_Town_F.C.) and [Weston-super-Mare](/source/Weston-super-Mare_A.F.C.). He moved on to [Bath City](/source/Bath_City_F.C.) and spent the initial part of the 1993–94 at [Brighton](/source/Brighton_%26_Hove_Albion_F.C.) without breaking into the first team though he did make a couple of appearances for [Slough Town](/source/Slough_Town_F.C.) whilst on loan there. A change of management saw him return to the non-league scene with [Frome Town](/source/Frome_Town_F.C.) before a period at [Lincoln City](/source/Lincoln_City_F.C.) where he was an unused substitute in a couple of League Cup ties in the 1994–95 season.

### Forest Green Rovers

In September 1994 Book joined [Forest Green Rovers](/source/Forest_Green_Rovers). He spent three years at the Nailsworth club making 125 appearances, before an £8,000 transfer took him to [Cheltenham Town](/source/Cheltenham_Town_F.C.) in July 1997.

### Cheltenham Town

Book was the first-choice goalkeeper at Cheltenham for seven years, leading them to promotion into the League, a FA Trophy win, then into the [Football League Second Division](/source/Football_League_Second_Division) via the playoffs in 2002. His career at Cheltenham also seen him win England semi-pro honours and The Conference Team of the year 1998–99.

He left Cheltenham in the summer of 2004 and joined [Swindon Town](/source/Swindon_Town_F.C.).

### Swindon Town, Bristol Rovers and non-League football

In July 2005, and without a professional club, the [Emersons Green](/source/Emersons_Green)-based Book linked up with [Bristol Rovers](/source/Bristol_Rovers_F.C.) for training and also to assist coaching the club's younger goalkeepers.[2] On 16 August 2005, he was appointed goalkeeping coach at Bristol Rovers on a permanent basis,[3] succeeding [Phil Kite](/source/Phil_Kite_(footballer)) in the role to allow Kite to concentrate fully on his role as physio. Book combined his coaching role with a playing role with [Cirencester Town](/source/Cirencester_Town_F.C.), debuting for the club in the 2–0 [Southern Football League Premier Division](/source/Southern_Football_League_Premier_Division) victory at [Chesham United](/source/Chesham_United_F.C.) on 13 August 2005. He made twelve league appearances for the club, the final one in a 1–0 defeat at [Aylesbury United](/source/Aylesbury_United_F.C.) on 22 November 2005,[4] before leaving the club and signing non-contract terms with Bristol Rovers where he was given the squad number 25.[5]

As a player, he joined Mangotsfield in the summer of 2006 and on 26 August scored the first goal of his career when a sliced free-kick from his own area managed to outfox the Rugby Town goalkeeper. In June 2007, he departed the club by mutual consent after being told he didn't figure in the plans of newly appointed manager Frank Gregan.[6]

In 2008, he joined [Southern League Premier Division](/source/Southern_League_Premier_Division) side [Tiverton Town](/source/Tiverton_Town_F.C.). Is still goalkeeping coach at Bristol Rovers and holds the level two coaching badge, UEFA C goalkeeping and UEFA B goalkeeping licence. On 10 June 2010, he agreed to join his former club [Cheltenham Town](/source/Cheltenham_Town_F.C.) as a part-time goalkeeping coach. At this time, Steve Book was given the worst ever Fifa Ultimate Team rating at 40 on Fifa 12 and he is still the worst to date.[7] In August 2011, at the age of 42, Book was again registered as a goalkeeper at Cheltenham for a League Cup match against [MK Dons](/source/Milton_Keynes_Dons_F.C.) where he sat on the bench.[8]

## Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition Club Years League FA Cup League Cup Other Total Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Brighton & Hove Albion 1993 to 1994 Football League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Slough Town(Loan) 1993 to 1994 Football Conference 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Lincoln City 1994 to 1995 Football League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Forest Green Rovers 1995 to 1997 Football Conference 125 Cheltenham Town 1997 to 2004 Football League 171 0 20 0 7 0 9 0 207 0 Swindon Town 2004 to 2005 Football League 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 4 0 Bristol Rovers 2005 to 2006 Football League 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Mangotsfield United 2006 to 2007 Southern League 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 Bristol Rovers 2007 to 2008 Football League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tiverton Town 2008 to 2010 Southern League Premier Division 84 0 2 0 1 0 12 0 57 0 Career total 221 1 22 0 9 0 23 0 275 1

## Honours

### As a player

**Cheltenham Town**

- [Football League Third Division play-offs](/source/Football_League_Third_Division_play-offs): [2002](/source/2002_Football_League_play-offs#Third_Division)[9]
- [Football Conference](/source/Football_Conference): [1998–99](/source/1998%E2%80%9399_Football_Conference)
- [FA Trophy](/source/FA_Trophy): [1997–98](/source/1997%E2%80%9398_FA_Trophy)

**Tiverton Town**

- Devon St. Luke's Cup runner-up: 2008–09

## References

1. Hugman, Barry J. (ed.) (2003). *The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004*. Queen Anne Press. p. 54. ISBN 1-85291-651-6.

1. ["Two new faces in training"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120229140238/http://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10328~684223,00.html). Bristol Rovers F.C. 12 July 2005. Archived from [the original](http://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10328~684223,00.html) on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2010.

1. ["Steve booked in for coaching"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120229140259/http://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10328~700514,00.html). Bristol Rovers F.C. 16 August 2005. Archived from [the original](http://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10328~700514,00.html) on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2010.

1. ["Steve Book league appearances, 2005–2006 season"](http://www.soccerfactsuk.co.uk/s2005/player_details.php?playerid=1465). SoccerFactsUK.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2010.

1. ["Book signs non-contract forms"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120229140314/http://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10328~749094,00.html). 1 December 2005. Archived from [the original](http://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10328~749094,00.html) on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2010.

1. ["Book released – three more to go?"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120929161907/http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/news/index.php?&newsmode=FULL&nid=42843). NonLeagueDaily.com. 13 June 2007. Archived from [the original](http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/news/index.php?&newsmode=FULL&nid=42843) on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2010.

1. ["Booky back at Robins"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100617040241/http://www.ctfc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10434~2068608,00.html). Cheltenham Town F.C. Official Website. 10 June 2010. Archived from [the original](http://www.ctfc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10434~2068608,00.html) on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2010.

1. ["Booky on the bench"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120319011326/http://www.ctfc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10434~2415184,00.html). Cheltenham Town F.C. Official Website. Archived from [the original](http://www.ctfc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10434~2415184,00.html) on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2011.

1. ["Cheltenham crack Diamonds"](http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/1967943.stm). *BBC Sport*. 6 May 2002. Retrieved 24 June 2025.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Steve Book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Book) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Book?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.