Biography
Winger and striker Steve Massey joined the Tigers in July 1983 for a £20,000 fee, following a goal spree at Northampton Town the previous season that yielded 26 strikes. Things started tremendously well under manager Colin Appleton with Massey scoring twice on his league debut against Burnley. But a knee injury meant he soon drifted out of the first team picture and was a fringe player as Appleton took the Tigers to the brink of promotion, only to fail at the last hurdle – Massey ended his first season at Boothferry Park on the transfer list.
Despite this early setback Massey stayed with the Tigers and was a more regular figure in the first team during the 1984/85 season as Appleton was replaced by new player-manager Brian Horton. Steve became an important part of the supply line that fed chances to rampant centre forward Billy Whitehurst, who scored goals that propelled the Tigers to promotion to Division Two. Despite contributing seven goals in all competitions Massey was transfer listed again by Horton in March 1985 and he left the Tigers at the end of the 1984/85 season.
Steven Massey was born in Denton, an East Manchester suburb, and started his career as an apprentice at Division Four side Stockport County. He made a goalscoring debut in February 1975 against Darlington, two months before his 17th birthday, and stayed in the first team for six weeks until dislocating a shoulder in early April 1975 against Brentford. Steve signed his first professional contract for the Hatters in July 1975 and within a month he was the subject of transfer speculation with Division One side Norwich City showing an interest. But he stayed at Edgeley Park and was a first team regular for Stockport County during much of the next three full seasons, scoring 24 times in 114 appearances – in November and December 1975 Steve played three times alongside short-term signing and former Manchester United legend George Best.
In July 1978 Massey headed to the South Coast of England and was transferred to Division Four side Bournemouth for a £5,000 fee. Three seasons at Dean Court yielded 22 goals in 106 appearances, despite two lengthy injury lay-offs in the 1979/80 and 1980/81 seasons. In May 1981 Massey was handed a free transfer by the Cherries and spent the summer considering a move to Hong Kong football before being snapped up by Division Four side Peterborough United in August 1981. He began the season with four goals but by February 1982 he was out of favour and left the Posh after four goals in 24 appearances.
In February 1982 Massey rejected an approach from Wimbledon and moved to Division Four rivals Northampton Town, a transfer that was to energise his career. After five goals in 18 starts at the end of the 1981/82 season, Massey was the fulcrum of the Cobblers’ first team attack during the 1982/83 season, starting 54 games and scoring 26 goals. His tally for Northampton Town reached 30 goals in 72 appearances when he left the club for Hull City in July 1983.
Massey left the Tigers to join Division Four side Cambridge United in July 1985 in return for a £5,000 fee, he spent one season at the Abbey Stadium and scored 11 goals in 35 appearances. He moved to Division Four side Wrexham in the June 1986 with the promise of European football providing a stronger lure than a mooted return to Peterborough United. Massey scored 17 goals in 46 appearances in his first season at the Racecourse Ground including four goals in the European Cup Winners Cup against Maltese side Zurrieq and the Spaniards of Real Zaragoza. He missed the majority of the 1987/88 season with a knee injury, scoring his final career goal in February 1988 against Leyton Orient and adding ten appearances to his Wrexham tally of 18 goals in 56 appearances. He retired from professional football in the 1988 close season, having scored 120 goals in 460 senior appearances.
Masey joined South Western League side Truro City in September 1988 and spent six years playing for the White Tigers, taking on a player-manager role between August 1990 and May 1994. Massey guided Truro to the League and cup double during the 1993/94 season before concluding the first of three spells in charge at the club. After leaving Truro in May 1994 he focused on his holiday park business in Brixham, returning to football with spells as manager at Falmouth Town and Truro City during the 2005/06 season. In 2010 he again returned to football, managing Buckland Athletic and Bovey Tracey before a third spell at Truro City that began in 2012 when appointed Director of Football and continued as manager until March 2014 season after the club went into administration and were relegated from the Conference South. In the summer 2017 he was appointed first team manager at South West Peninsula League side Helston Athletic, moving to the Director of Football role in June 2022.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 28 March 1958, Denton
Hull City First Game: 27 August 1983, Burnley H (Division Three), 25 years, 152 days old
Hull City Final Game: 11 May 1985, Brentford A (Division Three), 27 years, 44 days old
Clubs
Stockport County (1974-1978), Bournemouth (1978-1981), Peterborough United (1981-1982), Northampton Town (1982-1983), Hull City (1983-1985), Cambridge United (1985-1986), Wrexham (1986-1988), Truro City (1988-1994)
Hull City Record
Career: 53 apps, 11 goals
Steve Massey| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983/84 | 11 (2) | 4 | – | – | 1 (1) | 0 | – | – | 1 (1) | 0 |
| 1984/85 | 23 (6) | 5 | 2 (0) | 1 | 3 (0) | 1 | – | – | 0 (2) | 0 |