| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stephen Edward Claridge | ||
| Date of birth | 10 April 1966 | ||
| Place of birth | Portsmouth, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Fleetlands (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Portsmouth | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1983–1984 | Fareham Town | 13 | (2) |
| 1984–1985 | AFC Bournemouth | 7 | (1) |
| 1985–1988 | Weymouth | 110 | (28) |
| 1988 | Crystal Palace | 0 | (0) |
| 1988–1990 | Aldershot | 62 | (19) |
| 1990–1992 | Cambridge United | 79 | (28) |
| 1992 | Luton Town | 16 | (2) |
| 1992–1994 | Cambridge United | 53 | (18) |
| 1994–1996 | Birmingham City | 88 | (35) |
| 1996–1998 | Leicester City | 63 | (17) |
| 1998 | → Portsmouth (loan) | 10 | (2) |
| 1998 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 5 | (0) |
| 1998–2001 | Portsmouth | 104 | (34) |
| 2001 | → Millwall (loan) | 6 | (3) |
| 2001–2003 | Millwall | 85 | (26) |
| 2003–2004 | Weymouth | 47 | (24) |
| 2004 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 5 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | Brentford | 4 | (0) |
| 2005 | → Wycombe Wanderers (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2005 | Wycombe Wanderers | 15 | (4) |
| 2005 | Millwall | 0 | (0) |
| 2005 | Gillingham | 1 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | Bradford City | 26 | (5) |
| 2006 | → Walsall (loan) | 7 | (1) |
| 2006–2007 | AFC Bournemouth | 1 | (0) |
| 2007 | Worthing | 1 | (0) |
| 2007 | Harrow Borough | 4 | (2) |
| 2009 | Weymouth | 1 | (1) |
| 2011–2012 | Gosport Borough | 11 | (4) |
| 2017 | Salisbury | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 829 | (256) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2000–2001 | Portsmouth | ||
| 2003–2004 | Weymouth | ||
| 2005 | Millwall | ||
| 2015–2022[2] | Salisbury | ||
| 2023– | Fleetlands | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Stephen Edward Claridge (born 10 April 1966) is an English football pundit, coach and former professional player who is currently the manager of Fleetlands. He was a pundit for BBC Sport football shows including Football Focus and The Football League Show, until 2014 when he became both manager and a director at newly formed Salisbury.[3]
Claridge's career was known for its longevity and diversity. Born in Portsmouth, he has spent a number of periods with teams from Hampshire and Dorset, having begun his career with non-league Fareham Town in 1983. After failing to gain a permanent contract at local league club AFC Bournemouth, Claridge spent three years at Weymouth, in his longest single spell with any club. From 1988 till 1996 Claridge played for a number of Football League teams, before moving to Leicester City with whom he played in the Premier League and won the 1997 Football League Cup. In 1998, he moved to Portsmouth, where he was also player manager from 2000 to 2001. After a spell with Millwall, he dropped down to the Southern Premier League to work as player-manager for Weymouth. After this ended in 2004, Claridge played for ten different clubs in a variety of leagues, never spending more than a season with one team. He has played at all levels of English football and has also appeared in 1000 professional or semi-professional football matches.
After formally retiring from football in 2007, Claridge moved into media work for the BBC. His experience of the Football League has been used to position him as an expert at that level, though he works across a variety of different football programmes on the BBC. After retirement he occasionally played semi-professional football for clubs in south England, most recently in 2017 for Salisbury.