Steve Burtenshaw
Born in Portslade on 23 November 1935, Burtenshaw came from a footballing family with two of his older brothers – Bill and Charlie – also being professional footballers.
Steve joined Brighton as a youngster in November 1952 but National Service with the Army halted his progress within the first team initially. He remained with the club until he retired from playing in 1966, having scored three times in 252 games for them. He joined the coaching staff at Brighton before joining Arsenal as reserve team coach in November 1967, taking over from Don Howe, who had been promoted to first team coach.
Whilst coaching the reserve team he also stepped when short of players and featured in seven reserve team games between 1967-68 and 1969-70.
Following the shock departure of Howe in the summer of 1971, Burtenshaw stepped up to become first team coach. During his tenure as reserve team coach his teams won the Football Combination twice, the Football Combination Cup and the London FA Challenge Cup. He also coached many of the 1970-71 double-winning team who had come through the youth team system, so he appeared to be the natural fit for the job. However, in the post-double dressing room he struggled to gain the players’ confidence and quit in September 1973.
He was replaced by QPR coach Bobby Campbell, and Burtenshaw took over the role that Campbell had vacated. After stints as manager at Sheffield Wednesday, Everton and QPR he returned to Highbury in 1981 as chief scout. Following Don Howe’s sudden departure in March 1986, Burtenshaw took over from Howe for a third time after he was asked to see out the rest of the season as caretaker manager, taking charge of the first team for 11 games.
He returned to his role as chief scout under George Graham, staying at the club until 1996. He went on to take up similar roles at QPR and Manchester City, before retiring from football in 2005
Steve Burtenshaw died on 17 February 2022 at Worthing.
Sources
Arsenal – The Complete Record
https://www.brightonandhovealbion.com/news/2490524/obituary-steve-burtenshaw
https://www.onlinegooner.com/articles/view/tribute-to-loyal-arsenal-servant-steve-burtenshaw-rip
https://www.arsenal.com/news/rest-peace-steve
Copies of our books Royal Arsenal – Champions of the South and Arsenal: The Complete Record 1886-2018 are still available from the publishers.
