Newcastle United official announcement – Sad news as ex-NUFC goalkeeper passes away | OneFootball

An official Newcastle United announcement (see below) has made public the sad news that Steve Hardwick has passed away.

The former NUFC goalkeeper was at the club for seven years, from 1976 to 1983.

During that time, Steve Hardwick made over 100 first team appearances for Newcastle United.

His last seven league appearances were the first seven matches of the 1982/82 season, Kevin Keegan having signed in the summer of 1982.

So Steve Hardwick was in goal for that epic unforgettable Kevin Keegan debut, when he scored the only goal of the game against QPR. The official crowd that day was 35,718 but who knows how many were actually inside St James’ Park that day, never mind the many thousands who didn’t make it inside.

Newcastle United official announcement – 18 September 2024:

‘Former Newcastle United goalkeeper Steve Hardwick has died at the age of 68.

Born in Mansfield, Hardwick began his professional career at Chesterfield before joining the Magpies in December 1976 for £80,000, a then club record fee for a goalkeeper.

A former England youth and amateur international, Hardwick spent six years at St. James’ Park, making over a century of competitive appearances for United before leaving Tyneside for Oxford United in 1983, assisting the U’s in their rise from the Third Division to the English top-flight, before heading to Huddersfield Town in the summer of 1988.

After a three-year spell with the Terriers, Hardwick had made almost 600 outings in league and cup football.

A keen club cricketer, too, he was later involved with Yorkshire village side, Hoylandswaine, as a noted wicket-keeper before becoming their captain and later groundsman, living in the village near Barnsley.