David Steven was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside-forward around the turn of the 20th century, spending most of his career with his hometown club, Dundee

Dundee F.C.

Dundee Football Club, founded in 1893, are a football club based in the city of Dundee, Scotland. They are nicknamed The Dee or The Dark Blues and play their home matches at Dens Park. Their shirt colour is dark blue. Dundee currently play in the Scottish First Division, having been relegated from...

, before he died from a heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 aged only 25.

Football career

Steven was born in Dundee

Dundee

Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...

 and after an early career with junior

Scottish Junior Football Association

The Scottish Junior Football Association is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the Junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "Junior" refers to the level of football played...

 club, Dundee Violet

Dundee Violet F.C.

Dundee Violet F.C. are a Scottish football club based in the city of Dundee. Members of the Scottish Junior Football Association, they currently play in the East Region North Division...

, he joined Dundee

Dundee F.C.

Dundee Football Club, founded in 1893, are a football club based in the city of Dundee, Scotland. They are nicknamed The Dee or The Dark Blues and play their home matches at Dens Park. Their shirt colour is dark blue. Dundee currently play in the Scottish First Division, having been relegated from...

 as a teenager. He was spotted by Bury

Bury F.C.

Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...

, of the English Football League First Division

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

, and moved to Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

 in August 1896, aged 18.

In his short time with the "Shakers" he made only three first-team appearances, in the outside-left berth, but was unable to displace John Plant

John Plant (footballer)

John Plant was an English international footballer, who played as an outside left.-Career:Born in Bollington, Plant played professionally for Bury, and earned one cap for England in 1900....

, who later went on to represent England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

. Steven fell out with Bury, who refused to release his Football League registration, and returned to Scotland. After briefly re-joining Dundee, he came back to England in the 1897 close season, signing for the Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

 champions, Southampton

Southampton F.C.

Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

, who were not members of the Football League and were thus not affected by Bury's refusal to release his registration papers.

At the "Saints", his "fearless, dashing forward play" made him popular with the fans. He made his debut in a 2–1 victory over Reading

Reading F.C.

Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...

 on 19 February 1898 replacing Robert Buchanan

Robert Buchanan (footballer)

Robert John Buchanan was a Scottish international footballer who played as a forward in the 1890s.-Early career:Born in Johnstone, he started his career as a youth player with Johnstone before joining Abercorn in 1887...

 at inside-right, with Buchanan moving to centre-forward in place of the injured Jack Farrell

Jack Farrell (footballer)

John "Jack" Farrell was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Farrell played in the Football League for Stoke and New Brighton Tower and played a major part in Southern league club Southampton's major cup runs at the turn of the 20th Century.-Early career:Farrell was born in...

. Steven retained his place for the rest of the season, scoring four goals, including two in a 5–1 victory over Gravesend United

Gravesend United F.C.

Gravesend United Football Club was a football club based in Gravesend, Kent.They were founder members of the Kent League in 1894-95 before moving to join the Southern League in 1896-97...

 at the County Ground

County Ground, Southampton

The County Ground in Southampton, England was a former cricket and football ground. It was the home of Hampshire County Cricket Club from the 1885 English cricket season until the 2000 English cricket season...

 on 4 April. The Saints finished the 1897–98 season

Southern Football League 1897-98

The 1897–98 season was the fourth in the history of the Southern League. Southampton won the Division One championship for the second successive season.-Division One:Division One featured one new club, Bristol City, who were newly-elected....

 as champions, and moved to their new home at The Dell in the summer.

In the 1898–99 season

Southern Football League 1898-99

The 1898-99 season was the fifth in the history of the Southern League. Southampton were Division One champions for the third season in a row. Division Two was split into two regional leagues, with the overall Division Two champions being decided in a playoff in which Thames Ironworks defeated...

, Steven was in-and-out of the side, generally replacing England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 international Harry Wood

Harry Wood (footballer)

Harry Wood was a professional footballer who played most of his career as an inside-forward for Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton.-Wolverhampton Wanderers:...

 at inside-right, with Wood switching to inside-left to replace Watty Keay

Watty Keay

Walter "Watty" Keay was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside forward for various clubs, including Partick Thistle in Scotland and Derby County and Southampton in England...

. Steven made nine appearances, scoring twice, as the Saints took the league title for the third consecutive year.

In the summer of 1899, Steven returned to Dundee

Dundee F.C.

Dundee Football Club, founded in 1893, are a football club based in the city of Dundee, Scotland. They are nicknamed The Dee or The Dark Blues and play their home matches at Dens Park. Their shirt colour is dark blue. Dundee currently play in the Scottish First Division, having been relegated from...

 to gain more regular first-team football.

In April 1903, he suffered a fatal heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 and died aged only 25.

Honours

Southampton

Southampton F.C.

Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

• Southern League
  Southern Football League
  The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
  
   champions: 1897–98
  Southern Football League 1897-98
  The 1897–98 season was the fourth in the history of the Southern League. Southampton won the Division One championship for the second successive season.-Division One:Division One featured one new club, Bristol City, who were newly-elected....
  
   and 1898–99
  Southern Football League 1898-99
  The 1898-99 season was the fifth in the history of the Southern League. Southampton were Division One champions for the third season in a row. Division Two was split into two regional leagues, with the overall Division Two champions being decided in a playoff in which Thames Ironworks defeated...