Jason Steele

Early life Steele was born in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. He attended Woodham Community Technology College (now named Woodham Academy), the same school as his former Middlesbrough teammate Ross Turnbull.

Club career Middlesbrough He came through Middlesbrough's youth academy. In May 2009, Steele signed a new three-year contract with Middlesbrough, which was his first professional contract. Danny Coyne was signed during Middlesbrough's first season in the Championship in the 2009–10 season, instead of promoting Steele to a permanent senior squad member. He kept four clean sheets in 13 matches. In December 2010, he signed a new contract with Middlesbrough up to 2015. Steele's impressive form during the 2012/13 season, as well as his form in the previous season, was rewarded when he was named the North East Football Writers' Young player of the Year in February 2013. He finished the season being the only player to have played in every minute of Middlesbrough's league campaign.

Blackburn Rovers

On 1 September 2014, Steele joined Championship club Blackburn Rovers on a season-long loan. He made his debut on 20 September 2014 in a 1–0 win away to Fulham. At the end of the 2014–15 season, Steele made 31 appearances. as well as a managerial change occurring which saw heavily-experienced Premier League coach Paul Lambert replace Gary Bowyer. Steele was notable for his singular assist and yellow card during that Championship league campaign.

Similar playing statistics occurred the following season, in which Steele played 41 times in the Championship whereas Raya appeared 5 times. His final game for Blackburn was a 2–0 defeat to Barnsley at Ewood Park on 8 April 2017.

Sunderland Steele signed for newly relegated Championship club Sunderland on 26 July 2017 on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, reported to be in the region of £500,000. Steele made his official league debut against Derby County on 4 August, in which they recorded a 1–1 draw in the first game of the 2017–18 season. Prior to that, Steele had been between the posts in a heavy 5–0 defeat to Celtic in a pre season friendly at the Stadium of Light, in which he was criticised alongside his teammates due to their disappointing performance, which saw Sunderland bring in Robbin Ruiter to compete with Steele for the first-choice goalkeeper role.

In the winter transfer window, Steele was set to join fellow Championship side Derby County on loan, after Sunderland allowed the goalkeeper to leave on transfer deadline day following the signing of Lee Camp from Cardiff City on loan. The deal would have seen Steele join the Rams on loan until the end of the season with an obligation to a permanent deal if the club were to achieve promotion to the Premier League. This meant that Steele had suffered two consecutive relegations as a player while Sunderland had suffered from two consecutive relegations as a club. In the documentary, Steele explained that being a professional footballer resulted in many people putting pressure on himself and the entire squad to perform at their best. Steele eventually made his Brighton debut on 5 January 2019, in the 3–1 away win against AFC Bournemouth in the FA Cup third round.

His next appearance for Brighton came 20 months after his debut, playing and keeping a clean sheet in a 4–0 home victory over Portsmouth in the EFL Cup on 17 September 2020. Six days later he made another appearance again keeping a clean sheet in another EFL Cup tie, this time a 2–0 away win over Preston North End. However, his run in the league cup was ended on 30 September after a 3–0 home loss against Manchester United falling short of a quarter final place. His next match came on 10 January 2021, where he saved four penalties in a 4–3 penalty shootout win over Newport County – after finishing 1–1 in 120 minutes of play – in the FA Cup third round. Near the end of normal play, Steele mistimed a cross which landed onto teammate Adam Webster conceding an own goal in the 96th minute taking it to extra time. A day later Steele extended his Brighton contract signing on until June 2023.

He captained the side for the first time and kept a clean sheet in Brighton's 2–0 EFL Cup second round away victory at Cardiff City on 24 August 2021. Steele made his Premier League debut at the age of 31, after three years at the Albion, replacing the suspended Robert Sánchez in the away fixture at Aston Villa on 20 November, where Brighton lost 2–0.

Steele made two crucial saves in a 3–1 away victory against Arsenal in the EFL Cup third round on 9 November 2022. On 7 January 2023, Steele played in a 5–1 away win over his former club Middlesbrough to go through to the FA Cup fourth round. Three days later, it was confirmed by Brighton that Steele had signed a new contract with the club, committing his future in Sussex until June 2025. Roberto De Zerbi was eager for Steele to stay at the club with the goalkeeper stating that signing a new contract was an easy decision. On 29 January, Steele was chosen to play over Sánchez where Brighton went on to defeat the defending champions Liverpool 2–1 at home in the fourth round of the FA Cup. He was selected ahead of the Spanish goalkeeper again on 4 March, this time in a Premier League tie at home against West Ham United. This was Steele's second Premier League appearance of his career – his first coming in November 2021 – keeping his first top flight clean sheet and making some crucial saves a 4–0 win. Steele was giving an extended run of game time, with De Zerbi saying he was "sad for Robert" [Sánchez] but that Steele is "playing better" and "maybe he is closer than Robert in my style." After a 2–2 away draw against Leeds United on 11 March, he earned his second clean sheet four days later, in his second Premier League game at Falmer Stadium in a 1–0 home win over Crystal Palace.

On 1 April 2023, Steele assisted Kaoru Mitoma's equaliser – Brighton's first of three – with the Japanese international racing onto his long ball and scoring in the eventual 3–3 home draw against Brentford. Steele was ruled out of the 2–1 victory at Chelsea on 15 April due to a minor injury and was benched for the FA Cup semi-final on the 23 April in which Brighton lost on penalties at Wembley against Manchester United. He made his return to action three days later, where he made his first penalty save in the Premier League keeping out Brennan Johnson's effort, but later conceded a Morgan Gibbs-White penalty in the 3–1 loss at Nottingham Forest. On 8 May, Steele scored his first Premier League own goal in a 5–1 defeat against Everton at Falmer Stadium. He continued as number one goalkeeper for Brighton playing in the remaining matches of the season as Brighton finished sixth, qualifying for the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League, their first ever European qualification.

International career England youth Steele was born in England and is of Scottish descent. He has competed for the England under-16s, under-17s and under-19s. Steele captained the team against the hosts, Ukraine.

Steele made his first under-21s appearance on 16 November 2010, in a 2–0 away defeat to Germany in a friendly. He was sent off after 58 minutes after fouling Boris Vukčević, having only come on as a half-time substitute. His second appearance for the under-21s came almost two years later on 10 September 2012 as a starter in a 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Norway,

Steele was named in the 23-man squad for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. He made one appearance at the tournament, playing in a 1–0 defeat to Israel in England's last group match. He started in a friendly against Brazil before the tournament, playing the first half of a 2–0 defeat at the Riverside Stadium. He was the only member of the squad to not play during the tournament, with Jack Butland keeping him out of the team, and was an unused substitute in all four matches as Great Britain reached the quarter-final.

England senior In March 2026, Steele received his first call-up to the England senior squad, ahead of friendlies against Uruguay and Japan. He was included in England's travelling party to the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a training goalkeeper. England finished third, and the squad gave him one of the bronze medals despite him not officially being part of it.

Personal life In the documentary series Sunderland 'Til I Die, it was shown that Steele has two sons. Steele is related to fellow footballer Lewis Wing who plays for Reading; he too is a former Middlesbrough player, but their spells at the club did not overlap.

Career statistics

Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals

2007–08 Premier League

2008–09 Premier League

2009–10 Championship

2010–11 Championship

2011–12 Championship

2012–13 Championship

2013–14 Championship

2014–15 Championship

2015–16 Championship

2016–17 Championship

Sunderland 2017–18 Championship

2018–19 Premier League

2019–20 Premier League

2020–21 Premier League

2021–22 Premier League

2022–23 Premier League

2023–24 Premier League

2024–25 Premier League

2025–26 Premier League

Reserves & Academy 2018–19