Tony Steenson

Tony Steenson died aged 78 after a short illness while on holiday in Portugal with his wife Wendy in early October 2026. Hyde United announced his passing on 3 October 2026; the exact date and place of death and the nature of the illness were not made public.

Tributes came from football clubs, television actors and politicians. Andy Burnham called him "a real Greater Manchester legend" who "cared deeply about people and always used his connections in the game to give something back to his community." Hyde United said it would pay its respects properly at a future match, and its club historian began preparing a fuller tribute. Funeral arrangements had not been published at the time of the reports.

Tony Steenson was born and raised in Salford, Greater Manchester, and was described in tributes as a born and bred Salfordian. Reports of his death at the age of 78 indicate he was born in about 1947 or 1948; his exact date of birth has not been published. He began playing football in the late 1960s with Salford Amateurs, the club that would later become Salford City.

Steenson was a defender. He signed for Mossley in November 1972 but returned to Salford Amateurs within a week when the Mossley manager stepped down. He rejoined Mossley in August 1973 and spent two seasons there, making 133 appearances and scoring four goals.

In September 1975 he joined Hyde United, where he made 276 appearances up to the end of the 1983 to 1984 season. He was the club's Supporters' Player of the Year in 1977 to 1978 and captained Hyde to the Cheshire League treble in 1981 to 1982 and promotion back to the Northern Premier League. The club remembered him as "a born leader and organiser" whose shouts could be heard all around the ground. In August 1984 he returned to Mossley as assistant manager and later became player-manager.

Alongside football he worked in media sales and was a sales director for Newsquest Media.

His 1983 testimonial match at Hyde United, which featured a Manchester United XI, introduced him to charity football. He went on to manage the Piccadilly Attackers, which became one of the country's most successful charity football clubs and eventually the Jet2 TV All Stars. Over more than four decades he organised hundreds of All Stars matches with actors, broadcasters and former professionals, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for causes in Greater Manchester.

Steenson was married to Wendy and was a father and grandfather. Friends described a big personality, a constant stream of chatter on and off the pitch, a distinctive squeaky voice and red hair. His long friendships with television performers who played for the All Stars, among them Alan Halsall, Phil Middlemiss, Andy Whyment and Jamie Lomas, and with BBC presenter Mike Sweeney, lasted decades.

Steenson is remembered at Hyde United as one of the club's greatest captains, and across Greater Manchester as the organiser who turned charity football into a long-running institution. The All Stars matches he ran for more than forty years raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for local causes and brought together footballers, entertainers and politicians. Mike Sweeney called him "an absolutely unique individual".