Leicester City In 100 Players: Steve Guppy
Guppy was an orthodox left winger who developed into an England international wing-back after Leicester City Manager O'Neill signed him from Port Vale for a fee rising to £950,000 in February 1997.
He came to Filbert Street with a good reputation. Although rejected by Southampton as a youngster, Guppy joined Conference (now National League) side Wycombe Wanderers in 1999. He was in O’Neill’s Wycombe side which won the FA Trophy in 1991 and which was promoted to the Football League in 1993, after winning a league-cup double.
A year later, he helped Wycombe gain promotion to the third tier of the Football League. While at Adams Park he was capped by England at semi-professional level.
After a brief three-month spell at Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle United in 1994, Steve moved to second tier Port Vale where, in the next three seasons, his performances on the left wing made him a club legend.
After his move to Filbert Street in January 1997, he spent the next five seasons playing for the Foxes in the Premier League, the first four of which resulted in top-half finishes. He played in two League Cup Finals, narrowly losing in 1999 and then winning in 2000. He also played in two UEFA Cup campaigns, in 1997 and 2000.
In the 1998/99 season, he was the only Premier League player to play every minute of every game throughout the season. He also delivered the highest number of crosses in the Premier League that season.
While at Filbert Street, his achievements included becoming an England B international and a full international when he played against Belgium in 1999. The only other player to progress from England’s semi-professional side to the full international side was the ex-Leicester City striker Alan Smith.
In 2001, he rejoined O’Neill at Celtic for two-and-a-half seasons before returning to Leicester for 15 games when Micky Adams’ side was relegated from the Premier League in 2004.
Steve later had brief spells at Leeds United, Stoke City and Wycombe Wanderers before playing for DC United, Stevenage Borough and Rochester Rhinos. He then coached at Colorado Rapids before rejoining O’Neill, coaching at Sunderland and later with the Republic of Ireland.