Steve Chettle

Chettle was promoted from the youth team setup at his hometown club of Nottingham Forest. His first senior season was the 1986–1987 campaign. He went on to become a talisman in the Forest side of the late eighties and late nineties, and was ever present in each of the sides he played in, and managers he worked under. Steve is held in high regard by the Forest faithful after spending 13 years at the City Ground where he is considered a hero. He was initially part of a young crop of players that came into life at Forest under the famous Brian Clough, and was part of the Forest side that lost the 1991 FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium against Tottenham Hotspur, as well as being part of the triumphant 1990 League Cup winning side. Chettle went on to play 527 times for Forest in all competitions, scoring 11 goals between 1986 and 1999.

Each of Chettle's seasons at Forest were played in the top flight of English football, bar 1993-94 and 1997–98. In the 1994–95 season, he was part of the side that finished a notable third in the Premier League. As players and managers came and left, Chettle stayed with the club, and notably played alongside such Forest greats as Des Walker, Stuart Pearce, Nigel Clough, Ian Woan, Steve Stone, Mark Crossley, Stan Collymore, and Pierre Van Hooijdonk.

In 1999, Forest manager David Platt made Chettle available for loan, and eventually sent him on loan to Barnsley who, like Forest, were struggling in the First Division at the time. The two clubs eventually struck a permanent deal after impressing in the two games played during his loan spell. This would then spell the end for Chettle's 13-year Forest career, as he signed for the Oakwell club in December 1999. Chettle went on to play out the rest of the 1999–2000 season for the club, as well as competing in the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons. His final game for the club was a 5–1 thumping away at Manchester City on the final day of the season. Chettle was released by Barnsley in the summer of 2002.

In July 2002, two months after his release from Barnsley, Chettle and fellow Tykes defender Darren Barnard joined league rivals Grimsby Town on one-year contracts. Chettle was seen as an ideal candidate to step in the centre of defence and started the season alongside the club's player-manager Paul Groves and Jamaican youngster Simon Ford. After a slow start to the season for Grimsby, Steve saw his season blighted by injury, and through this, it pushed manager Groves into signing Sheffield United centre half Georges Santos and Middlesbrough's Jason Gavin as cover. Steve eventually returned from injury in early 2003, and went on to score his only goal for The Mariners in a 4–1 home defeat against Crystal Palace.[1] Grimsby were relegated at the end of the 2002–03 season, Groves decided against offering Chettle a fresh contract, thus sealing his departure from the Lincolnshire club.

Several months after his departure from Blundell Park, Chettle acted upon an offer to work with Nigel Clough, the son of his former Forest manager, and sign with Conference National side Burton Albion. Clough at the time was the player/manager of the non-league club. Chettle signed a one-year contract with Burton, and he would remain with the club for the 2003–04 season. This would be Chettle's only year at the Pirelli Stadium and he departed in the summer of 2004.

Following one season with Burton, Chettle moved down the non-league footballing ladder, signing for Ilkeston Town in July 2004. Chettle featured at centre back that season with notably forming a formidable partnership with long serving ex Grimsby defender Mark Lever. This would eventually be both players' final season, and Chettle decided to retire from competitive football at the end of the 2004–05 season.