Chelsea and Luton hero Mark Stein stunned Arsenal but now has second career helping kids with special needs
Former Stoke star says it is 'demanding' helping children with learning difficulties but 'hugely rewarding'
CHELSEA and Luton hero Mark Stein scored nearly 200 goals for ten clubs during a goal-den 20 years in the game.
He is most fondly remembered by Luton fans after helping Hatters to a shock and dramatic 3-2 win against Arsenal in the League Cup final which celebrated its 30th anniversary in April.
But for the last five years Stein has had a new career at St Augustine’s School in Maida Vale working with kids between 11 and 16 years of age with special educational needs.
He said: “It is very demanding dealing with kids with difficult conditions but it's hugely rewarding.
“It is my job to get them more confident in the things they do. Their health and welfare is my priority.”
After retiring from football at the age of 38, Stein went into physiotherapy and worked for three years at Barnet and then joined Crawley in 2010.
Latest football features
He added: “Doing what I do now I felt I could give something back to the community. It’s not easy but I’ve always been a very positive person."
Stein, now 52, arrived in England from South Africa at the age of two, one of seven boys.
For the Stein lads, football was their life and they played in the street until their mum and dad told them to come in for tea.
Mark was the youngest and followed his elder brother Brian to Luton under the watchful eye of Hatters boss David Pleat.
Latest football news
His other brother Edwin was manager at Barnet in the Nineties.
He added: “Pleaty was a brilliant manager. I remember my debut for Luton in 1984.
“I was minding my own business sitting in the dressing room when David read out the team sheet with me in it.
“I thought it was a joke. Then the likes of Brian Horton and Mal Donaghy told me to get ready. I didn’t have a chance to be nervous which was a brilliant piece of management.
“I loved my football life and have a huge soft spot for all the teams I played for.”
Stein arrived at Chelsea in 1993 despite interest from Liverpool, Spurs and Manchester City.
The lure of working under Glenn Hoddle proved too much, however, and the forward made the £1.5million move from Stoke a permanent one.
It proved a historic one, too.
Stein scored in seven straight games from December 1993 to February 1994, a Premier League record until it was broken by Ruud van Nistelrooy and then Jamie Vardy with his 11 in a row in November 2015.
But it was not all easy work.
Stein explained: "In a Boxing Day game at Southampton, Dave Beasant made two great saves from me and I thought it is not going to be my day again, but then I ended up lobbing him and watching the ball and it was the slowest, it was like the world had come to a standstill.
"Fortunately, it went in off the post.
"We still got beaten 3-1 but we played well. When things are not going for you, results don’t tell the full story.
"We were now second from bottom but we had a chance to rectify it the very next day.
"Glenn kept his nerve in keeping with the style he wanted to play which is great credit to him, he never wavered from his belief in getting the ball down and passing. Eventually it turned around for us."
Stein was part of the 1994 FA Cup final side that lost to Manchester United.
After that a series of loan moves followed, including a return to Stoke, Ipswich and Bournemouth.
Stein, after two full years with the Cherries, joined Luton in 2000, before finishing his career at Dagenham and Redbridge and then Waltham Forest in 2004.