ROBERT STEEN, OL 1976

23rd Nov 1957 to 20th August 2025

Attended John Lyon 1969 to 1976 

Some of the alumni will be aware of the sad passing of Rob Steen in the late summer earlier this year.

Many in his year and wider school will fondly remember Rob from his school days – warm, friendly, enthusiastic and conscientious he quickly became a popular pupil. He made many friends and was held in high regard by his peers and teachers throughout his school days.

Born in North London, Rob lived in Edgware for most of his time at John Lyon. Joining the school in September 1969, Rob was a keen cricketer and quickly secured a place in the school 1st XI as a capable off spinner.

Rob greatly enjoyed his school days and did well academically where he was most at home with English, History, Languages and Music and successfully navigated his way to the 6th form. It’s probably fair to say that music and sport, particularly cricket, were his number one interests during his school days. These, along with a very keen interest in cinema would be his treasured passions throughout his life. 

Rob developed an ambition from an early age to develop a future around the written word. A few years after leaving school in 1976 he eventually forged a successful career as a sports journalist which led to writing on cricket and other sports for various newspapers, including the Guardian, Sunday Times, where he was Deputy Sports Editor and the Daily Telegraph. An obituary was recently published in the Guardian which included a quote from the rugby correspondent who describes Rob as ‘the most irrepressible sports fan of us all’. 

During this time Rob met and married fellow journalist, Anne Taylor, with whom he had three children and, although the marriage was later dissolved, Anne and Rob remained close throughout the rest of his days. 

In addition to his journalistic career, Rob authored several notable and highly regarded books. These included ‘Mavericks’, which covered a range of famous footballers, from the late sixties and early seventies, who were each remembered for their unique styles and colourful personalities; ‘Spring, Summer, Autumn’ described the lives and careers of three famous cricketers who were, at the time, at the start, middle or approaching the end of their careers, the ‘Cambridge Companion to Football’, and biographies of David Gower, Desmond Haynes and the boxer Sonny Liston. 

Rob’s final career move was into academia with a position at the University of Brighton as a lecturer in sports journalism. There he greatly enjoyed communicating and helping his students to develop and realise their ambitions by passing on his wisdom, experience and enthusiasm to the next generation of sports writers. ‘He cared more about sports journalism then anyone I’ve met’   was a recent quote from a lecturer at the university.

After retiring Rob settled in the Netherlands where he’d been drawn to the culture and lifestyle – indeed culturally he continued to lead a very active life, for example writing programmes for an arthouse cinema in Rotterdam.

He will be very sorely missed by his readers, friends and, of course, his family.

An unforgettable memorial event was held recently in London to celebrate his life with his closest friends and family.

Rob is survived by his children Laura, Josef and Evie, his mother, Shirley, and sister, Jane.

Andy Woodend, Ian Reed – grateful school friends with treasured memories of Rob.

December 2025