He also made more than 300 appearances for Newcastle, Manchester City, Leicester City and Bolton.

Now aged 34, Howey is at the helm of Northern League Division One club Brandon United after being appointed their manager in the summer.

He speaks to TheFA.com about his new role in football.

Q. Brandon have struggled in the league this season. How do you feel it is going?

A. It is good experience for me but is also very difficult. We have a very young side with many players who haven't played in the Northern League before. Even when they show great enthusiasm and commitment, their inexperience means that a bit of naivety has been costing us games.

But they are a great set of lads and this can only help me become a good manager. I will continue as long as the players at Brandon are prepared to keep giving me 100% effort.

Q. Can the team battle away from the relegation zone?

A. It is going to be difficult. We haven’t been taking our chances and so we have been punished in matches. Sometimes the lads wonder what they have to do to get a win.

Hopefully we can pull away from the drop zone. But if we manage to keep the players together for a couple of years, then I am sure we will progress.

Q. You had a fine career at the highest level. What were the personal highlights?

A. I had a fantastic time under Kevin Keegan at Newcastle. It was a great, attack-minded team. There wasn’t a lot of thought put into the defending, which I think was evident because we conceded a lot of goals. That wasn’t because of the defenders being poor in any way.

It was just that we committed so many people forward that we were open to counter-attacks. Kevin’s philosophy was always ‘If they score two, then we score three!’

I also had some memorable years at Manchester City. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I have tremendous respect for their fans and the people at the club and so I still look out for their results and hope they do well.

Q. How much different does it feel to be involved at Northern League level?

A. Sometimes it can be a bit tricky as a manager. You count on a player to turn up and then you get a phone call to say he can’t make it for a game or training because he can’t get time off work.

You have to accept that. It is part and parcel of being in this league. That will happen when players are not full-time. But I am quite happy where I am.

Q. So you see your future in the game there, then?

A. Yes. But the funny thing is that if you had told me two or three years ago that this would be the line I’d be taking, I would have said that you were mad!

Nothing would have been further from what I had in my mind. Also, I always thought I would want to continue to play for as long as I could.

Even though I have recently had a few offers to get back into playing football, I’m just happy to concentrate on being on the other side of the line. I am taking my coaching badges and I want to progress on and get my UEFA ‘B’ qualification.

If you're interested in taking any coaching qualifications, like Steve, visit FA Learning to find out more...