Steve Hoolickin made 161 appearances for United, scoring 3 goals, between October 1976 and December 1980.

A dedicated right full back, Steve became ever present in the United side that held its own in Division Three throughout his time here. Although not noted for scoring goals, he combined defence with intelligent forward movement and link play, often providing much needed width.

Steve was born in Manchester on the 13th December 1951 and grew up playing in the highly competitive Junior Lancashire Leagues. Oldham signed him as an apprentice when he was 16 and he impressed them enough to earn himself a full time contract. After a frustrating period in the reserve and youth sides at Boundary Park he readily agreed to accept Bury's offer of first team football at Gigg Lane in 1973. He stayed with Bury for three seasons as an ever present in their side, steadily building up a reputation as a reliable and talented defender.

Dick Young was in sole charge of United in October 1976 when it became apparent that star defender John Gorman was about to leave the club. Initial enquiries revealed that Hoolickin was available for a small fee, and the sum of £20,000 secured his signature. Steve must have wondered what he had come to. His debut was at Molineux on 23rd October 1976 and we suffered a 4-0 hammering that could quite easily have been twice that. In a season where hammerings were common place (0-6 v Southampton, 0-5 v Luton to mention just two) Hoolickin stood out as one of the players who had more to offer if things could only change for the better. It wasn't to be though, and despite his 29 appearances and a rare goal against Oldham, he couldn't help to prevent the team from finishing 20th and dropping down to Division Three.

The 1977/78 season is perhaps one best forgotten for Steve. Injury meant he would make only 9 appearances and he spent most games watching from the stand as United consolidated in the new Division, and finished in 17th place. The following year was a complete contrast. Steve played in every game and the fans were treated to some excellent football. The team clicked, and boy did it show. But for some unlucky results they would have enjoyed a promotion winning campaign, eventually having to settle for 6th place and thoughts of what might have been. Hoolickin blossomed in his right back role and enhanced his reputation as a goal provider, offering a very useful outlet down the right hand side of the pitch.

1979/80 brought another 53 appearances and yet another good season for the team. They again finished in 6th place, battling all the way to be part of the automatic promotion trio at the end of the season. Steve managed to score two more goals for the club, including one in a thrilling 3rd round FA Cup encounter against Bradford at Brunton Park that saw the Blues run out as 3-2 victors after an end to end tussle. Steve was, by now, attracting attention from other clubs and it was inevitable that transfer speculation would arise.

Hoolickin made 19 more appearances for the club in the 1980/81 season and was constantly linked with a move to Hull. As expected, the deal went through in December as Steve was, to all intents and purposes, swapped for Paul Haigh. Injury was to plague his time at Boothferry Park and he eventually had to retire on medical advice. He moved back to Carlisle where he remains to this day, and his son Lee enjoyed a spell on the books with Carlisle United a few years ago.