Tommy Sale meant Steele had to take up the mantle of top-scorer for Bob McGrory's side, and he did so with 33 goals in 35 league games in 1936–37, making him the First Division's top scorer – this tally also remains a club record to this date. His tally included five goals in a 10–3 victory over West Brom on 4 February, a club record victory. He continued to terrorise the "Baggies" in 1937–38, scoring a hat-trick in a 4–0 home win on 6 September, before getting five goals in an 8–1 trouncing of Derby County five days later. He finished the 1937–38 campaign with 15 goals in 23 games, having struggled to recover from a knee injury sustained in a game against Charlton Athletic. Steele then returned to form in 1938–39, scoring 27 goals in 33 matches, including four against Birmingham and a hat-trick against Chelsea. He then decided to retire due to depression in 1939, aged only 23. However, after receiving hypnosis treatment from psychiatrists he opted to return to the game. The outbreak of World War II then halted his progress, as the English Football League was suspended. He guested for Sheffield United, Northampton Town, Notts County, Leicester City, Doncaster Rovers, Bradford Park Avenue, Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and Fulham. He returned to the Potteries in 1945–46, scoring 49 goals in 43 games during the course of the season. Competitive football resumed for the 1946–47 season, and Steele scored 31 goals in 43 games, bagging hat-tricks against Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, Grimsby Town, and Burnley, as Stoke posted another fourth-place finish. He was Stoke's top-scorer for a sixth successive season in 1947–48, though he hit just 12 goals in 23 appearances; his contribution as the campaign was limited as he spent four months on the sidelines with a broken leg. He hit 19 goals in 42 games in 1948–49, though Frank Bowyer had by then taken up the mantle as Stoke's main goal getter. Steele left the club in 1949, due to persistent knee problems. Nicknamed "Nobby" by fans, Steele scored 220 goals in 384 games in all competitions during his tenure at the club. He remains the second highest scoring in the club's history, after John Ritchie. Spell in Iceland In April 1946 it was announced that Steele would travel to Iceland to become the manager of Úrvalsdeild club KR Reykjavík during the summer of that year.