Dale Stephens
Stephens playing for Brighton & Hove Albion in 2018
Personal information
Full name Dale Christopher Stephens[1]
Date of birth (1989-06-12) 12 June 1989[2]
Place of birth Bolton, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[3]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Youth career
0000–2007 Bury
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Bury 9 (1)
2007 → Droylsden (loan) 7 (0)
2007 → Hyde United (loan) 4 (0)
2008–2011 Oldham Athletic 60 (11)
2009 → Rochdale (loan) 6 (1)
2011 → Southampton (loan) 6 (0)
2011–2014 Charlton Athletic 84 (9)
2014–2020 Brighton & Hove Albion 213 (14)
2020–2022 Burnley 10 (0)
Total 399 (36)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Dale Christopher Stephens (born 12 June 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.

Early life

Stephens was born in Bolton, Greater Manchester.[4]

Career

Oldham Athletic

Stephens warming up for Oldham Athletic in 2008

Stephens joined Oldham Athletic on 1 July 2008 after rejecting a new deal at Bury.[5] On 9 March 2010, he scored his first goal for Oldham in a 2–0 win over Leyton Orient.[6]

Loans to Rochdale and Southampton

On 14 August 2009, Stephens joined Rochdale on a month's loan. He made his debut in a 3–3 draw with Morecambe on 4 September 2009, where he scored the equaliser. It was later extended by another month. On 12 October he extended the loan spell for a third time.

On 24 March 2011, Stephens signed on loan for Southampton until the end of the season.[7] He made his debut as a substitute in a 3–2 victory over MK Dons. He started days later against Charlton Athletic but had to be stretchered off at the end of the first half.[8]

Charlton Athletic

On 29 June 2011, Stephens signed a three-year contract for Charlton Athletic for an undisclosed fee, estimated to be around £350,000.[9]

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 30 January 2014, Stephens signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Brighton & Hove Albion for an undisclosed fee.[10] Stephens scored his first goal of the 2015–16 season with a strike against Rotherham United, in a 2–1 win. He followed this up with goals against Bolton Wanderers (2–2 draw), Cardiff (1–1 draw), QPR (2–2 draw), Cardiff (4–1 loss), and Burnley (2–2 draw). He formed a vital partnership with Beram Kayal, and would play an integral part in the side that would go 21 league matches unbeaten.

On 7 May 2016, in an away tie against Middlesbrough with winner takes all to win automatic promotion to the Premier League, Stephens scored a 55th minute equaliser to give Brighton a lifeline as Brighton needed a win to go up. Four minutes after his headed goal, Stephens was sent off for a tackle on Gastón Ramírez. The game finished 1–1, meaning Boro won promotion to the top flight and Stephens' suspension meant he would miss the play-offs in which The Seagulls would lose the two legged semi final to Sheffield Wednesday.[11][12]

Stephens was a key performer for Brighton throughout the 2016–17 season, helping the club to earn promotion to the Premier League. He signed a new four-year contract with the club in the summer of 2017, with his previous contract set to run out at the conclusion of the season.[13]

Brighton's first match in the top flight for 34 years was at home to eventual champions Manchester City. Stephens played the whole match in the 2–0 defeat on his Premier League debut.[14] He played in Brighton's first ever win in the Premier League in a 3–1 home win over West Brom on 9 September 2017.[15] Stephens scored his first goal of the 2017–18 season on 8 January opening the scoreline in a 2–1 home win against bitter rivals Crystal Palace in the third round of the FA Cup.[16] On 4 May 2018 Stephens played in the match that ensured Brighton Premier League safety with a 1–0 win over Manchester United at Falmer Stadium.[17]

On 10 November 2018 Stephens received his first Premier League red card away against Cardiff. He was sent off at 1–1, it eventually finished 2–1 to The Bluebirds.[18] Stephens scored his first ever Premier League goal away against West Ham opening the scoreline in the 2–2 draw on 2 January 2019.[19] He made 5 FA Cup appearances in the 2018–19 season where The Seagulls made the semi-final.[20]

Stephens played in Brighton's first home win of the 2019–20 season which came on the 5 October where Brighton put three past Tottenham and keeping a clean sheet.[21]

Burnley

On 24 September 2020, Burnley announced the signing of Stephens on a two-year deal.[22] Two days after the announcement of his signing he made his debut in what also happened to be his 100th Premier league appearance, starting and playing the whole match in the 1–0 home defeat against his former club Southampton.[23]

He made his first appearance of the 2021–22 season on 30 December, coming on as a substitute in the 3–1 away loss at Manchester United.[24] Stephens made his first start of the season on 8 January 2022, starting and playing 82 minutes of the eventual 2–1 FA Cup third round home loss against Huddersfield of the Championship.[25] He made his first Premier League start in over a year on 5 February, playing the whole match of the frustrating 0–0 home draw against Watford.[26] On 10 June, Burnley announced that Stephens would leave the club at the end of the month when his contract expired.[27]

On 28 March 2023, Stephens announced his retirement from football.[28]

Career statistics

As of match played 30 April 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bury 2006–07[29] League Two 3000000030
2007–08[30] League Two 6130000091
Total 91300000121
Droylsden (loan) 2007–08[31] Conference Premier 70———70
Hyde United (loan) 2007–08[32] Conference North 40———40
Oldham Athletic 2008–09[33] League One 0000000000
2009–10[34] League One 262000000262
2010–11[35] League One 34911101[lower-alpha 1]03710
Total 60111110106312
Rochdale (loan) 2009–10[34] League Two 61———61
Southampton (loan) 2010–11[35] League One 60———60
Charlton Athletic 2011–12[36] League One 30400001[lower-alpha 1]0314
2012–13[37] Championship 2821000—292
2013–14[38] Championship 2632021—304
Total 8493021109010
Brighton & Hove Albion 2013–14[38] Championship 142——00142
2014–15[39] Championship 1620000—162
2015–16[40] Championship 457000000457
2016–17[41] Championship 3920000—392
2017–18[42] Premier League 3603100—391
2018–19[43] Premier League 3015000—351
2019–20[44] Premier League 3301000—340
2020–21[45] Premier League 00—10—10
Total 2131491100022315
Burnley 2020–21[45] Premier League 7030——100
2021–22[46] Premier League 301000—40
Total 100400000140
Career total 39936202412042539

Honours

Charlton Athletic

Brighton & Hove Albion

References

  1. ↑ "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  2. ↑ "Dale Stephens: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  3. ↑ "Dale Stephens: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "Dale Stephens". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  5. ↑ "Oldham swoop for Bury's Stephens". BBC Sport. 5 June 2008. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
  6. ↑ "Oldham 2 Leyton Orient 0". Oldham Athletic A.F.C. 9 March 2010. Archived from the original on 11 April 2010.
  7. ↑ "Stephens signs for Saints". Southampton F.C. 24 March 2011. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  8. ↑ "Saints continue top-two charge". Sky Sports. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  9. ↑ "Addicks seal double deal". Charlton Athletic F.C. 29 June 2011. Archived from the original on 2 July 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  10. ↑ "Seagulls sign Stephens". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. 30 January 2014. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  11. ↑ "Middlesbrough 1–1 Brighton & Hove Albion - BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  12. ↑ "Brighton & Hove Albion 1–1 Sheffield Wednesday". BBC Sport. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  13. ↑ "Stephens Signs New Deal". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. 9 May 2017. Archived from the original on 20 September 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  14. ↑ "Brighton & Hove Albion 0–2 Manchester City- BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 12 August 2018.
  15. ↑ "Brighton & Hove Albion 3–1 West Bromwich Albion". BBC Sport. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  16. ↑ "Brighton & Hove Albion 2–1 Crystal Palace- BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 8 January 2018.
  17. ↑ "Brighton & Hove Albion 1–0 Manchester United – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 4 May 2018.
  18. ↑ "Cardiff City beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2–1 – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 10 November 2018.
  19. ↑ "West Ham United 2–2 Brighton & Hove Albion: Arnautovic double rescues hosts – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 2 January 2019.
  20. ↑ Barnes, Dan (6 April 2019). "Gabriel Jesus heads Manchester City into their 14th FA Cup final". The Football Association. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  21. ↑ "Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur". BBC Sport. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  22. ↑ "Clarets Complete Dale Deal". Burnley F.C. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  23. ↑ "Burnley 0–1 Southampton: Danny Ings earns saints first Premier League win – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 26 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  24. ↑ "Manchester United 3-1 Burnley: Cristiano Ronaldo on target as hosts move into top six – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 30 December 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  25. ↑ "Burnley 1-2 Huddersfield Town: Terriers fightback stuns Clarets in FA Cup – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 8 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  26. ↑ "Burnley 0-0 Watford: Roy Hodgson secures first Watford clean sheet on frustrating night – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 5 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  27. ↑ InCrowd. "Burnley FC retained list confirmed". Burnley Football Club. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  28. ↑ "Dale Stephens retires". www.brightonandhovealbion.com. 28 March 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  29. ↑ "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  30. ↑ "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  31. ↑ Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2008). Non-League Club Directory 2009. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 200–201. ISBN 978-1-869833-59-6.
  32. ↑ Williams; Williams (eds.). Non-League Club Directory 2009. pp. 244–245.
  33. ↑ "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  34. 1 2 "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  35. 1 2 "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  36. ↑ "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  37. ↑ "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  38. 1 2 "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  39. ↑ "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  40. ↑ "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  41. ↑ "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  42. ↑ "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  43. ↑ "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  44. ↑ "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  45. 1 2 "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  46. ↑ "Games played by Dale Stephens in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  47. ↑ Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2012). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2012–2013. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 37, 136–137. ISBN 978-0-7553-6356-8.
  48. ↑ Anderson, John, ed. (2017). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2017–2018. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 82–83. ISBN 978-1-4722-3397-4.
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