Stephen Simmons

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Personal information
Stephen Simmons
Date of birth	February 27, 1982 (age 25)
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Playing position	midfielder
Club information
Current club	Dunfermline Athletic
Number	7
Youth clubs
1996-1998	Celtic Boys Club
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998-2006 2001 2006-	Hearts →Cowdenbeath (loan) Dunfermline Athletic	89 (8) 02 (0) 16 (1)
National team²
2002-2003	Scotland under-21
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of November 18 2006. ² National team caps and goals correct as of November 18 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Stephen Simmons (born 27 February 1982 in Glasgow) is a Scottish professional footballer currently playing for Scottish Premier League club Dunfermline Athletic.

Simmons started his senior career with Heart of Midlothian in 1998, having previously been attached to Celtic through their Boys Club system. He made his senior debut 2 years later as a substitute in a 3-1 defeat of Dundee United on 23 December 2000 and, after a further two substitute appearances, was loaned to Cowdenbeath in March to further aid his development.

In 2001-02 Simmons blossomed into a first ream regular. He scored his first senior goal against Rangers in September to earn Hearts a 2-2 draw ^[1] and netted a further 4 times during a season in which he also earned Scotland U21 recognition. He was unable to maintain this level of form in the following years, however, and with the likes of Paul Hartley, Scott Severin and Phil Stamp preferred in central midfield, for the next 3 seasons he assumed the role of perpetual substitute, 41 of his 64 appearances coming from the bench.

In January 2006, with Hearts acquiring further competition for his favoured central midfield role, Simmons was allowed to leave Tynecastle, signing for Dunfermline on an initial 6 month deal. ^[2] Due to an earlier cup appearance with Hearts, he was ineligible to appear in Dunfermline's League Cup campaign that season, in which they lost 3-1 to Celtic in the final. However, his league performances were enough to ensure he earned a new, extended contract in the summer. Interestingly he signed this contract on the same day as he was married in May 2006 with then Pars manager Jim Leishman attending the wedding ceremony in order to complete the deal. ^[3]