Anthony Stokes (footballer)

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For other persons named Anthony Stokes, see Anthony Stokes (disambiguation).
Anthony Stokes
Personal information
Full name Anthony Stokes
Date of birth July 25, 1988 (1988-07-25) (age 19)
Place of birth    Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Winger, Striker
Club information
Current club Sunderland
Number 9
Youth clubs
2002–2003
2003–2005		 Shelbourne
Arsenal
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2005–2007
2006-2007
2007–		 Arsenal
→ Falkirk (loan)
Sunderland		 00 0(0)
16 (14)
34 0(3)   
National team2
2007– Republic of Ireland 03 0(0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 22:54, 4 May 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 23:06, 26 May 2007 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Anthony Stokes (born July 25, 1988 in Dublin)[1] is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Sunderland. He also plays for Republic of Ireland. He previously played for Arsenal and Falkirk

Stokes began his career with Arsenal. He moved to Falkirk on loan in 2006,[1] and scored 14 goals in 16 games.[1] In 2007, he joined Sunderland.[2]

Contents

[edit] Club career

[edit] Arsenal

Stokes broke into the Arsenal reserves at only 15 years old after joining from Shelbourne. Stokes made his first-team debut as a substitute in Arsenal's League Cup tie against Sunderland on 25 October 2005, coming on for Arturo Lupoli in the 88th minute which Arsenal won 3–0. In the summer of 2006, he trained with Sunderland with a view to a loan move, but the then Sunderland manager Niall Quinn decided against it due to Sunderland's large squad depth and lack of reserve team.[3] Eventually, on 29 August 2006 Arsenal agreed a loan deal with Falkirk that saw Stokes play for the Scottish side until the end of 2006.[4]

Stokes scored his first goal for Falkirk in a 1–0 victory at Inverness Caledonian Thistle on September 19, 2006, in the CIS Cup third round.[5] He followed that up on October 21 with two more goals against Inverness.[6] On October 28, 2006, he scored his first competitive hat-trick during Falkirk's 5–1 victory over Dundee United,[7] and then scored another hat-trick in the following match against Dunfermline Athletic,[8] to take his tally to an impressive nine goals in just four games. This hat-trick wrote himself into Falkirk's history book, with Falkirk enjoying success over their Fife rivals. Having become the first player to score back to back hat-tricks in the SPL, Stokes then hit a third in his final game for Falkirk on December 30, a 3–1 home victory over Inverness.[9]

On November 7, Stokes scored an equaliser for Falkirk in the 100th minute of the CIS Insurance Cup against Celtic, Falkirk going through 5–4 on penalties. His continuing good form saw him named Young Player of the Month for October and November. By the end of December 2006 he had scored 16 goals in 18 league and cup appearances and reports linked him with a move to Celtic.[10] However, when his loan at Falkirk expired on December 31, 2006, he returned to Arsenal.[11]

[edit] Sunderland

On January 8, 2007, Stokes ended weeks of speculation as to his future by signing for Sunderland for a fee of £2 million. With Celtic and Charlton Athletic having also been in the hunt for his signature, Stokes revealed that he was greatly influenced by Sunderland manager and former Irish football international, Roy Keane, in making his ultimate decision.[2][12] Stokes was originally handed the 26 shirt at Sunderland, but after the departure of Jonathan Stead to Sheffield United he was given the number 9 shirt.

On January 13, 2007, Stokes made his Sunderland debut, and crossed to set up David Connolly to give Sunderland a one goal win over Ipswich.[13] Stokes scored his first goal for Sunderland on February 10, 2007 against Plymouth Argyle, scoring from 20 yards after coming on as a substitute.

Stokes was banned from The Glass Spider in Sunderland, a late closing bar/club after Roy Keane blamed the club for being a distraction that was affecting his training. The barring was revoked after season and Stokes received a complimentary bottle of champagne.[14] Stokes then scored first Premier League goal; a last-minute winner against Derby County on 1 December 2007; a goal that took Sunderland out of the relegation zone which they had recently slipped into for the first time that season.[15]

[edit] International career

Stokes earned his first cap for the Republic of Ireland in their 2–1 win away to San Marino on February 7, 2007, coming on as a substitute.[16]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c "Anthony Stokes", Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-22. 
  2. ^ a b "Sunderland seal 2m Stokes deal", BBC Sport, 2007-01-08. 
  3. ^ No deal for Stokes. www.safc.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-31.
  4. ^ Falkirk snap up Arsenal's Stokes. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2006-08-31.
  5. ^ "Inverness CT 0-1 Falkirk", BBC Sport, 2006-09-19. Retrieved on 2008-03-22. 
  6. ^ "Inverness CT 3-2 Falkirk", BBC Sport, 2006-10-21. 
  7. ^ "Falkirk 5-1 Dundee United", BBC Sport, 2006-20-28. 
  8. ^ "Dunfermline 0-3 Falkirk", BBC Sport, 2006-11-04. 
  9. ^ "Falkirk 3-1 Inverness CT", BBC Sport, 2006-12-3030 December 2006. 
  10. ^ Celtic to consider bid for Stokes. BBC Sport (2006-12-01).
  11. ^ "Stokes to end spell with Falkirk", BBC Sport, 2006-12-31. 
  12. ^ "Stokes signs for Sunderland", RTE Sport, 8 January 2007. 
  13. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | Championship | Sunderland 1–0 Ipswich
  14. ^ "Nightclub's ban on Anthony Stokes scores points with Roy Keane", The Times, 2007-05-12. Retrieved on 2007-05-12. 
  15. ^ Magowan, Alistair. "Sunderland 1-0 Derby County", BBC Sport, 2007-12-01. Retrieved on 2007-12-01. 
  16. ^ "San Marino 1-2 Rep of Ireland", BBC Sport, 2007-02-07. Retrieved on 2007-02-07. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Sunderland A.F.C. – current squad

1 Gordon • 2 Halford • 4 Etuhu • 5 Nosworthy • 6 McShane • 7 Edwards • 8 Whitehead • 9 Stokes • 10 K. Richardson • 11 Murphy • 12 Miller • 13 Ward • 14 Higginbotham • 15 Collins • 16 Chopra • 17 Jones • 18 Leadbitter • 19 Yorke • 20 Reid • 21 Anderson • 23 O'Donovan • 24 Carson • 25 Mvoto • 26 Bardsley • 28 Kavanagh • 29 Hartley • 31 Connolly • 32 Fülöp • 33 Wallace • 39 Waghorn • 40 Dowson • 44 Evans • 45 Prica • –– Arnau •

Manager: Keane


Persondata
NAME Stokes, Anthony
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Anthony Stokes
SHORT DESCRIPTION Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH 25 July 1988
PLACE OF BIRTH Dublin, Republic of Ireland
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH