Ian Stevens
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| Ian Stevens | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ian David Stevens | |
| Date of birth | October 21, 1966 | |
| Place of birth | Valletta, Malta | |
| Height | 5'10" | |
| Playing position | Striker (retired) | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1983-1984 | Preston North End | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1984-1986 1986 1986-1987 1987-1991 1991-1994 1994-1997 1997-1999 1999-2000 2000 2000-2002 2002-2003 2003 2003-2005 2005-2006 2007-2008 |
Preston North End Stockport County Lancaster City Bolton Wanderers Bury Shrewsbury Town Carlisle United Wrexham → Cheltenham Town (loan) Carlisle United Shrewsbury Town Barrow Gretna Fleetwood Town Lancaster City Total |
11 (2) 2 (0) ? (?) 47 (7) 110 (38) 111 (37) 79 (27) 16 (4) 1 (0) 67 (18) 19 (2) ? (?) 28 (10) ? (?) ? (?) 491 (145) |
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1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Ian David Stevens (born 21 October 1966) is a former football who played in the English football league. Although born in Malta, Stevens was raised in Lancaster and educated at the cities Ripley St. Thomas C of E High School.
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[edit] Preston North End and Stockport County
It was while playing local league football that Stevens was spotted by Preston North End who signed him as a professional in November 1984. His time at Deepdale was difficult however with the club going through a transitional period and at the end of the 1985-86 season he was released after playing just 10+2 games soring 2 goals. After spending a month at Stockport County (1 game 0 goals) Stevens found himself without a club and playing non-league football for Lancaster City.
[edit] Bolton Wanderers
It was while playing for Lancaster that struggling Bolton Wanderers came in for him in March 1987. Although predominantly a squad player at Burnden Park due to the likes of John Thomas and Tony Philliskirk being the main strikers, Stevens did in little over 4 years make 34+24 appearances scoring 9 goals. After being freed by Wanderers in July 1991 Stevens made the next move in his career when he signed for Bury.
[edit] Bury and Shrewsbury Town
It was whilst at Bury that Stevens reputation as a prolific goalscorer really took off. He became a real hero to the shakers fans scoring 40 goals in 112+14 games before he signed for Shrewsbury Town in August 1994 for a fee of £20k. His record at Gay Meadow was almost identical to that at Bury with him scoring 51 goals in 110+22 games before Carlisle United tabled a £100k offer for him in May 1997.
[edit] Carlisle United 1st spell
Joining Carlisle on the back of the Cumbrians' promotion, great things were expected at Brunton Park but the club were relegated immediately and the following season only preserved there football league status thanks to a goal from on loan goalkeeper Jimmy Glass. Although times were difficult at Carlisle under Michael Knighton's barmy regime Stevens still became a hero in Cumbria scoring 30 goals in 72+14 games before he took a free transfer to Wrexham in July 1999. In his only season at the Racecourse Ground Stevens scored 4 goals in 17+3 matches, he also played a game on loan at Cheltenham Town without scoring.
[edit] Carlisle United 2nd spell
Stevens' release from Wrexham in August 2000 paved the way for a return to Carlisle and although things off the field at the club hadn't changed much, Stevens carried on where he left off. In two injury plagued seasons at United, Stevens scored another 22 goals in 72+3 games before in June 2002 he went for one last hurrah with Shrewsbury Town. In his one season at Gay Meadow he scored just two goals in 4+20 games before leaving in August 2003.
[edit] Gretna, non league & back to Lancaster
Stevens first signed for Barrow but after a month he left and signed for Scottish Football League club Gretna. Despite getting sent off on his debut for Gretna, Stevens settled in well and in two seasons at Gretna he played 26+5 matches scoring 13 goals and was a member of the championship winning squad of 2004-05, only Stevens second as a pro. From Gretna Stevens moved into non league football with Fleetwood Town again winning promotion to the Northern Premier League in 2005-06. After a seasons break he signed for home town club Lancaster City for the start of 2007-08 to bring his career full circle. Indeed Stevens marked his debut by scoring in an opening day 2-1 home win for Lancaster against F.C. United of Manchester in front of nearly 2,500 fans. Stevens then went onto play just a handful more games for his home town club before leaving at the end of September 2007 and then signing for Bacup Borough. As a professional Stevens played 572 first team games scoring 175 goals and at his peak was, along with Tony Ellis, one of the most clinical strikers to grace the lower reaches of the football league.
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Until his promotion with Gretna in 2005, only Stevens second as a pro, he had in fact been relegated with every club he had permanently played for apart from Wrexham where he only stayed for one season. In all he was relegated six times. He was also part of the Preston squad that applied for re-election at the end of 1985-86.
- He lives in Lancaster and has two brothers.
