| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jonathan Graeme Stead | ||
| Date of birth | 7 April 1983 | ||
| Place of birth | Huddersfield, England | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Bristol City | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Huddersfield Town | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2002–2004 | Huddersfield Town | 68 | (22) |
| 2003–2005 | Blackburn Rovers | 42 | (8) |
| 2005–2007 | Sunderland | 35 | (2) |
| 2006–2007 | → Derby County (loan) | 17 | (3) |
| 2007–2008 | Sheffield United | 39 | (8) |
| 2008 | → Ipswich Town (loan) | 1 | (1) |
| 2008–2010 | Ipswich Town | 63 | (18) |
| 2010 | → Coventry City (loan) | 10 | (2) |
| 2010– | Bristol City | 35 | (9) |
| National team | |||
| 2004–2005 | England U21 | 11 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 December 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Jonathan Graeme "Jon" Stead (born 7 April 1983 in Huddersfield, England) is an English football player who currently plays as a striker for Bristol City. Stead is a former England Under-21 international earning 11 caps, scoring once.
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Raised in Honley, Stead attended Honley High School, Huddersfield.
Stead began his career with home town club Huddersfield Town were he came through the clubs academy. He made his league debut for Huddersfield Town, as a nineteen-year-old against Brentford on the 10 August 2002 coming as a 69th minute substitute in the 2–0 loss on the opining day of the season. In total Stead made 42 league appearances scoring 6 goals in the 2002/03 season.
He scored four goals in three games at the start of the 2003–04 season, igniting interest from larger clubs. 2 goals came in Town's opening game of the 2003/04 season in their 2–2 draw at home to Cambridge United. Stead went on to score two goals in a game on three further occasions for The Terriers during the first part of the 2003/04 season, with his other braces coming against Northampton Town on the 13 September in a 3–0 home win, in a dramatic 3–3 away draw at Mansfield Town on the 22 November and then again in a 3–1 home win over Doncaster Rovers on the 3rd January 2004.
He scored 18 goals for Huddersfield in 2003–04, with 16 of them coming in the league, before moving to Premier League side Blackburn Rovers in the January transfer window. His last game for Huddersfield came in their 2–0 win over Boston United on the 17 January 2004.
Stead returned to collect his Playoffs Winners Medal with Huddersfield Town while he was playing for Blackburn Rovers. He appeared on the pitch celebrating his hometown club's win.
In February 2004 he moved to Blackburn Rovers for a over £1 million and signing a four-and-a-half year contract.[1] Stead marked his debut by scoring the only goal in a match against Middlesbrough.[2] He went on to score six goals, including vital winners against Fulham, Manchester United and Everton as Blackburn successfully avoided relegation from the Premiership.
However, the goals for Blackburn dried up the following season and with manager Mark Hughes signing additional forwards including Welsh international Craig Bellamy, Stead was transferred on 13 June 2005 to Sunderland in a deal worth £1.8 million.[3]
During his time at Sunderland Stead scored two goals, the first of which was on 1 April 2006 against Everton at Goodison Park in a 2–2 draw,[4] breaking his quack of 11 months without a goal. He scored his second Sunderland goal in the 3–1 defeat to Southend United at Roots Hall on 19 August 2006.[5]
On 13 October 2006, he completed a loan move to Derby County [6] and after failing to find the back of the net in his first 6 games, he finally broke his Derby duck with the first goal in a 2–1 win away at Coventry City on 11 November. He followed that goal with the opener in a 2–0 win at Luton Town to make it two in eight appearances and then again went on to bag Derby's first in the 1–0 home win against Leicester City. He was nominated for Powerade Player of the Month as a result of his form at Derby in November.
Stead was signed by Sheffield United from Sunderland for a fee of £750,000, potentially rising to £1.2 million, on a three-and-a-half year deal on 11 January 2007.[7]
On 13 January 2007, Stead played his first Premier League game with Sheffield United against Portsmouth [8] and scored his first goal for the Blades a few weeks later, in his third game, against Fulham.[9] He would go on to score again for the Blades in the next match against his former club Blackburn Rovers where Stead's muted celebration further endeared him to the Rovers fans, who remained grateful for the considerable contribution he had made during the relegation scrap in 2004.
He scored a respectable five goals in total that season, the final of which came on the last day of the season against Wigan Athletic on 12 May, but his goal wasn't enough to prevent United from being relegated.[10]
Stead found first team starts harder to come by the following season as he fell behind James Beattie and Billy Sharp in the pecking order but still managed to make over thirty appearances and score six goals. During the subsequent transfer window Stead signed on loan for Championship rivals Ipswich Town with a view to a permanent move.[11]
Stead made his move to Ipswich permanent on 15 September 2008 after playing just one game on loan for a fee believed to be around £600,000. In that loan game he scored a 20-yard goal, which he described as "the best goal of his career to date". On 25 April 2009, Stead was the last ever senior player to score at Ninian Park after a 3–0 win.
On 15 February 2010, Stead joined Coventry City on loan until the end of the season with a view to a permanent move.[12] He made 10 appearances for the Sky Blues scoring twice before returning to Ipswich at the end of the season. He has scored in every year of his career to date, notching at least 2 goals for each of the clubs he has played for.
Stead was linked with a move to Blackpool in July 2010, with Ipswich accepting a fee of 1p, but Blackpool refused to match Stead's £12,000-a-week wages.[13]
Stead joined Bristol City on a three-year contract on 22 August 2010 for .[14] He made his debut in the 2–0 loss at previous club Ipswich Town. Stead scored his first goal for Bristol City when he netted in a 3–1 defeat against Portsmouth on 28 September 2010.[15] He scored his third goal for the club during a 1–1 draw with QPR, with a magnificent shot from outside of the box, beating Paddy Kenny.
Stead has represented England at International level, as his early goalscoring exploits at Blackburn Rovers led to a call-up for the England Under-21 side for their game against the Netherlands in February 2004. However, he managed just 1 goal in 11 appearances for the Under-21's between 2004–2005.
| Club | Season | League | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Others | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | |||
| Bristol City | 2010–11 | Championship | 27 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 9 |
| Coventry City (loan) | 2009–10 | Championship | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Ipswich Town | 2009–10 | Championship | 22 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 6 |
| 2008–09 | 39 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 13 | ||
| Sheffield United | 2008–09 | Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2007–08 | 24 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 6 | ||
| 2006–07 | Premier League | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 5 | |
| Derby County (loan) | 2006–07 | Championship | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 3 |
| Sunderland | 2006–07 | Championship | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 2005–06 | Premier League | 30 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 1 | |
| Blackburn Rovers | 2004–05 | Premier League | 29 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 2 |
| 2003–04 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 6 | ||
| Huddersfield Town | 2003–04 | League Two | 26 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 18 |
| 2002–03 | 42 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 6 | ||
| Total | 269 | 64 | 14 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 296 | 70 | ||
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