Jack Stephens (footballer)

Jack Stephens (born 27 January 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Southampton.

Jack Stephens
Stephens playing for Southampton in 2017
Personal information
Full name Jack Stephens[1]
Date of birth (1994-01-27) 27 January 1994[2]
Place of birth Torpoint, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[3]
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Southampton
Number 5
Youth career
2005–2010 Plymouth Argyle
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2011 Plymouth Argyle 5 (0)
2011– Southampton 97 (4)
2014 → Swindon Town (loan) 10 (0)
2014–2015 → Swindon Town (loan) 37 (1)
2015–2016 → Middlesbrough (loan) 1 (0)
2016 → Coventry City (loan) 16 (0)
National team
2012 England U18 1 (0)
2012 England U19 4 (0)
2015 England U20 4 (0)
2015–2017 England U21 8 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:06, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

Born in Torpoint, Stephens began his career as a youth player with Plymouth Argyle, remaining with the club as a professional until 2011. Although starting his career as a right back, Stephens has recently been converted into a centre back. He can also operate as a left back, or in a defensive midfielder role, and has played internationally for the England under-18, under-19 and under-20 sides.

Club career

Plymouth Argyle

Born in Torpoint, Cornwall,[4] Stephens attended Torpoint Community College,[5] and joined Plymouth Argyle in 2005 at the age of 11.[6] He progressed to the club's youth team in 2009 after a number of impressive performances in the junior section of the Milk Cup.[6] He was then promoted to the club's reserve team, having appeared regularly in the Youth Alliance.[6][7] Stephens began training with the club's first team in September 2010 and was included in an 18-man squad for their league match against Sheffield Wednesday.[8][9] He made his debut as a late substitute in a 3–2 win for Argyle.[10][11] Primarily a right back, Stephens can play in a variety of positions. "Jack is a right-back but he can play in the centre as well. He's comfortable in both positions," said John James, the club's youth development officer.[12] "I like him at right-back because he does get forward well, he's quick, he likes to take people on and he's a good header of the ball. He's a big lad – 6ft 1in I think – and he's still growing."

Southampton

He joined Southampton on 5 April 2011 for a fee of £150,000, signing an initial three-year contract, and was placed in the club's development squad.[13][14] Stephens made his first-team debut for Southampton in a 2–1 FA Cup win against Coventry City on 7 January 2012, coming on as a second-half substitute for Dan Harding.[15] In 2012, he was promoted to the first team ahead of the club's return to the Premier League.[16]

On 13 March 2014, Stephens joined League One side Swindon Town on loan until 3 May.[17] He was re-signed on 1 September 2014 on loan until January 2015,[18] and this deal was extended until the end of the season.[19] He scored his first career goal on 17 January 2015, heading Harry Toffolo's cross to open a 3–1 win over Chesterfield at the County Ground.[20]

On 31 July 2015, Stephens signed a two-year contract extension, taking his deal to the summer of 2019, and subsequently completed a season-long move to Championship side Middlesbrough.[21] In January 2016 however, he was recalled by manager Ronald Koeman who was not happy that Stephens had only been played in one league match for Boro.[22] On 1 February, Stephens joined League One side Coventry City on loan for the remainder of the season.[23][24]

Stephens made his Premier League debut on 2 January 2017, coming on as a first half substitute replacing the injured Cédric Soares, in a 3–0 defeat at Everton.[25]

He scored his first goal for Southampton on 27 January 2018, in the 1–0 victory over Watford in the FA Cup,[26] which was followed by his first Premier League goal four days later, when he equalised in a 1–1 draw with south coast rivals, Brighton.[27] His third goal in as many matches came in a 3–2 victory over fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion on 3 February.[28]

International career
Stephens playing for England U21 in 2017

Stephens received his first call-up for the England under-18 side for a match against Poland in March 2012,[29] playing the first half of the 3–0 win at Crewe Alexandra home ground Alexandra Stadium.[30] Later in the year he made the step up to the under-19 team, making his debut on 26 September in a 3–0 win over Estonia in the qualifying stages of the 2013 European Championships,[29] playing the full 90 minutes.[31] He later played 45 minutes of the 6–0 win over the Faroe Islands on 28 September (after which he was replaced by fellow Southampton player Calum Chambers, who scored the sixth goal),[32] the full 90 minutes of the 1–1 draw with Ukraine on 1 October,[33] and the first half of the 13 November 1–0 friendly win over Finland which also featured Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse.[34] Stephens made his debut for the England under-21 side on 12 November 2015 in a 0–0 draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but was sent off in the 72nd minute.[35]

He was part of the team that won the 2016 Toulon Tournament, their first such win for 22 years.[36]

Career statistics
As of match played 28 December 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Plymouth Argyle 2010–11[37] League One5000001[lower-alpha 1]060
Total 5000001060
Southampton 2011–12[38] Championship0010000010
2012–13[39] Premier League0000000000
2016–17[40] Premier League170303000230
2017–18[41] Premier League222411000273
2018–19[42] Premier League 2412030—291
2019–20[43] Premier League 2812011—312
2020–21[44] Premier League 600010—70
Total 97412191001186
Swindon Town (loan) 2013–14[45] League One100000000100
Swindon Town (loan) 2014–15[46] League One37110004[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]0421
Middlesbrough (loan) 2015–16[47] Championship1000400050
Coventry City (loan) 2015–16[47] League One160000000160
Career total 1645131131501957
  1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearances in 2015 Football League play-offs

Honours

Southampton

England U21

References
  1. "Squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  2. "Jack Stephens". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  3. "Jack Stephens: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  4. "Jack Stephens". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  5. "Jack Stephens profile" Archived 26 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Plymouth Argyle F.C. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  6. "Youth profiles" Archived 21 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Plymouth Argyle F.C. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  7. Mackie gets his wish as he leaves Argyle for Warnock's QPR. Western Morning News. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  8. "Jack's jump" Archived 15 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Plymouth Argyle F.C. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  9. "Stephens wins first team call up". The Plymouth Herald. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  10. "Plymouth 3–2 Sheff Wed". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  11. "Icing on the cake" Archived 9 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Plymouth Argyle F.C. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  12. "More young guns to come at Argyle". The Plymouth Herald. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  13. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/04/2011 and 30/04/2011" (PDF). The Football Association. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  14. "Saints Sign Jack Stephens". Southampton F.C. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  15. "Coventry 1–2 Southampton". BBC Sport. 7 January 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  16. "Southampton promote academy quartet to first team squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  17. "Saint Joins on Loan". Swindon Town FC. 13 March 2014.
  18. "Stephens Signs on Loan". Swindon Town FC. 1 September 2014.
  19. "Jack Stephens: Swindon keep Southampton defender on loan". BBC Sport. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  20. "Swift pulls strings for Swindon". 17 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  21. Lucas, Jim (31 July 2015). "Stephens extends Saints deal ahead of Boro loan". Southampton FC. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  22. Vinnell, Paul (4 January 2016). "Southampton recall Jack Stephens from Middlesbrough loan". Sky Sports. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  23. "Stephens joins Coventry City on loan". Southampton FC. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  24. "Coventry City sign defenders Jack Stephens and Baily Cargill". BBC Sport. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  25. Sanghera, Mandeep (2 January 2017). "Everton 3–0 Southampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  26. O'Keeffe, Greg (27 January 2018). "Southampton 1–0 Watford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  27. Mullen, Andrew (31 January 2018). "Southampton 1–1 Brighton & Hove Albion". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  28. Henry, Matthew (3 February 2018). "West Bromwich Albion 2–3 Southampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  29. "Jack Stephens". England Players. The Football Association. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  30. "England v Poland". England Under-18s Results. The Football Association. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  31. "England v Estonia". England Under-19s Results. The Football Association. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  32. "Faroe Islands v England". England Under-19s Results. The Football Association. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  33. "England v Ukraine". England Under-19s Results. The Football Association. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  34. "England v Finland". England Under-19s Results. The Football Association. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  35. "Bosnia and Herzegovina 0–0 England". BBC. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  36. Veevers, Nicholas (29 May 2016). "England under-21s lift Toulon title after win over France". The Football Association. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  37. "Games played by Jack Stephens in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  38. "Games played by Jack Stephens in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  39. "Games played by Jack Stephens in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  40. "Games played by Jack Stephens in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  41. "Games played by Jack Stephens in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  42. "Games played by Jack Stephens in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  43. "Games played by Jack Stephens in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  44. "Games played by Jack Stephens in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  45. "Games played by Jack Stephens in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  46. "Games played by Jack Stephens in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  47. "Games played by Jack Stephens in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  48. McNulty, Phil (26 February 2017). "Manchester United 3–2 Southampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
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