Jon Stead

Infobox Football biography
playername = Jon Stead


fullname = Jonathan Graeme Stead
nickname = Steady, Steadinho
height = height|m=1.91
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1983|04|7
cityofbirth = Huddersfield
countryofbirth = England
currentclub = Ipswich Town
clubnumber = 14
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 2002–2004
2004–2005
2005–2007
2006–2007
2007–2008
2008
2008–
clubs = Huddersfield Town
Blackburn Rovers
Sunderland
→ Derby County (loan)
Sheffield United
→ Ipswich Town (loan)
Ipswich Town
caps(goals) = 68 (22)
42 0(8)
35 0(2)
17 0(3)
39 0(8)
01 0(1)
04 0(2)
nationalyears = 2004–2005
nationalteam = England U21
nationalcaps(goals) = 11 0(1)
pcupdate = September 13, 2008

Jonathan Graeme "Jon" Stead (born April 7, 1983 in Huddersfield, England) is an English football player who currently plays for Ipswich Town as a striker.

Education

Raised in Honley, Jon Stead attended Honley High School, Huddersfield.

Club career

Huddersfield Town

Stead made his league debut for Huddersfield Town, as a nineteen-year-old against Brentford.

He scored four goals in three games at the start of the 2003-04 season, igniting interest from big clubs. Stead was lucky enough to pick up a Playoffs Winners Medal with Huddersfield Town while he was playing for Blackburn Rovers. He appeared on the pitch celebrating his hometown club's win.

Blackburn Rovers

In February 2004, he moved to Blackburn Rovers [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/blackburn_rovers/3444447.stm Blackburn Sign Stead] , "BBC Sport", February 2, 2004] marking his debut by scoring the only goal in a match against Middlesbrough [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/3468127.stm Premiership clockwatch] , "BBC Sport", February 7, 2004] . He went on to score six goals, including vital winners against Fulham, Manchester United and Everton as Blackburn succesfully 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 June 13, 2005 to Sunderland in a deal worth £1.8 million. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4089430.stm Sunderland snap up striker Stead] , "BBC Sport", June 13 2005]

underland

During his time at Sunderland Stead scored only two goals, the first of which was on April 1, 2006 against Everton at Goodison Park in a 2-2 draw, breaking his duck of 11 months without a goal. He scored his second Sunderland goal in the 3-1 defeat to Southend United at Roots Hall on August 19 2006.

On October 13, 2006, he completed a loan move to Derby County [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/6044644.stm Stead makes loan switch to Derby] , "BBC Sport", October 13, 2006] 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 November 11. 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.

heffield United

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 January 11 2007.cite news
title = Blades sign Stead from Sunderland
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sheff_utd/6247957.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-01-11
accessdate = 2007-04-22]

On January 13 2007, Stead played his first Premier League game with Sheffield against Portsmouth [cite web|title=Tactical Formation|work=Football-Lineups.com
url=http://www.football-lineups.com/wiki/_match3157.php | accessdate=January 20 | accessyear=2007] and scored his first goal for the Blades a few weeks later, in his third game, against Fulham.cite news
title = Sheff Utd 2-0 Fulham
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/6309093.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-01-30
accessdate = 2008-09-01] 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 five goals in total that season, the final of which came on the last day of the season against Wigan Athletic on May 12, but his goal wasn't enough to prevent United from being relegated.cite news
title = Sheff Utd 1-2 Wigan
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/6627849.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-05-14
accessdate = 2008-09-01]

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.cite news
title = Stead signs for Ipswich on loan
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/i/ipswich_town/7592359.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2008-09-01
accessdate = 2008-09-01]

Ipswich Town

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".

tatistics

¹ Last updated 01 October 2008

International career

His early goalscoring exploits at Blackburn Rovers led to a call-up for the England Under-21 side against the Netherlands in February 2004. However, he managed just 1 goal in 11 appearances.

References

External links

* [http://www.sufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10418~22521,00.html Jon Stead player profile] at sufc.co.uk
*soccerbase|32552|Jon Stead

Persondata
NAME= Stead, Jonathan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Stead, Jon
SHORT DESCRIPTION= footballer
DATE OF BIRTH= 1983-04-7
PLACE OF BIRTH= Huddersfield, England
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=