Dale Christopher Stephens (born 12 June 1989) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He is currently a free agent following his release from

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

Early life

Stephens was born in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

Career

Oldham Athletic

Stephens joined Oldham Athletic on 1 July 2008 after rejecting a new deal at

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

. On 9 March 2010, he scored his first goal for Oldham in a 2–0 win over Leyton Orient.

Loans to Rochdale and Southampton

On 14 August 2009, Stephens joined Rochdale on a month's loan. He made his debut in a 3–3 draw with

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

on 4 September 2009, where he scored the equaliser. It was later extended by another month. On 12 October he extended the loan spell for a third time. On 24 March 2011, Stephens signed on loan for Southampton until the end of the season. He made his debut as a substitute in a 3–2 victory over

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

. He started days later against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

but had to be stretchered off at the end of the first half.

Charlton Athletic

On 29 June 2011, Stephens signed a three-year contract for Charlton Athletic for an undisclosed fee, estimated to be around £350,000.

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 30 January 2014, Stephens signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Brighton & Hove Albion for an undisclosed fee. Stephens scored his first goal of the 2015–16 season with a strike against Rotherham United, in a 2–1 win. He followed this up with goals against Bolton Wanderers (2–2 draw), Cardiff (1–1 draw), QPR (2–2 draw), Cardiff (4–1 loss), and Burnley (2–2 draw). He formed a vital partnership with Beram Kayal, and would play an integral part in the side that would go 21 league matches unbeaten. On 7 May 2016, in an away tie against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

with winner takes all to win automatic promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, Stephens scored a 55th minute equaliser to give Brighton a lifeline as Brighton needed a win to go up. Four minutes after his headed goal, Stephens was sent off for a fierce tackle on Gastón Ramírez drawing blood to the Uruguayan. The game finished 1–1 meaning ''Boro'' winning promotion to the top flight and Stephens suspension meant he would miss the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

in which ''The Seagulls'' would lose the two legged semi final to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. Stephens was a key performer for Brighton throughout the 2016–17 season, helping the club to earn promotion to the Premier League. He signed a new four-year contract with the club in the summer of 2017, with his previous contract set to run out at the conclusion of the season. Brighton's first match in the top flight for 34 years was at home to eventual champions

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. Stephens played the whole match in the 2–0 defeat on his Premier League debut. He played in Brighton's first ever win in the Premier League in a 3–1 home win over West Brom on 9 September 2017. Stephens scored his first goal of the 2017–18 season on 8 January opening the scoreline in a 2–1 home win against bitter rivals Crystal Palace in the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. On 4 May 2018 Stephens played in the match that ensured Brighton Premier League safety with a 1–0 win over

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Falmer Stadium The Falmer Stadium, known for sponsorship purposes as the American Express Community Stadium and also referred to as the Amex, is a football stadium in the village of Falmer, in the City of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. With a capacity of 31 ...

. On 10 November 2018 Stephens received his first Premier League red card away against

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. He was sent off at 1–1, it eventually finished 2–1 to The Bluebirds. Stephens scored his first ever Premier League goal away against

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

opening the scoreline in the 2–2 draw on 2 January 2019. He made 5 FA Cup appearances in the 2018–19 season where ''The Seagulls'' made the semi final. Stephens played in Brighton's first home win of the 2019–20 season which came on the 5 October where Brighton put three past

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

and keeping a clean sheet.

Burnley

On 24 September 2020,

announced the signing of Stephens on a two-year deal. Two days after the announcement of his signing he made his debut in what also happened to be his 100th Premier league appearance, starting and playing the whole match in the 1–0 home defeat against his former club Southampton. He made his first appearance of the 2021–22 season on 30 December, coming on as a substitute in the 3–1 away loss at

. Stephens made his first start of the season on 8 January 2022, starting and playing 82 minutes of the eventual 2–1 FA Cup third round home loss against

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

of the Championship. He made his first Premier League start in over a year on 5 February, playing the whole match of the frustrating 0–0 home draw against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. On 10 June, Burnley announced that Stephens would leave the club at the end of the month when his contract expired.

Career statistics

Honours

Charlton Athletic *

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

: 2011–12 Brighton & Hove Albion *

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

runner-up: 2016–17

References

External links

Profile
at the Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Dale 1989 births Living people Footballers from Bolton English footballers Association football midfielders Bury F.C. players Droylsden F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Burnley F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Premier League players