David Rhys Remington Stephens (born 8 October 1991) is a 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 defender for

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

. Stephens has previously played for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

, Lincoln City and Hibernian. He has represented Wales at youth international levels up to and including the Wales under-21 team.

Club career

Youth team at Norwich City

Born in

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

, Hertfordshire, Stephens joined

Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

as a 13-year-old. He was initially preferred in a central

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

role, but is now primarily thought of as a central defender.

Professional career

Stephens signed a professional contract with Norwich in June 2009. His

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

debut came on 6 October 2009, as a substitute in a 1–0 win over Gillingham in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

. On 19 March 2010, Stephens joined

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side Lincoln City on loan for the remainder of the 2009–10 season. Stephens signed for

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

team Hibernian on a three-year deal in July 2010. Stephens made his debut for Hibs as a substitute in the opening day 3–2 win at

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

on 15 August. He made 29 appearances in just over two years with Hibs. Stephens left Hibs on 31 August 2012 and signed for

club

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

. Stephens played regularly for Barnet, forming several different centre back partnerships throughout the course of the 2012–13 season. Stephens was voted Barnet's Player of the Season by supporters in 2012–13 and again in 2013–14. He is known to be both superstitious and a fan of Engelbert Humperdinck. Stephens stated in an interview that he listened to Humperdinck's 1969 hit The Way It Used to Be before every game and believed he would have a bad game without it. He cited Humperdinck as a major factor in him winning Barnet's player of the year award in consecutive seasons. After promotion in 2014–15, Stephens rejected a new deal at Barnet and left the club on 1 July 2015. In October of that year, Stephens joined

. In March 2023, Stephens joined

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

club

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. T ...

on loan until the end of the season.

International career

Stephens made his debut for the Wales under-17 side on 27 August 2007 in a 2–1 friendly win over

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, before scoring his first goal for the side two days later as a substitute during a second 2–1 victory over Belgium. Having established himself in the team, he featured in all three matches of the

first qualifying round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

as well as in two matches of the

elite round In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...

of qualifying for the

2008 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship The final tournament of the 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 26th UEFA European Under-17 Championship, UEFA's premier football tournament for players under the age of 17. The tournament was held in Turkey from 4 to 16 May 2008. Pla ...

, scoring his second under-17 goal in a 1–1 draw with Slovenia. He made his final appearance at under-17 level on 19 July 2008 in a 1–0 defeat to Sweden. Three months later, Stephen moved up to the Wales under-19 squad, being handed his debut in a 0–0 draw with Montenegro on 30 September 2008. He was also part of the unsuccessful under-19 squads for the qualifying rounds of both the

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the ninth edition of UEFA's European Under-19 Championship since it was renamed from the original under-18 event, in 2001. France hosted the championship during July. Ukraine were the title holders ...

, scoring his first goal at under-19 level on 8 November 2009 in a 3–1 win over Macedonia. He made his debut at under-21 level on 10 August 2010 in a 1–1 draw with

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

Honours

;Barnet *

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

**Champions: 2014–15

Career statistics

References

External links

*
David Stephens profile at the Football Association of Wales
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, David 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Welwyn Garden City English men's footballers Welsh men's footballers Wales men's youth international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football defenders Norwich City F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players National League (English football) players Footballers from Hertfordshire