Dean Constantine Sturridge (born 26 July 1973) is an English former 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 ...

and football commentator for

beIN Sports beIN Sports ( ) is a global network of sports channels owned and operated by the Qatari media group beIN. It has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its CEO is Yousef O ...

. As a player, he was a striker who notably played in 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 ...

for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

and

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. He also played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

and

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. He retired in 2007 following a short spell with non-league side

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. Sturridge never played international football, but was called up to the Jamaica national team squad for

World Cup 1998 The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for th ...

, however he rejected the call and the chance to represent the nation. Since retiring he was worked in the media and has previously worked for

BBC Radio Derby BBC Radio Derby is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Derbyshire. It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on St Helens Street in Derby. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audien ...

Playing career

Derby County

Sturridge began his career as a trainee at

, and worked his way through the ranks to make his first team debut on 11 January 1992 in a 1–0 defeat at

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

. He gained more first team action over the next years, particularly at lowly

during a loan spell in the 1994–95 season, where he gained many admirers for his performances. He then returned to score 20 goals that fired Derby to the

. His first year in the top flight was also successful, scoring 11 league goals, including one of the goals of the season against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, and the club's very first in the Premier League when they drew 3–3 at home to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

in an opening day thriller at the

Baseball Ground The Baseball Ground (sometimes referred to as the BBG) was a stadium in Derby, England. It was first used for baseball as the home of Derby Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898 and then for football as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 19 ...

(from which they relocated to the new

Pride Park Stadium Pride Park Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Derby, England, that is the home ground of English Football League club Derby County. With a capacity of 33,597, it is the 16th-largest football ground in England and the 20th-largest stad ...

12 months later). Leeds had been 2–0 up when Sturridge found the net for the Rams in the 77th minute, before Paul Simpson pulled them level a minute later.

Lee Bowyer Lee David Bowyer (; born 3 January 1977) is an English football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a midfielder who featured for Charlton Athletic, Leeds United, West Ham United (two spells), Newcastle United, Birming ...

sent Leeds back ahead in the 85th minute, before Sturridge scored again in the 87th minute to rescue the game for his team. He played five seasons in the Premier League for the club, and is their record goalscorer in the Premier League era (32 Premier League goals). After nearly a decade with the Rams, he left for local rivals

in January 2001 for £375,000.

Leicester City

Sturridge's time at Leicester was far less successful than at Derby, as consistent injury problems and a change of manager saw his place under threat. He scored 7 goals during 25 appearances in total before being loaned to First Division

in November 2001, just 10 months after his arrival at

Filbert Street Filbert Street was a football stadium in Leicester, England, which served as the home of Leicester City F.C. from 1891 until 2002. Although officially titled the City Business Stadium in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively by ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers

His time at Wolves started brightly as he netted four times in his opening two games. This convinced the club to make the loan permanent after the initial month and he signed for £350,000 on Christmas Eve 2001. His goalscoring form continued throughout the season, and he finished as the club's leading goalscorer with 21 goals in total, which took them to the play-offs. The following season saw him notch another 11 which again helped the team achieve a play-off finish, where they won promotion to the

after a 3–0 final win over

. The striker didn't enjoy much of the team's top flight season as a combination of injuries and new arrivals sidelined him for all but 5 games, and he was loaned out to

. He was unable to put his injury problems behind him though and never regained a regular starting place for Wolves again. He moved on to

on a free transfer in March 2005.

Queens Park Rangers

At Queens Park Rangers his injury problems continued and he was only able to appear in 11 matches for the team, and never scored for them. In December 2005, it was announced that he would be leaving the club.

Kidderminster Harriers

On 26 June 2006, Sturridge joined

on a one-year deal along with former Tamworth

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Scott Bevan Scott Anthony Bevan (born 19 September 1979) is a former professional footballer currently employed as the under-23s goalkeeping coach at Birmingham City. Career Playing career Bevan started his football career with Southampton as an associate ...

, possibly becoming the biggest name player the club have ever signed. Sturridge's time at

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...

didn't work out well, despite initially earning praise from his new manager Mark Yates over his positive attitude. He featured in six matches without finding the net, before suffering an

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

injury which ended his season prematurely. He was not offered a new contract at the end of season.

International career

In 1998, René Simões attempted to call up Sturridge for international duty with the Jamaica national team for the 1998 World Cup but the offer was rejected.

Media career

In 1998, Sturridge appeared in season one of the fictional football drama

Dream Team Dream Team may refer to: Sport Basketball * Dream Team, the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team in Barcelona * Dream Team II, the 1994 U.S. men's national basketball team at the FIBA World Championship * Dream Team III, the 1996 ...

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

(as himself) as a Harchester United player and was valued as a £5 million player. Sturridge was acting as match summariser for

, following the sudden departure of

Ted McMinn Kevin Clifton "Ted" McMinn (born 28 September 1962) is a Scottish former association footballer who played as a winger. His nickname is ''The Tin Man''. Playing career Early years Born in Castle Douglas and raised in nearby Dumfries, McMinn ...

after the first match of the 2007–08 season. In this role he co-commentates, alongside

Ross Fletcher Ross Fletcher is an English sports presenter and commentator known for his work with BBC Radio and Seattle Sounders FC. He is currently a host for Root Sports Northwest coverage of Seattle Kraken ice hockey games. Career BBC Fletcher had a passio ...

, on all games played by his old club, Derby County. However, on the last game of the season, he revealed that he would not be returning to this role for the 2008–09 season as he wanted to focus on his coaching work.

Personal life

His brother,

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

, was also a professional footballer, most notably playing for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. He is the uncle of

Daniel Sturridge Daniel Andre Sturridge (; born 1 September 1989) is an English professional footballer who last played as a striker. As well as representing England, he has played in the Premier League for Manchester City, Chelsea, Bolton Wanderers, Liverpool ...

, a striker who last played for

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...

and has played for the England national team

Honours

Individual *

PFA Fans' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Fans' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Fans' Player of the Year, or simply the Fans' Player of the Year) award is given to footballers in the top four flights of English football, the Premier Leag ...

: 2001–02 First Division *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 1995–96 First Division

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sturridge, Dean Living people 1973 births English footballers English people of Jamaican descent Association football forwards Derby County F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Premier League players Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

Black British sportsmen