Enda John Stevens (born 9 July 1990) is an Irish 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 ...

who plays as a left back for club

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 the Republic of Ireland national team. Stevens started his career at UCD. He has experience of football at a continental level, having played in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

for Shamrock Rovers.

Early life and career

Stevens was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, County Dublin. He played Gaelic football for St James Gaels before playing

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

professionally.

Club career

Early career

Following a spell in the Cherry Orchard youth team Stevens signed professionally with UCD but was released at the end of the 2009 season. He had trials with Nottingham Forest, Hull City, Stockport County and Yeovil Town. He was one of Jeff Kenna's first signings for St Patrick's Athletic. He plays as a centre back or as a left back. He made his professional debut in a 1–0 win over

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city's ...

at Turners Cross in March 2009. Stevens made a breakthrough into the first team where he made himself the first choice left back with performances in the league, FAI Cup, and Europa League qualifiers. He made six appearances in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League as Pats advanced through two rounds to the play-off round.

Shamrock Rovers

He signed for Shamrock Rovers in December 2009. Stevens made his Rovers League debut at home to Dundalk in

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium ( ga, Staid Thamhlachta) is an association football stadium in the Republic of Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of the stadium in July, 1996. The stadium is now o ...

on 21 March 2010 He capped off his first League of Ireland season with Rovers by winning his first title as Shamrock Rovers won the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

title on the final day of the season. In 2011, he won the All Ireland

Setanta Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from the Republic of I ...

with Rovers. He won the league title again in 2011. He competed in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League with Rovers, the club's first ever appearance in the competition. Over the course of two seasons, Stevens made 15 appearances for Rovers in European competition. He capped off a memorable year by winning the

PFAI Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Players' Young Player of the Year (often called the PFAI Players' Young Player of the Year, the PFAI Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) award is given to the footb ...

award

Aston Villa

On 31 August 2011, it was announced by Aston Villa manager

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for ...

that Stevens would sign a three-year contract with 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 Fo ...

club, effective from January 2012. The agreement allowed Stevens to remain at Rovers until January 2012 to support them in their maiden

campaign. Following Shamrock Rovers' exit from European competition, Aston Villa officially announced the signing of Stevens on 3 January 2012. Stevens spent most of his first months at ''Villa'' playing for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

. He then made his first start for the first team in a 2–1 pre-season victory over

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home grou ...

, on 14 July 2012. He made his full debut for the team, starting in ''Villa's'' 3–0 win against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

second round and also came off the bench in the fourth round win over

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

.
On 3 November 2012, Stevens made his first league appearance for Villa in a 1–0 win against Sunderland, coming on as a substitute for

Eric Lichaj Eric Joseph Lichaj ( ; born November 17, 1988) is an American former professional soccer player, who is currently the head coach of the FC Cincinnati U19 team. Club career Eric Lichaj is the third son of Stan and Ann Lichaj, who were both fro ...

. Stevens made his full league debut for Villa in the next match, starting against Manchester United on 10 November 2012, due to an injury to Joe Bennett and the suspension of Lichaj. In the next game, only Stevens' third league appearance for the club, the Villa defence conceded five goals as they were beaten 5–0 by

champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...

Manchester City.

Loans

Stevens made his debut for the club in a

tie against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, on 27 August 2013. Stevens returned to Aston Villa after a month's loan, having made four appearances in all competitions for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

. Stevens signed on a one-month loan deal with

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

on 28 November 2013. He then signed a one-month loan deal with

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

on 10 October 2014. Stevens was again loaned to Doncaster on a one-month loan on 6 November 2014.

Portsmouth

On 15 June 2015, Stevens signed a two-year deal with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. He scored his first goal for Portsmouth in a 3–2 win against Newport County on 26 December 2016. In his first season at Portsmouth, Stevens quickly established himself as a key member of one of the division's tightest defences, racking up 53 appearances in the process, as Portsmouth finished sixth in manager

Paul Cook Paul Thomas Cook (born 20 July 1956) is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He was also called "Cookie" by his friends on the punk music scene. Early life and career Cook was raised in Hammersmith and atte ...

's first season in charge. As he approached the end of a second season as Portsmouth's first-choice left back, on 9 April 2017, Stevens was named in the Team of the Season at the EFL Awards. This was a season in which he notched in with one goal and a very notable seven assists which contributed to Portsmouth's promotion to

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 ...

Sheffield United

Stevens joined

in May 2017. On 28 April 2019 Stevens gained promotion with United to the

. In March 2020, Stevens signed a contract extension that see him remain at Sheffield United until 2023. He was joint-highest assist provider for Sheffield United in the 2019/20 season along with

Lys Mousset Lys Émilien Mousset (born 8 February 1996) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Nîmes, on loan from Bundesliga club VfL Bochum. Club career Le Havre Mousset joined the Le Havre academy in 2006, after playing ...

on 4 assists.

International career

Stevens made his Republic of Ireland U21 debut in a friendly in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

in February 2011.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Shamrock Rovers * League of Ireland Premier Division: 2010, 2011 *

Setanta Sports Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from the Republic of I ...

: 2011 Portsmouth * EFL League Two: 2016–17 Sheffield United * EFL Championship runner-up: 2018–19 Individual *

: 2011 * EFL Team of the Season: 2016–17 * PFA Team of the Year: 2016–17 League Two

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Enda 1990 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers Association football defenders University College Dublin A.F.C. players Cherry Orchard F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players League of Ireland players Premier League players English Football League players Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers Expatriate footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Gaelic footballers who switched code