Joseph Eric Stephenson (17 September 1914 – 8 September 1944) was an English
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 played as an
inside left
Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
at both professional and international levels.
Career
Born in
Bexleyheath
Bexleyheath is a town in south-east London, England. It had a population of 31,929 as at 2011.
Bexleyheath is located south-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...
, Stephenson signed for
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 1933, turned professional in 1934, and made his first-team debut in 1935.
Stephenson also earned two international caps for
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in 1938.
War service
After leaving Leeds in 1941 to become a Major in the
Gurkha Rifles, Stephenson died in active service in
British Burma
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
in September 1944 and is buried at
Taukkyan War Cemetery
The Taukkyan War Cemetery ( my, ထောက်ကြံ့ စစ်သင်္ချိုင်း) is a cemetery for Allied soldiers from the British Commonwealth who died in battle in Burma during the Second World War. The cemetery is in th ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
.
His younger brother Ernest had died in action August 1943, at the age of 27.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Eric
1914 births
1944 deaths
English footballers
England men's international footballers
Leeds United F.C. players
English Football League players
Indian Army personnel killed in World War II
Royal Gurkha Rifles officers
Footballers from Bexleyheath
Men's association football inside forwards