Ian David Stevens (born 21 October 1966) is a Maltese retired

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 ...

. He was raised in Lancaster, England, and educated in the city at Ripley St. Thomas C of E High School.

Playing career

Preston North End and Stockport County

It was while playing local league football that Stevens was spotted by

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

who signed him as a professional in November 1984. His time at Deepdale was difficult however with the club going through a transitional period and at the end of the 1985–86 season he was released after playing just 12 games. After spending a month at Stockport County, Stevens found himself without a club and playing non-league football for

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Footb ...

Bolton Wanderers

It was while playing for Lancaster that struggling

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

came in for him in March 1987. He was predominantly a squad player at Burnden Park due to the presence of strikers John Thomas and Tony Philliskirk. In a little over four years, he made 47 appearances scoring 7 goals. After being released by Wanderers in July 1991, Stevens signed for

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 ...

Bury and Shrewsbury Town

At Bury, Stevens scored 40 goals in 126 games before signing with Shrewsbury Town in August 1994 for a fee of £20k. He scored 51 goals in 132 games before moving again to

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

in May 1997.

Carlisle United

Although Stevens joined Carlisle on the back of the Cumbrians' promotion, the club were relegated immediately and only preserved their football league status the following season thanks to a goal from on loan goalkeeper

Jimmy Glass James Robert Glass (born 1 August 1973) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is chiefly remembered for scoring the last-minute goal which kept Carlisle United in the Football League in 1999, while on loa ...

Wrexham

Stevens took a free transfer to

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

in July 1999. In his only season at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground ( cy, Y Cae Ras) is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C. It is the world's oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales' first home i ...

, he scored four goals in 20 matches. He also played a game on loan at

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

without scoring.

Carlisle United

Stevens' release from Wrexham in August 2000 paved the way for a return to Carlisle. However, in June 2002 he went for one last hurrah with Shrewsbury Town. In his one season at Gay Meadow he scored just two goals in 24 games before leaving in August 2003.

Gretna, non-league & back to Lancaster

Stevens first signed for

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

but after a month he left and signed for

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

club Gretna. Despite getting sent off on his debut for Gretna, Stevens settled in well and in two seasons at Gretna he played 26+5 matches scoring 13 goals and was a member of the championship winning squad of 2004–05. From Gretna, Stevens moved again into non-league football with

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

, winning promotion to the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

in 2005–06. After a break he signed for his home town club

for the start of 2007–08, but played just a handful more games for his home town club before leaving at the end of September 2007 and then signing for Bacup Borough. As a professional Stevens played 572 first team games and scored 175 goals.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Ian 1966 births Living people English men's footballers Maltese men's footballers Preston North End F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Bury F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Gretna F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Lancaster City F.C. players Bacup Borough F.C. players Sportspeople from Valletta Men's association football forwards