Kenneth John Stephens (born 14 November 1946) is a 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 ...

, who played in 314 Football League games for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

, and

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

Career

Stephens began playing for Speedwell School in his home town of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, before going on to play in the Bristol Downs League as a teenager. He joined West Brom as an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

in 1962, before turning professional with them in 1964. He went on to play 22 League games for ''The Baggies'', scoring twice. After playing seven games for

, who he joined in 1968, he retired from football to become a

newsagent A newsagent's shop or simply newsagent's or paper shop (British English), newsagency ( Australian English) or newsstand ( American and Canadian English) is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of ...

in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, but was tempted out of retirement to join his home town club

in 1970. He went on to play in 225 League games for Rovers and scored eleven goals in a seven-year spell with the club. He ended his League career with

, for whom he made 60 appearances between 1977 and 1980, then made 35 appearances for Gloucester City in the Southern Football League before dropping down to non-League football to join Hanham Athletic in 1982. He later managed Hanham and also went on to become their chairman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Kenny 1946 births Living people Footballers from Bristol English footballers Association football midfielders English Football League players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Gloucester City A.F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players English football chairmen and investors