Stephen Hoyle (born 6 November 1992) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for New Zealand club

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. Hoyle has played football in four different confederations, at clubs in England and

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Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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, and Canada in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Club career

Early career

As a youngster, Hoyle trained at England's FA Academy and with his hometown club

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

. He also spent time with the Doncaster Rovers youth side and at the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...

in Scotland. He was converted from a defender to a midfielder during his earlier career. Hoyle's first stint abroad was in New Zealand with Napier City Rovers and Hawke's Bay United, where he scored a goal in the

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

playoffs. He then joined Canadian side Toronto Lynx in the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

, effectively an

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fourth division, in

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. He appeared in five matches for the club, tallying two assists without scoring, and underwent a trial with

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

under then-manager

Ryan Nelsen Ryan William Nelsen (born 18 October 1977) is a former New Zealand professional football player and former head coach of Major League Soccer side Toronto FC. Nelsen commonly played as a defender, and his professional career began in 1995. He ...

, a New Zealander.

Return to New Zealand

Hoyle returned to New Zealand and became a striker at the start of the 2015-16 season with WaiBOP United. He ranked among the top 10 goalscorers in the Premiership for four straight seasons from 2015 to 2019, and was Canterbury United's top scorer in the 2017–18 and 2018-19 season.

Valour FC

Hoyle signed for

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

side Valour FC in the newly launched

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

ahead of the 2019 season. He was the second signing in club history and the first international signing for head coach

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. He scored the first ever goal for the club in its first competitive game, a 2–1 win away to

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 201 ...

Westhills Stadium Starlight Stadium (formerly Westhills Stadium) is a 6,000 seat multi-purpose stadium in Langford, British Columbia, Canada. It is used by Pacific FC of the Canadian Premier League for soccer, by Rugby Canada for various events, and by the Wests ...

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on 1 May 2019, before being substituted in the second half. He left Valour by mutual consent on 9 July 2019.

Eastern Suburbs

Hoyle returned to New Zealand ahead of the 2019–20 NZ Premiership season and signed with defending champions

Personal life

Hoyle's girlfriend Jill is a New Zealander, and he took up residency during his time in the country. His younger brother James plays as a defender for New Zealand side

Hamilton Wanderers Hamilton Wanderers Association Football Club is a semi-professional Association football club from Hamilton, New Zealand, that currently competes in the Northern League. National League Hamilton Wanderers joined the New Zealand Football Champi ...

. The brothers were teammates at Napier City Rovers and WaiBOP United.

Honours

Club

Napier City Rovers *

Central Premier League The Central League is an amateur status league competition run by Capital Football for Association football clubs located in the southern and central parts of the North Island, New Zealand. From 2021 it is at the second level of New Zealand Footb ...

: 2012 & 2015

Individual

WaiBOP United *Fans' Player of the Year: 2015-16 Canterbury United *

Mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

Striker of the Year: 2017-18 *

Player of the Year: 2017-18

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoyle, Stephen 1992 births Living people Men's association football forwards English men's footballers Footballers from Barnsley English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand English expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia English expatriate sportspeople in Australia Napier City Rovers FC players Hawke's Bay United FC players Toronto Lynx players WaiBOP United players Canterbury United Dragons players Valour FC players Eastern Suburbs AFC players Northern Premier League players New Zealand Football Championship players USL League Two players National Premier Leagues players Canadian Premier League players