Stephen James McKeown (born 17 July 1981) is a Scottish 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 ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

Career

McKeown was raised in the Fernhill district of Rutherglen and attended Trinity High School in the town. He joined

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

at the age of 16 from a local boys' club on the recommendation of Sandy Stewart, spending four years with that version of the club and six more with its successor

Airdrie United Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

from its inception in 2002. At one point he lost his enjoyment for football and was ready to quit the game, but recanted after advice from Stewart and his father. In 2006 he scored a late penalty as Airdrie eliminated top-division

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

from the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

of the First Division at the opening of the January transfer window of 2008. Soon after joining, he scored against

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

in a League Cup tie. He joined Ayr United after leaving Partick in summer 2010 on a free transfer. McKeown was released from his contract at Ayr following a training ground incident and rejoined Airdrie United in January 2011. He lasted two months at the ''Diamonds'' before leaving the club, citing commitments away from football as the reason. He later joined Junior club

Pollok FC Pollok Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Newlands in the southside of the city of Glasgow. The club competes in the West of Scotland Football League and are one of the biggest football clubs operating in Scottish non-league foo ...

in January 2012 and made his first start for the club in the Emirates Scottish Junior Cup Fourth Round. On 28 September 2013, McKeown joined Irvine Meadow, also of the Junior grade.

Personal life

His nieces Kodie Hay and

Brogan Hay Brogan Yvonne Hay (born 1 March 1999) is a Scottish Association football, footballer who plays for Rangers W.F.C., Rangers in the Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) as a Midfielder#Winger, right winger or Forward (association football), forw ...

are also footballers who play for Glasgow City.

References

External links

* * 1981 births Living people Scottish footballers Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Airdrieonians F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Pollok F.C. players Irvine Meadow XI F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Sportspeople from Rutherglen People educated at Trinity High School, Rutherglen Association football midfielders Footballers from South Lanarkshire {{scotland-footy-midfielder-1980s-stub