Stephen Rice (born 6 October 1984) is an Irish football coach and former player, who is currently a senior professional development coach at Crystal Palace U23's. During his playing career he played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Career

Rice was signed by then Bohs manager Stephen Kenny in 2003, after spells in the youth ranks at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

and Shelbourne. He went out on loan to

Monaghan United Monaghan United F.C. ( ga, Cumann Peile Mhuineacháin Aontaithe) is an Irish association football club based in Monaghan currently playing in the Ulster Senior League. The club joined the League of Ireland in 1983 and subsequently went on to pl ...

for three months of the 2003 season and he made his debut the following season away to

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

on 20 March 2004. Opportunities were not forthcoming, and Rice found himself playing at right-full for the senior side, a position which he retained throughout the 2004–06 seasons. He was awarded Bohemians' Player of the Year award in 2005. In the 2007 season, under

Sean Connor Sean Connor (born 12 July 1967) is a Northern Irish Association football, football manager (association football), manager and former player who was most recently manager of NIFL Championship side Institute F.C., Institute. He had a brief playin ...

, Bohemians signed

Owen Heary Owen Heary (born 4 October 1976, in Dublin) is an Irish professional football defender and manager. He is formerly the manager of Shelbourne in the League of Ireland First Division, the club with which he spent most of his playing career. Play ...

, regarded as the country's premier right-full, and Mark Rossiter, another player in that position. Rice's future at the club looked uncertain. However, due to injuries and suspensions, he was given the opportunity to play in his natural midfield position.

Departure from Bohemians

In August 2007, following an alleged contract dispute with Bohs, Sean Connor told Rice he was free to leave and would not play for the club again while he was in charge. Within days,

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

had made a bid to sign Rice but he turned them down. However, after two months out of the team, Rice made his return for Bohs as a substitute in a 2–0 defeat against Shamrock Rovers and featured in the first team squad for the rest of the season.

Shamrock Rovers

On 3 November 2007, Rice signed for Shamrock Rovers on a two-year deal. He made his competitive debut for Rovers in the first game of the 2008 season, scoring his first goal at Galway on 29 March. On 25 June 2008, he was placed on the transfer list at his own request. He was appointed Chairman of the

PFAI The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland (PFAI) is the representative body for professional and semi-professional footballers in Republic of Ireland. Players from all nationalities in the League of Ireland are represented, not just Iri ...

in November 2009. But he stepped aside as chairman in November 2010. Rice captained the 2010 League winning side and was voted Rovers' Player of the Year for the 2010 season. On 29 September 2011, Rice scored for Rovers against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...

in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. Rice re-signed for Rovers for the 2013 League of Ireland season, but was released when the contract ended in November.

Longford Town

Rice signed for Longford on 11 January 2014. He played a pivotal role in helping 'De Town' win the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

2014 title. Following a season playing a central role in the Town finishing 6th in the Premier Division, Rice was released by the club in November 2015.

Glentoran

On 23 February 2016, Rice impressed boss

Alan Kernaghan Alan Nigel Kernaghan (born 25 April 1967) is a football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a defender from 1985 to 2006, notably in the Premier League for Manchester City and in the Football League for Middlesbroug ...

in a friendly with Derry City and was awarded a contract until the end of the season. Kernaghan said "I am delighted to have signed a player with such great experience and above all an obvious hunger to play for Glentoran and move us forward". Rice left Glentoran on 7 April 2016 to focus on his coaching career with the Football Association of Ireland in Dublin.

International career

In October 2000, Rice played for the Republic of Ireland national football team U16s in a qualifying tournament in Riga for the

2001 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship The 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Championship was the 19th edition of UEFA's European Under-16 Football Championship. It was the last under-16 championship, before changing the name as under-17 championships. England hosted the championship, durin ...

where he came up against

Andrés Iniesta Andrés Iniesta Luján (; born 11 May 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and is the captain of J1 League club Vissel Kobe. Considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Iniesta has spent most of hi ...

. He also represented his country at U19 level. He was one of four Rovers players to make their debut at U23 level in November 2007 in the 2007–09 International Challenge Trophy . Rice then scored the winner in his second appearance. He made his third and last appearance at this level in a defeat to Belgium in October 2008.

Honours

Club

;Shamrock Rovers * League of Ireland Premier Division (2): 2010, 2011 *

Setanta Sports Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from the Republic of I ...

(2): 2011,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

(1):

* Leinster Senior Cup (1): 2013 ;Longford Town *

(1):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Individual

* Shamrock Rovers Player of the Year (1): 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Stephen 1984 births Living people Republic of Ireland association footballers Men's association football midfielders League of Ireland players Bohemian F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Monaghan United F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Republic of Ireland men's under-23 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Association footballers from Dublin (city)