Jude Barrington Stirling (born 29 June 1982) is an English former

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 plays as a defender. He has previously played for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

, St Albans City,

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a l ...

, Dover Athletic, Tamworth, Grays Athletic,

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

, Lincoln City,

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

, Barnet,

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

and Billericay Town.

Career

Luton Town

Stirling is a product of the Broadwater United football academy run by his father Clasford Stirling in

Broadwater Farm Broadwater Farm, often referred to simply as "The Farm", is an area in Tottenham, North London, straddling the River Moselle. The eastern half of the area is dominated by the Broadwater Farm Estate ("BWFE"), an experiment in high-density social ...

, north London, he moved to join

as a junior and was added to the club's first team squad the 1999–2000 season. He did not make his debut until the following season when he was started against Swansea City in a league game on 16 September 2000. He would make a total of 10 appearances for Town in his first season, in all competitions. During the 2001–02 season, and following two further games for The Hatters, Stirling was loaned out to Conference National side

. He remained with Borough until March, when Luton released him.

Stevenage Borough

Following his release from Luton, Stirling signed for Borough on a free transfer almost straight away and remained with the club until the end of the season as a permanent player. During the 2002–03 campaign, Stirling made 14 appearances in all competitions before leaving the club in January 2003.

St Albans City and Boreham Wood

Stirling joined Conference South club St Albans City on loan, debuting in the 1–0

Isthmian League Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...

victory over Harrow Borough on 18 January 2003 and going on to play a further three times for the club, twice in the league, during his month with the club. He then linked up with

on loan for the remainder of the season, debuting in the 1–0

defeat at

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

on 1 February 2003.

Dover Athletic

At the start of the 2004–05 season, Stirling signed for Dover Athletic, who at the time had suffered three straight relegations from the Conference National and were now plying their trade in the Southern Football League regional divisions. He was taken on trial by

Russell Slade Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English professional football manager, who was most recently managerial consultant of League Two club Stevenage. Having had an extended career at reserve team level, Slade entered professional ...

during his time at Dover but was not offered a contract.

Tamworth and Grays Athletic

Following a trial with Conference National side Tamworth, Stirling signed for the club in March 2005. He made his debut in the 3–0 home victory over Northwich Victoria on 12 March 2005 and made a total of five appearances for the side before departing at the end of the month to join Grays Athletic. He made his Grays debut in the 1–1 home

Football Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the Na ...

draw with Hayes on 12 April 2005 and played a further three times for the club scoring a solitary goal in the 3–0 victory at Maidenhead United on 23 April.

Oxford United

At the start of the 2005–06 season, following another successful trial, Stirling returned to the Football League and signed a one-year deal with

. Oxford struggled in their

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

campaign with Stirling making 14 appearances for the club in all competitions. In January 2006, he was released from his contract.

Lincoln City

He then joined Keith Alexander and his Lincoln City side who were looking for promotion to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

. Stirling made six appearances for The Imps, all coming from the substitute bench. Following the club's unsuccessful promotion challenge, in which they were defeated by local rivals Grimsby Town in the play-off semi final, Stirling was released by the club at the end of the season following the end of his contract.

Peterborough United

Following his release from City, his former manager Keith Alexander was appointed manager at Imps rivals

and Stirling became one of a number of ex-Lincoln players signed up at London Road in the summer of 2006. For the first time in a while, Stirling became a first team regular and notched up 28 appearances for United, but when his manager was sacked midway through the season, Stirling was loaned out to

where he remained until the end of the 2006–07 season.

Milton Keynes Dons

Stirling was signed by

Paul Ince Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince (; born 21 October 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of EFL Championship side Reading. A former midfielder, Ince played professionally from 1982 to 2007, st ...

at the start of the 2007–08 campaign, and became an instant hit with the promotion chasing League Two side. During MK Dons' League Two triumph of 2007–08, he was occasionally experimented as a striker, and gained popularity amongst Dons fans for his versatility, sheer effort and very long

throw in A throw-in is a method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball has exited the side of the field of play. It is governed by Law 15 of The Laws of the Game. Award When the ball goes out of play past the touch-line ...

s. As well as winning the League Two title, Stirling and the Dons also defeated Grimsby Town in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

. During the 2008–09 season, Paul Ince had left to take up the managerial position at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, and his replacement

Roberto Di Matteo Roberto Di Matteo (; born 29 May 1970) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. During his playing career as a midfielder, he played for Swiss clubs Schaffhausen, Zürich and Aarau before joining Lazio of Italy and Chels ...

favoured him as the club's first choice right back. Stirling was ever present in the season, which eventually saw the club challenge for promotion to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, however they were defeated over two legs in the play-offs against Scunthorpe United, with Stirling having his penalty saved by Joe Murphy in the shootout. During the 2009–10 season, Paul Ince returned as manager. In March 2010, he joined Grimsby Town on loan for the rest of the season. Stirling went out on loan again, this time to Barnet, in March 2011.

Notts County

In September 2011, he then signed for

. In May 2012 he was released by the club, along with 12 other players.

Return to non-League

Since leaving Notts County, Stirling has gone on to feature for both Billericay Town and

Brimsdown Brimsdown is a neighbourhood of eastern Enfield in the London Borough of Enfield, north London, on the west side of the mid-to-lower Lea Valley. Geography The east of Brimsdown, that is, east of the eastern Lea Valley line is one of the borough ...

Playing style

He's known for his long-throwing ability.

Honours

: 2008 *

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

(IV): 2008

References

External links

Jude Stirling player profile
at mkdons.com *
Profile
a
The Peterborough United Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stirling, Jude 1982 births Living people Footballers from Enfield, London English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Luton Town F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players Hornchurch F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Kingsbury Town F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Billericay Town F.C. players Brimsdown F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Black British sportsmen