Bert Stephens
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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Herbert James Stephens[1] | ||
Date of birth | 13 May 1909 | ||
Place of birth | Chatham, England | ||
Date of death | September 1987 (aged 78) | ||
Place of death | Thanet, England | ||
Height | Script error: No such module "person height". | ||
Position(s) | Outside forward | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
Ealing Association | |||
1931–1935 | Brentford | 6 | (1) |
1935–1948 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 183 | (87) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Herbert James "Bert" Stephens (13 May 1909 – September 1987) was an English professional football outside forward, best remembered for his time in the Football League with Brighton & Hove Albion. At the time of his retirement in 1948, Stephens was Brighton's second-highest goalscorer.[1]
Career
Brentford
An outside forward, Stephens began his career at amateur club Ealing Association and joined Division Three South side Brentford in 1931.[1] He made his professional debut in a 2-1 defeat to Watford on 16 April 1932.[3] He made one further appearance before the end of the 1931/32 season and spent much of his time in the reserve team, free-scoring and winning the London Combination with the side.[3][4] With Bill Lane and Jack Holliday ahead of him in the pecking order, Stephens had to wait nearly a year for his next first team appearance,[1] but had a happy return, scoring his first professional goal in a 2-2 draw with Norwich City on 15 April 1933.[5] With the Division Three South title safe, Stephens made three further appearances before the end of the 1932/33 season.[6] That season, he won another London Combination title with the reserve team.[4] Thereafter, Stephens was confined to the reserves, but had further joy, winning the 1934/35 London Challenge Cup with the side and scoring in the final versus Millwall.[1] He departed Griffin Park in the summer of 1935, having made just six appearances in four years.[7]
Brighton & Hove Albion
Stephens joined Division Three South side Brighton & Hove Albion in 1935.[8] He hit the ground running on the south coast and was Brighton's top scorer in the 1936–37 season with 26 goals in all competitions and again in 1938–39, notching 17 goals.[9] After competitive football was suspended in 1939 due to the outbreak of the Second World War, Stephens remained with the Gulls. Stephens retired in 1948, having scored 87 goals in 183 league games and at the time was Brighton's second-highest goalscorer.[1] Including his tally in wartime matches, Stephens scored 174 goals for the Gulls.[10]
Personal life
A Kent native, Stephens was born in Chatham and died in Thanet.[2][8]
Honours
- London Combination (1): 1931/32, 1932/33[4]
- London Challenge Cup (1): 1934/35[4]
References
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- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Carder & Harris, Albion A–Z, p. 338.
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- Pages using infobox football biography with height issues
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1909 births
- 1987 deaths
- Sportspeople from Chatham, Kent
- English footballers
- Association football forwards
- Brentford F.C. players
- Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players
- The Football League players
- English football forward, 1900s birth stubs