Enda John Stevens (born 9 July 1990) is an Irish professional

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

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club Sheffield United and the Republic of Ireland national team. Stevens started his career at UCD. He has experience of football at a continental level, having played 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. ...

for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

Early life and career

Stevens was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, County Dublin. He played

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

for

St James Gaels St James Gaels or ''Gaeil Naomh Shéamais'' in Irish are a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Dublin, Ireland. St James Gaels GAA Club was formed in July 1994 as the result of the amalgamation of An Caisleán and Guinness GAA Clubs. Bo ...

before playing

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

professionally.

Club career

Early career

Following a spell in the

Cherry Orchard A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus '' Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. Th ...

youth team Stevens signed professionally with UCD but was released at the end of the 2009 season. He had trials with Nottingham Forest, Hull City, Stockport County and Yeovil Town. He was one of

Jeff Kenna Jeffrey Jude Kenna (born 27 August 1970) is an Irish football manager and former professional footballer. He played as a defender from 1989 until 2009, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City. He was ...

's first signings for St Patrick's Athletic. He plays as a centre back or as a left back. He made his professional debut in a 1–0 win over

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the c ...

at Turners Cross in March 2009. Stevens made a breakthrough into the first team where he made himself the first choice left back with performances in the league, FAI Cup, and Europa League qualifiers. He made six appearances in the

2009–10 UEFA Europa League The 2009–10 UEFA Europa League was the first season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The competition was previously known as the UEFA Cup, which had been in existence for 38 years. Sp ...

as Pats advanced through two rounds to the play-off round.

Shamrock Rovers

He signed for Shamrock Rovers in December 2009. Stevens made his Rovers League debut at home to Dundalk in

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium ( ga, Staid Thamhlachta) is an association football stadium in the Republic of Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of the stadium in July, 1996. The stadium is now ow ...

on 21 March 2010 He capped off his first League of Ireland season with Rovers by winning his first title as Shamrock Rovers won the league title on the final day of the season. In 2011, he won the All Ireland Setanta Cup with Rovers. He won the league title again in 2011. He competed in the

2011–12 UEFA Europa League The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with ...

with Rovers, the club's first ever appearance in the competition. Over the course of two seasons, Stevens made 15 appearances for Rovers in European competition. He capped off a memorable year by winning the PFAI Young Player of the Year award

Aston Villa

On 31 August 2011, it was announced by

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

manager

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps f ...

that Stevens would sign a three-year contract with the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club, effective from January 2012. The agreement allowed Stevens to remain at Rovers until January 2012 to support them in their maiden

campaign. Following Shamrock Rovers' exit from European competition, Aston Villa officially announced the signing of Stevens on 3 January 2012. Stevens spent most of his first months at ''Villa'' playing for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

. He then made his first start for the first team in a 2–1 pre-season victory over

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home gro ...

, on 14 July 2012. He made his full debut for the team, starting in ''Villa's'' 3–0 win against Tranmere Rovers in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

second round and also came off the bench in the fourth round win over

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

.
On 3 November 2012, Stevens made his first league appearance for Villa in a 1–0 win against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, coming on as a substitute for Eric Lichaj. Stevens made his full league debut for Villa in the next match, starting against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

on 10 November 2012, due to an injury to Joe Bennett and the suspension of Lichaj. In the next game, only Stevens' third league appearance for the club, the Villa defence conceded five goals as they were beaten 5–0 by champions

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

Loans

Stevens made his debut for the club in a

tie against

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, on 27 August 2013. Stevens returned to Aston Villa after a month's loan, having made four appearances in all competitions for

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 ...

. Stevens signed on a one-month loan deal with

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at T ...

on 28 November 2013. He then signed a one-month loan deal with Northampton Town on 10 October 2014. Stevens was again loaned to Doncaster on a one-month loan on 6 November 2014.

Portsmouth

On 15 June 2015, Stevens signed a two-year deal with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

. He scored his first goal for Portsmouth in a 3–2 win against Newport County on 26 December 2016. In his first season at Portsmouth, Stevens quickly established himself as a key member of one of the division's tightest defences, racking up 53 appearances in the process, as Portsmouth finished sixth in manager Paul Cook's first season in charge. As he approached the end of a second season as Portsmouth's first-choice left back, on 9 April 2017, Stevens was named in the Team of the Season at the EFL Awards. This was a season in which he notched in with one goal and a very notable seven assists which contributed to Portsmouth's promotion to League One.

Sheffield United

Stevens joined Sheffield United in May 2017. On 28 April 2019 Stevens gained promotion with United to the

. In March 2020, Stevens signed a contract extension that see him remain at Sheffield United until 2023. He was joint-highest assist provider for Sheffield United in the 2019/20 season along with Lys Mousset on 4 assists.

International career

Stevens made his Republic of Ireland U21 debut in a friendly in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

in February 2011.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Shamrock Rovers *

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, 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 ...

: 2011 Portsmouth *

EFL 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 L ...

: 2016–17 Sheffield United *

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

runner-up: 2018–19 Individual * PFAI Young Player of the Year: 2011 * EFL Team of the Season: 2016–17 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...

: 2016–17 League Two

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Enda 1990 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers Association football defenders University College Dublin A.F.C. players Cherry Orchard F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players League of Ireland players Premier League players English Football League players Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers Expatriate footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Gaelic footballers who switched code