Joseph Eric Stephenson (17 September 1914 – 8 September 1944) was an English

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 lea ...

who played as an

inside left In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

at both professional and international levels.

Career

Born in

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in southeast London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley. It had a population of approximately 15,600 in 2021 and is southeast of Charing Cross. It is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in London ...

, he attended

Tom Hood School Buxton School (formerly Cann Hall Primary School and Tom Hood School) is a mixed all-through school located in Leytonstone, London, England. The school was formed on 1 January 2010 from an amalgamation of Cann Hall Primary School and Tom H ...

Leytonstone Leytonstone ( ) is an area in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, Stratford to the south-west, Leyton to the west, and Walthamstow to the nor ...

, from where in 1930 he represented London Schoolboys in their annual match against Glasgow Schoolboys at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

. Stephenson signed for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in 1933, turned professional in 1934, and made his first-team debut in 1935. Stephenson also earned two international caps for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1938.

War service

He left Leeds in 1941 to serve in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. On 4 April 1942, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. He would go on to become a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the Gurkha Rifles. He died in active service in

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

in September 1944 and is buried at Taukkyan War Cemetery,

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. His younger brother Ernest had died in action August 1943, at the age of 27. Stained glass memorial window

A memorial stained glass window can be found in Lidgett Park Methodist Church in

Roundhay Roundhay is a large suburb in north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Roundhay had a population of 22,546 in 2011. It sits in the Roundhay (ward), Roundhay electoral, ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds North East (UK Parliament constituen ...

, which he attended. It was produced by Clockie of Belfast and installed in 1948.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Eric 1914 births 1944 deaths English men's footballers England men's international footballers Leeds United F.C. players English Football League players Indian Army personnel killed in World War II Royal Gurkha Rifles officers Footballers from the London Borough of Bexley People from Bexleyheath Men's association football inside forwards 20th-century English sportsmen