Kenneth John Stephens (born 14 November 1946) is a former 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 lea ...

, who played in 314

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

games for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

, and

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

Career

Stephens began playing for Speedwell School in his home town of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, before going on to play in the Bristol Downs League as a teenager. He joined West Brom as an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...

in 1962, before turning professional with them in 1964. He went on to play 22 League games for ''The Baggies'', scoring twice. After playing seven games for

, who he joined in 1968, he retired from football to become a

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in the West Midlands, but was tempted out of retirement to join his home town club

in 1970. He went on to play in 225 League games for Rovers and scored eleven goals in a seven-year spell with the club. He ended his League career with

, for whom he made 60 appearances between 1977 and 1980, then made 35 appearances for Gloucester City in the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

before dropping down to

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

to join Hanham Athletic in 1982. He later managed Hanham and also went on to become their chairman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Kenny 1946 births Living people Footballers from Bristol English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders English Football League players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Gloucester City A.F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players English football chairmen and investors