Alan Stubbs

Alan Stubbs (born October 6, 1971 in Kirkby) is an England football (soccer) who currently plays for Everton F.C.. He is an experienced central defender.

Career

Club

His started his career at Bolton Wanderers F.C., making almost 200 appearances. He captained Bolton in their 1995 League Cup Final defeat against Liverpool F.C] at Wembley Stadium (1923). His second trip to the twin towers that year was more memorable as he guided the Wanderers to a thrilling 4-3 win over Reading F.C] in the Divisional Play Offs. He left the club after moving to Celtic F.C. in May 1996. He won several medals with Celtic including the The Treble and twice overcame testicular cancer.

He joined Everton F.C. in July 2001. On his arrival at Goodison Park, Stubbs stated it had always been his dream to play for the club. Stubbs confirmed at the time part of his motive for moving to Everton was that he wanted to return home to his native Merseyside with his wife Mandy.

Alan quickly became a regular member of the team and excelled during his first season. Stubbs continued to be a consistent performer in the heart of the Toffees defence during the 2002-03 in English football and 2003-04 in English football seasons.

The 2004-05 in English football season was another successful campaign for Stubbs. Although a shoulder injury kept him out in April, he made 36 appearances and even rose from defence to score - in a 2-1 win against Portsmouth F.C.. He was set to continue as a vital part of the squad in 2005-06 in English football, but refused to sign a new contract as the club were willing to offer him only a one-year deal, and later revelations suggested a "cancer clause" in the contract that Stubbs was unhappy with. He signed for Sunderland A.F.C on the 2nd
August, 2005.

Generally, Stubbs' time with Sunderland A.F.C. was an unhappy one. Despite a promising start, Stubbs form dipped, and he often found himself out of the team. In the weeks leading up to the January transfer window, Stubbs was constantly linked with a move back to Everton F.C., and was spotted by the Sky Sports cameras at Goodison Park when Sunderland A.F.C. weren't playing. This led to a fierce denial from Stubbs, claiming he was only at Goodison Park because his daughter was an Everton F.C. fan. However, Stubbs' final appearance at the Stadium of Light was to be the 3-0 victory over Northwich Victoria in the FA Cup, and Stubbs returned to Everton F.C. shortly after. Upon re-signing, Stubbs claimed his time spent at Sunderland A.F.C. was like "being injured for 6 months", and said the cancer clause incident was an "unfortunate mistake." He later went on to say his denial over the transfer was a lie, and that he had cheered when new team-mate Tim Cahill scored a last minute winner for Everton F.C. against Sunderland A.F.C. on New Year's Eve - whilst Stubbs was still a Sunderland A.F.C. player. This left him very unpopular with the Sunderland A.F.C. faithful, who booed his every touch during the 2-2 draw with Everton F.C. on April 1 2006.

Stubbs accepted a new one year deal during the summer, his new contract runs out at the end of the 2006/07 season. Despite the arrival of Joleon Lescott that summer - Stubbs maintained his place in starting line up and proved to be a pivotal figure behind Everton's push for a UEFA Cup place.

International

He won an England B national football team cap on 10 May 1994 in a match against Northern Ireland 'B' at Hillsborough.

Career Summary

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