Jon Stead

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Jonathan Graeme "Jon" Stead (born April 7, 1983 in Huddersfield, England) is an English association football player who currently plays for Ipswich Town F.C. as a striker.

Education

Raised in Honley, Jon Stead attended Honley High School, Huddersfield.

Club career

Huddersfield Town

Stead made his league debut for Huddersfield Town F.C., as a nineteen-year-old against Brentford F.C..

He scored four goals in three games at the start of the 2003-04 in English football, igniting interest from big clubs. Stead was lucky enough to pick up a Playoffs Winners Medal with Huddersfield Town while he was playing for Blackburn Rovers. He appeared on the pitch celebrating his hometown club's win.

Blackburn Rovers

In February 2004, he moved to Blackburn Rovers F.C. marking his debut by scoring the only goal in a match against Middlesbrough F.C.. He went on to score six goals, including vital winners against Fulham, Manchester United and Everton as Blackburn succesfully avoided relegation from the Premiership.

However, the goals for Blackburn dried up the following season and with manager Mark Hughes signing additional forwards including Wales national football team Craig Bellamy, Stead was transferred on June 13, 2005-06 in English football to Sunderland in a deal worth £1.8 million.

Sunderland

During his time at Sunderland A.F.C. Stead scored only two goals, the first of which was on April 1, 2006 against Everton F.C. at Goodison Park in a 2-2 draw, breaking his duck of 11 months without a goal. He scored his second Sunderland goal in the 3-1 defeat to Southend United F.C. at Roots Hall on August 19 2006.

On October 13, 2006, he completed a loan move to Derby County F.C. and after failing to find the back of the net in his first 6 games, he finally broke his Derby duck with the first goal in a 2-1 win away at Coventry City F.C. on November 11. He followed that goal with the opener in a 2-0 win at Luton Town F.C. to make it two in eight appearances and then again went on to bag Derby's first in the 1-0 home win against Leicester City F.C.. He was nominated for Powerade Player of the Month as a result of his form at Derby in November.

Sheffield United

Stead was signed by Sheffield United F.C. from Sunderland for a fee of £750,000, potentially rising to £1.2 million, on a three-and-a-half year deal on January 11 2007.

On January 13 2007, Stead played his first Premier League game with Sheffield against Portsmouth F.C. and scored his first goal for the Blades a few weeks later, in his third game, against Fulham F.C.. He would go on to score again for the Blades in the next match against his former club Blackburn Rovers F.C. where Stead's muted celebration further endeared him to the Rovers fans, who remained grateful for the considerable contribution he had made during the relegation scrap in 2004.

He scored five goals in total that season, the final of which came on the last day of the season against Wigan Athletic F.C. on May 12, but his goal wasn't enough to prevent United from being relegated.

Stead found first team starts harder to come by the following season as he fell behind James Beattie and Billy Sharp in the pecking order but still managed to make over thirty appearances and score six goals. During the subsequent transfer window Stead signed on loan for Football League Championship rivals Ipswich Town F.C. with a view to a permanent move.

Ipswich Town

Stead made his move to Ipswich permanent on 15 September, 2008 after playing just one game on loan for a fee believed to be around £600,000. In that loan game he scored a 20-yard goal, which he described as "the best goal of his career to date".