Stephen Simmons (footballer)

Stephen Simmons (born 27 February 1982) is a Scottish professional footballer.

Stephen Simmons
Personal information
Full name Stephen Simmons
Date of birth (1982-02-27) 27 February 1982
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Celtic Boys Club
1998–2001 Heart of Midlothian
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2006 Heart of Midlothian 89 (8)
2001 → Cowdenbeath (loan) 2 (0)
2006–2008 Dunfermline Athletic 59 (5)
2008 Queen of the South 9 (0)
2008–2011 Raith Rovers 60 (3)
2011–2012 Queen of the South 29 (2)
2012–2016 Alloa Athletic 81 (6)
International career
2002 Scotland U21[1] 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 02:27, 4 February 2015 (UTC)

Career

Simmons started his senior career with Heart of Midlothian in 1998, having previously been attached to Celtic through their Boys Club system. He made his senior debut 2 years later as a substitute in a 3–1 defeat of Dundee United on 23 December 2000 and, after a further two substitute appearances, was loaned to Cowdenbeath in March to further aid his development. In 2001–02 Simmons blossomed into a first team regular. He scored his first senior goal against Rangers in September to earn Hearts a 2–2 draw[2] and netted a further 4 times during a season in which he also earned Scotland U21 recognition. He was unable to maintain this level of form in the following years, however, and with the likes of Paul Hartley, Scott Severin and Phil Stamp preferred in central midfield, for the next 3 seasons he assumed the role of perpetual substitute, 41 of his 64 appearances coming from the bench.

In January 2006, with Hearts, acquiring further competition for his favoured central midfield role allowed Simmons to leave Tynecastle, signing for Dunfermline on an initial 6-month deal.[3] Due to an earlier cup appearance with Hearts, he was ineligible to appear in Dunfermline's League Cup campaign that season, in which they lost 3–0 to Celtic in the final. However, his league performances were enough to ensure he earned a new, extended contract in the summer. He signed this contract on the same day as he was married in May 2006 with then Pars manager Jim Leishman attending the wedding ceremony to complete the deal.[4] In April 2008, Dunfermline manager Jim McIntyre announced that Simmons had been offered a new contract but had decided to leave the Scottish First Division side to "pursue other avenues".[5][6] In May 2008, Simmons was linked with Scottish First Division side Dundee[7][8] and in July 2008 it was announced he was on trial with League Two side Morecambe.[9]

Simmons eventually signed a short-term deal with Scottish First Division side Queen of the South in September 2008.[10]

He played as a trialist for Raith Rovers in their Scottish Second Division league game against Peterhead in August 2008 and he made a second trialist appearance for Raith Rovers on Saturday 18 January 2009 at home to Stranraer. On 23 January 2009 he signed. He scored in Raith Rovers' Scottish Cup Quarter-final win over Dundee in 2010.

On 17 June 2011 Simmons rejoined Queen of the South.[11] His second spell at QoS debut was on 23 July 2011 the extra time 2–0 defeat away at Ayr United in the 2011-12 Scottish Challenge Cup. For this game he was given the captain's armband.[12] He scored his first ever QoS goal on Saturday 3 December 2011 in the 4–1 home win against Ayr United.[13] Simmons signed for Alloa Athletic on 26 June 2012, where he linked up with his former Hearts teammate Paul Hartley.[14]

Honours
Raith Rovers
2008–09

See also

References
  1. "Scotland U21 Player Stephen Simmons Details".
  2. Gers Held at Tynecastle, BBC Sport, 8 September 2001.
  3. Dunfermline sign quartet, Scotsman.com Sport, 28 January 2006.
  4. Simmons hitches to bride and Pars, BBC Sport, 19 May 2006.
  5. "Manager on Friday". dafc.co.uk. 19 April 2008. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008.
  6. "Burchill, Simmons to leave Pars". BBC Sport. 20 April 2008.
  7. "Soccer Shorts – Rae Target". dailyrecord.co.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2008.
  8. "Dundee will 'probably' lose McDonald". The Courier. Archived from the original on 1 June 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2008.
  9. "Summer signings set to miss out". The Courier. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  10. "Simmons joins Queen of the South". BBC Sport. 5 September 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
  11. "Another signing". Queen of the South FC. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  12. "Ayr United 2 – 0 Queen of the South" 23 Jul 2011 www.qosfc.com Archived 3 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  13. "HAPPY TO BE BACK" www.qosfc.com 4 Dec 2011
  14. "Scottish Division Two ins and outs". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
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