Anthony Stokes (footballer)
Stokes before a Republic of Ireland game in 2013
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anthony Stokes | ||
| Date of birth | 25 July 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
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Current team
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Blackburn Rovers | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2002–2003 | Shelbourne | ||
| 2003–2005 | Arsenal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2007 | Arsenal | 0 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | → Falkirk (loan) | 16 | (14) |
| 2007–2009 | Sunderland | 36 | (3) |
| 2008–2009 | → Sheffield United (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 2009 | → Crystal Palace (loan) | 13 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | Hibernian | 40 | (22) |
| 2010–2016 | Celtic | 135 | (58) |
| 2016 | → Hibernian (loan) | 14 | (5) |
| 2016– | Blackburn Rovers | 7 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2006–2010 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 10 | (4) |
| 2008 | Republic of Ireland B | 1 | (0) |
| 2007– | Republic of Ireland | 9 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 February 2017. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20 November 2014 |
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Anthony Stokes (born 25 July 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship side Blackburn Rovers.
Stokes began his senior career with Arsenal, but established himself with a successful loan spell with Falkirk in 2006, scoring 14 goals in 16 SPL games. Stokes then signed for Sunderland in a £2 million deal, but he struggled to hold down a place in the Sunderland first team.
He moved back to Scottish football when Hibernian signed him for £500,000 in August 2009. He again enjoyed success in the SPL, scoring over 20 goals in his only full season with Hibs. Stokes moved to boyhood heroes Celtic shortly after the start of the following season, for a fee of around £1.2 million. Stokes played regularly for Celtic under the management of Neil Lennon and enjoyed success, but fell out of favour under Ronny Deila. He was loaned to Hibernian for the latter part of the 2015–16 season, who he helped win the 2015–16 Scottish Cup.
Stokes was born Anthony Byrne, but was adopted by his aunt and uncle Joan and John Stokes at 18-months old. His adoptive parents paid for him to attend Terenure College, a private school.
Stokes played for Kilnamanagh, Esker Celtic, Cherry Orchard and Shelbourne youth teams, before signing for Arsenal.
Stokes broke into the Arsenal reserve team at only 15 years old. He made his first-team debut as a substitute in Arsenal's League Cup tie against Sunderland on 25 October 2005, coming on for Arturo Lupoli in the 88th minute of a 3–0 win. He trained with Sunderland with a view to a loan move in July 2006, but Sunderland manager Niall Quinn decided against it due to Sunderland's large squad depth and lack of a reserve team.
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