Steve Lovell

This article is about the English footballer. For the Welsh retired footballer, see Steve Lovell (Welsh footballer).

Steve Lovell
Personal information
Full name Stephen William Henry Lovell[1]
Date of birth (1980-12-06) 6 December 1980 (age 43)
Place of birth Amersham, England
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–1999 AFC Bournemouth 7 (0)
1999–2002 Portsmouth 32 (3)
2000 → Exeter City (loan) 5 (1)
2002 → Sheffield United (loan) 5 (1)
2002 → Queens Park Rangers (loan) 0 (0)
2002–2005 Dundee 82 (28)
2005–2008 Aberdeen 76 (20)
2008–2009 Falkirk 28 (8)
2009–2010 Partick Thistle 16 (3)
2010–2011 AFC Bournemouth 9 (1)
Total 261 (65)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Stephen William Henry Lovell (born 6 December 1980) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. Lovell played the majority of his career in the Scottish Premier League, representing Dundee, Aberdeen and Falkirk, but also played in England for AFC Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Exeter City, Sheffield United and Queens Park Rangers.

Career

Portsmouth

Lovell started his career in 1998 when he joined AFC Bournemouth, but then surprisingly signed for Portsmouth for £250,000[2] despite only making a few brief appearances. He then went on loan to Exeter City, Sheffield United (where he scored once against Watford)[3] and Queens Park Rangers.

Dundee

Lovell signed for Scottish Premier League club Dundee in the summer of 2002. He spent three seasons at Dens Park, scoring 35 goals in 98 competitive appearances.

Aberdeen

In the summer of 2005, following Dundee's relegation from the SPL, Lovell signed for Aberdeen. He made his Aberdeen début against Kilmarnock on 8 August and scored his first goal against Rangers the following week.[4] Lovell went on to score a further nine times that season. Lovell formed the habit of scoring late goals for Aberdeen, becoming something of a "supersub". These late goals included two in separate matches against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, which maintained Aberdeen's unbeaten record against that opponent. Lovell also scored a consolation goal in the second leg of Aberdeen's UEFA Cup match against Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena.

In April 2008, he was told by Jimmy Calderwood that he would not be offered a new contract by Aberdeen and would be free to leave in the summer. It was reported on 18 July that Hibernian, Kilmarnock and Falkirk were all interested in signing him.[5]

Falkirk

In August 2008, Lovell signed for Falkirk on a one-year deal with the option of a further one. He scored his first goal in a League Cup match against Queen of the South and netted his first league goal against Hamilton Academical the following Saturday. Despite a disappointing season for Falkirk in the league, Lovell ended up with a Scottish Cup runners-up medal, after playing the full match in the final against Rangers. In May 2009, it was reported that Lovell had undertaken a medical at Tannadice Park ahead of a proposed move to Dundee United,[6] although United manager Craig Levein later refuted the story and Lovell admitted he knew "absolutely nothing about it".[7] On 27 June 2009, he left Falkirk despite finishing the season as their top league goal scorer after new manager Eddie May refused to renew his contract.[8] Lovell attempted to sue the club the following year for compensation as he claimed he had been entitled to a contract extension.[9]

Partick Thistle

After leaving Falkirk, Lovell signed for Partick Thistle where he played seventeen games, scoring 3 goals, before leaving on 24 March 2010 to have surgery on a niggling ankle injury.[10]

AFC Bournemouth

In June 2010, Lovell joined his half-brother, Eddie Howe at Bournemouth, his second spell at the club. After spending a period of pre-season with the club in 2009 he finally signed following the lifting of the club's transfer embargo.[11] Lovell's contract came to an end after the 2010–11 campaign, but was offered a further year plus one-year option by Cherries boss, Lee Bradbury, and put pen to paper on 25 May 2011 keeping him at Bournemouth until at least May 2012. Lovell had struggled to overcome an ankle injury and only returned to the squad in April 2011 but showed enough quality to merit a new deal. On 1 September 2011, Lovell announced his retirement from professional football with immediate effect after struggling with injuries for the past two seasons.[12] Lovell scored four goals during his second spell at Bournemouth. His first goal came against Hartlepool in the league, a game in which Bournemouth confirmed their spot in the 2010–11 playoffs despite conceding an injury time goal scored by Hartlepool goalkeeper Scott Flinders.[13] However, his two goals against Huddersfield in the play off semi final second leg were unable to prevent them from losing on penalties.[14] At the start of the following season, Lovell scored a goal against West Bromwich Albion in the League Cup as they lost 4–1.[15] On 2 September 2011 Lovell retired from football because of injury. [16]

Personal life

In 2008, Lovell became engaged to Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald but the two separated four years later.[17][18]

He is the half brother of Newcastle United manager, Eddie Howe.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[19][20][21][22]

Club Seasons League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
AFC Bournemouth 1998-99 Second Division 7 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - 7 0
1999-00 1 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - 1 0
Total 8 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - 8 0
Portsmouth 1999-00 First Division 3 0 0 0 3 1 - - - - 6 1
2000-01 9 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - 9 1
2001-02 20 2 1 0 0 0 - - - - 21 2
2002-03 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - 0 0
Total 32 3 1 0 3 1 - - - - 36 4
Exeter City (loan) 1999-00 Third Division 5 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - 5 1
Sheffield United (loan) 2001-02 First Division 5 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - 5 1
Queens Park Rangers (loan) 2002-03 Second Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - 0 0
Dundee 2002-03 SPL 28 12 5 3 2 0 0 0 - - 35 15
2003-04 21 5 1 0 2 0 3 1 - - 27 6
2004-05 33 11 1 0 2 3 0 0 - - 36 14
Total 82 28 7 3 6 3 3 1 - - 98 35
Aberdeen 2005-06 SPL 27 8 1 0 1 1 0 0 - - 29 9
2006-07 27 9 2 0 0 0 0 0 - - 29 9
2007-08 22 3 3 1 0 0 5 1 - - 30 5
Total 76 20 6 1 1 1 5 1 - - 88 23
Falkirk 2008-09 SPL 28 8 3 1 2 1 0 0 - - 33 10
Partick Thistle 2009-10 Scottish First Division 16 3 1 0 0 0 - - - - 17 3
AFC Bournemouth 2010-11 League One 7 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - 7 1
2011-12 2 0 0 0 1 1 - - 1 0 4 1
Total 9 1 0 0 1 1 - - 1 0 11 2
Career total 261 65 18 5 13 7 8 2 1 0 301 79

References

  1. ^ "Steve Lovell". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  2. ^ Steve Lovell's career record, Soccerbase, 19 May 2009
  3. ^ "Watford 0–3 Sheff Utd". BBC Sport. 6 April 2002. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  4. ^ "Aberdeen 3–2 Rangers". BBC Sport. 14 August 2005.
  5. ^ Three SPL clubs pursuing Lovell, BBC Sport, 18 July 2008
  6. ^ "Daily Express: Scottish". Daily Express. UK. 4 May 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  7. ^ Peck, Julian (7 May 2009). "Hughes calls for united front". The Falkirk Herald. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  8. ^ "Lovell and Aafjes leave Falkirk" BBC Sport website (27 June 2009)
  9. ^ "Former player Steve Lovell sues Falkirk for failing to offer contract extension". Daily Record. UK. 29 April 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  10. ^ "Striker Steve Lovell makes Partick Thistle exit". BBC Sport. 26 March 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
  11. ^ "Three Signings for Cherries". AFC Bournemouth. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  12. ^ "Steve Lovell Announces Retirement". AFC Bournemouth. 1 September 2011. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  13. ^ "Hartlepool 2 - 2 Bournemouth". BBC. 30 April 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  14. ^ Ashdown, John (18 May 2011). "Huddersfield beat Bournemouth on penalties to reach League One play-off final". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  15. ^ "Bournemouth 1 - 4 West Brom". BBC. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  16. ^ "Cherries striker Lovell retires". 2 September 2011.
  17. ^ Dingwall, John. Exclusive: Scots star Amy Macdonald to marry footballer boyfriend Steve Lovell, Daily Record, 15 July 2008.
  18. ^ Crooks, Lauren. Amy Macdonald breaks up with footballer fiance Steve Lovell, Daily Record, 24 June 2012.
  19. ^ "Steve Lovell | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2002/2003 | 1998-2011 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  20. ^ "Steve Lovell | Player Statistics | Dundee (Dee Archive)". deearchive.co.uk. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  21. ^ "Aberdeen Football Club Heritage Trust - Player Profile". afcheritage.org. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  22. ^ "Steve Lovell - The Thistle Archive". www.thethistlearchive.net. Retrieved 21 April 2023.