Adam Stansfield

Football player infobox
playername = Adam Stansfield


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1978|10|9
cityofbirth = Tiverton
countryofbirth = England
height = height|ft=5|in=11
nickname = Lisa
currentclub = Exeter City
clubnumber = 9
position = Striker
years = 1998–2000
2000–2001
2006–present

clubs = Yeovil Town
Hereford United
Exeter City
caps(goals) = 058 0(24)
037 0(25)
082 0(20)
pcupdate = April 30, 2007
ntupdate =

Adam Stansfield (born 9 October, 1978 in Tiverton) is an English footballer who plays as a centre-forward for Football League Two side Exeter City.

Career

His senior football career began with local non-league side Cullompton Rangers under former Exeter City forward Ray Pratt. He later moved to Elmore, where his prolific goalscoring first attracted the interest of Exeter City. He was strongly linked with a move to St. James Park in the late 1990s, and had a trial with the club, but a move not materialise, and he returned to Elmore.

He also caught the attention of Torquay United, whose then manager Wes Saunders offered him a 2-week trial in the 2000 close season. He played in the friendly against Portsmouth on 18 July, and against Millbrook on 24 July, but was released at the end of his trial. He returned to Elmore, continuing to work as a circuit board inspector, and continued to score regularly for them. In October 2001, Stansfield played for Elmore against Yeovil Town Reserves and impressed watching Yeovil manager Gary Johnson so much that he signed a professional contract with Yeovil the following month and soon after made his conference debut for Yeovil in a 3–0 defeat away to Southport.

His first season at Huish Park was a success, finishing as the top scorer with 15 goals, 3 of which came in the club's victorious FA Trophy run. He scored in the final of that competition at Villa Park, and was so overcome with excitement that he swore on live TV in a post-match interview.

He suffered an injury just 17 minutes into the first game of the following season, causing him to miss the entire season and watch from the sidelines as Yeovil won the Conference championship and promotion to the Football League. He recovered to feature in the club's first ever Football League campaign, making his league debut on 16 August, 2003 coming on as late substitute for Kirk Jackson in a 3–0 win at home to Carlisle United, but was largely used as a squad player, with most of his appearances coming from the bench.

In June 2004, he left, joining conference side Hereford United. His first season at Hereford was hugely successful, with 20 goals scored, but unfortunately the season ended in disappointment as the club lost against Stevenage Borough in the playoff semi-finals. The next season was less successful for Stansfield, who didn't get on the scoresheet until December, by which time he had lost his first-team place, which he was unable to recover. The season ended in promotion to the Football League for Hereford, via the playoffs, and Stansfield actually started the final against Halifax Town.

In June 2006, he decided to remain in the Conference, joining Exeter City. He scored nine league goals in his first season at Exeter, including two on the final day to secure the club's qualification for the playoffs.

Honours

* FA Trophy: 2002
* Nationwide Conference: Playoffs 2006, 2008

Career statistics

"(correct as of 25 June, 2006)"

Trivia

Whenever a goal by Stansfield comes through on Soccer Saturday, presenter Jeff Stelling usually jokes that "His sister Lisa will be happy", referring to the singer Lisa Stansfield — who is not really his sister.

External links

* [http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=29089 Adam Stansfield] at Soccerbase