Steve Simonsen

Personal information
Full name	Steven Simonsen
Date of birth	3 April 1979 (1979-04-03) (age 30)
Place of birth	South Shields, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Stoke City
Number	1
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1996–1998	Tranmere Rovers	35	(0)
1998–2004	Everton	30	(0)
2004–	Stoke City	165	(0)
National team‡
1999	England U21	4	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:18, 12 September 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:16, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Steven "Steve" Simonsen (born 3 April 1979) is an English professional football goalkeeper currently playing for Stoke City. He was born in South Shields, Tyne and Wear.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Tranmere Rovers 1.2 Everton 1.3 Stoke City 2 International career 3 Personal life 4 Career statistics 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Tranmere Rovers

Simonsen grew up a supporter of Sunderland and started his career at Tranmere Rovers in August 1996 as a trainee. By November 1996 Simonsen had already made his League debut for the club, against the club he would later sign for, Stoke City.

[edit] Everton

After just 42 league and cup appearances for their first team, he was bought by Everton for a record breaking £3.3 million in September 1998 (both clubs were under control of Peter Johnson at the time). At this point Simonsen was considered one of the most promising young goalkeepers in the country.

However, Simonsen struggled to make it into the Everton first team on a regular basis and in his five seasons at Everton, he was in the starting line-up just 35 times with another two substitute appearances. His Everton debut did not come until the 1999–00 season, a League Cup tie against Oxford United where he made a less than impressive debut. Simonsen only featured again in the Everton side once during the 1999–00 campaign. In July 2001 Simonsen was also rumoured to be involved in a transfer to Wigan Athletic, however the deal fell through.^[1]

Simonsen did not get a chance to prove himself again until the 2001–02 season, when he made 25 League starts for Everton and became a regular starter. However the appointment of manager David Moyes meant that Simonsen rarely got a chance to play for Everton again, making only three league starts during his last two seasons. Simonsen later rejected a one-year contract extension and was thus released by the club in May 2004.

[edit] Stoke City

Simonsen signed for Stoke City in July 2004 on a free transfer and was the club's ever present first choice goalkeeper since, having made over 150 league appearances for the Potters. Simonsen was named as Stoke City player's player of the season in 2004–05 season and was rewarded with a new three-year contract until July 2008.

In the 2006–07 season, Steve Simonsen became the record holder for most consecutive clean sheets at Stoke City (seven); these clean sheets consisted of four home matches and three away matches. The home matches were against: Coventry City, West Bromwich Albion, Cardiff City and Queen Park Rangers. The three away matches were against: Crystal Palace, Hull City and Coventry City again. Simonsen also achieved the same feat during his time at Tranmere Rovers.

Simonsen signed a new contract with Stoke on 31 July 2007, which will keep him at the club until June 2010.^[2] On the opening day of the 2007–08 season, Simonsen helped Stoke to a 1–0 win over Cardiff City with a string of saves, including a penalty save from Steven MacLean.^[3] Simonsen played an important part in Stoke's promotion to the Premier League, however he lost his place to new signing, Dane Thomas Sørensen at the start of the 2008–09 season. Simonsen played second role to Sorensen throughout the season playing only when he was injured which amounted to just five appearances. These matches were against Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Arsenal. The 2009-10 season started in the same manner for Simonsen however with a injury to Sorensen at home to Chelsea, Simonsen made his first appearance of the season. His next start for Stoke came at White Hart Lane as Sorensen failed to overcome a virus. Simonsen produced a man of the match performance and helped Stoke to a 1-0 win over Tottenham.^[4]

[edit] International career

Simonsen has appeared for the England Under 21s, winning 4 caps. He was once dubbed as a future England number 1.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Personal life

Simonsen is the son of a Danish seaman.^[5] Steve is a keen student of the political world and Jimmy Saville 'fixed it' for Steve to meet his hero Michael Heseltine in April 1986.

[edit] Career statistics

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Tranmere Rovers	1997–98	30	0	3	0	-		-		-		33	0
	1998–99	5	0	-		4	0	-		-		9	0
Everton	1999–00	1	0	2	0	-		-		-		3	0
	2000–01	1	0	-		-		-		-		1	0
	2001–02	25	0	5	0	-		-		-		30	0
	2002–03	2	0	-		-		-		-		2	0
	2003–04	1	0	-		-		-		-		1	0
Stoke City	2004–05	31	0	1	0	1	0	-		-		33	0
	2005–06	45	0	4	0	1	0	-		-		50	0
	2006–07	46	0	2	0	1	0	-		-		49	0
	2007–08	36	0	-		2	0	-		-		38	0
	2008–09	5	0	1	0	4	0	-		-		10	0
	2009–10	2	0	0	0	3	0	-		-		5	0
Career total		230	0	18	0	15	0	0	0	0	0	264	0

^[6]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Steve Simonsen player profile at stokecityfc.com
• Steve Simonsen career stats at Soccerbase

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