Steven Brian Stone (born 20 August 1971) is an English professional football coach and former player. He is currently first team coach at Premier League club Nottingham Forest.
As a player, he was a right midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Portsmouth. Whilst with Forest he won the First Division title and played in the UEFA Cup. He also played in the 2000 FA Cup final for Villa. He finished his career with a brief spell in the Football League with Leeds United. He was capped nine times by England, scoring twice. He was part of England's Euro 96 team and made three appearances during the tournament.
Following retirement, Stone moved into coaching and worked for Newcastle United from July 2010 to June 2015 in a variety of different roles for both the first and reserve team. He was head coach of Burnley's under-23 team between 2018 and 2022.
Club career Stone was born in Gateshead. He began his career at Nottingham Forest.
The 27-year-old moved to Aston Villa for £5.5 million in March 1999. He was transferred to Portsmouth for the 2002–03 season. In June 2005, he signed a two-year deal with Leeds United.
Stone's career at Leeds was short-lived. He was injured in training as soon as he joined the club, and it took him most of his first season to recover from the tendinitis in his Achilles tendon due to contracting MRSA after the operation and then requiring a further two operations for the MRSA. Stone played a few matches at the end of the 2005–06 campaign, and continued to play at the start of the 2006–07 campaign, scoring once against West Brom. Injuries, however, struck again, and Stone retired early on 15 December 2006.
International career Stone was capped nine times at senior level for England. He made his debut in October 1995, coming on as a substitute in a 0–0 draw against Norway. Four days later, again coming off the bench, Stone scored his first international goal in a 3–1 win over Switzerland at Wembley Stadium. He also scored in his next game, which was his first start, as England drew 1–1 with Portugal.
Stone was capped three more times in the build-up to UEFA Euro 1996, where he was selected by manager Terry Venables as part of the 22-man England squad. He made three appearances during the competition, all off the bench. Stone's introduction during extra-time of the quarter-final versus Spain was his last appearance for England.
Coaching career On 27 July 2010, he was appointed reserve team assistant manager to Peter Beardsley at Newcastle United after a successful time working at their academy. Stone was promoted to first team coach on 14 December 2010, by new manager Alan Pardew.
Stone remained as first team coach after Pardew resigned to join Crystal Palace, with John Carver put in charge of Newcastle until the end of the season. On 9 June 2015, both he and Carver had their contracts terminated by Newcastle ahead of the announcement of Steve McClaren as new head coach.
On 12 November 2018, he replaced Michael Duff as the new U23 manager of Burnley.
Stone was dismissed on 15 April 2022, alongside first team manager Sean Dyche and fellow coach and former Forest teammate Ian Woan. Stone followed Dyche to Everton in January 2023 where he worked until his dismissal in January 2025. Stone followed Dyche once again to Nottingham Forest in October 2025.
Personal life Stone featured in the music video to the football song Three Lions, where he dances with the trophy mimicking Nobby Stiles at the 1966 FIFA World Cup final.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsNottingham Forest 1991–92First Division100000—00101992–93Premier League1210010——1311993–94First Division4552050—205451994–95Premier League4152040——4751995–96Premier League347602082—5091996–97Premier League500000——501997–98First Division2920000——2921998–99Premier League2631032——305Total19323110152822022927Aston Villa 1998–99Premier League100————1001999–2000Premier League2416161——3632000–01Premier League342311040—4232001–02Premier League221101080—3212002–03Premier League00—0020—20Total90410281140—1227Portsmouth2002–03First Division18411———1952003–04Premier League3221030——3622004–05Premier League2331010——253Total7393140——8010Leeds United2005–06Championship200000—20402006–07Championship101—10——111Total1210010—20151Career total368372432832224044645
International Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Stone goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Steve StoneNo.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition115 November 1995Wembley Stadium, London, England23–13–1Friendly212 December 1995Wembley Stadium, London, England31–01–1Friendly
Honours Nottingham Forest Football League First Division: 1997–98
Aston Villa UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2001 FA Cup runner-up: 1999–2000
Portsmouth Football League First Division: 2002–03
Individual PFA Team of the Year: 1995–96 Premier League
References
External links
England National Team Statistics