| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Earl Mark Sean Stein[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1966-01-29)29 January 1966 (age 59)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Cape Town, South Africa[1] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1984–1988 | Luton Town | 54 | (19) |
| 1986 | →Aldershot (loan) | 2 | (1) |
| 1988–1989 | Queens Park Rangers | 33 | (4) |
| 1989–1991 | Oxford United | 82 | (18) |
| 1991 | →Stoke City (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 1991–1993 | Stoke City | 89 | (50) |
| 1993–1998 | Chelsea | 50 | (21) |
| 1996–1997 | →Stoke City (loan) | 11 | (4) |
| 1997 | →Ipswich Town (loan) | 7 | (2) |
| 1998 | →AFC Bournemouth (loan) | 11 | (4) |
| 1998–2000 | AFC Bournemouth | 79 | (26) |
| 2000–2001 | Luton Town | 30 | (3) |
| 2001–2003 | Dagenham & Redbridge | 73 | (48) |
| 2004 | Waltham Forest | 7 | (3) |
| Total | 533 | (203) | |
| International career | |||
| 1983 | England Youth | 1 | (0) |
| 1985 | England U20 | 2 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Earl Mark Sean Stein (born 29 January 1966) is a South African-born English former professionalfootballer and physiotherapist.
As a player, he was astriker from 1984 until 2004, notably in thePremier League forChelsea and theFootball League forLuton Town,Aldershot,Queens Park Rangers,Oxford United,Stoke City,Ipswich Town andAFC Bournemouth before finishing his career in Non-league withDagenham & Redbridge andWaltham Forest.[1]
Following his retirement, Stein became a sports physiotherapist and has held the role of first team physio atBarnet,Crawley Town andRotherham United.
Stein was born inCape Town and moved with his family to London in the 1970s. Both his brothersBrian andEdwin plus Mark decided to become professional footballers, with Mark joiningLuton Town in 1983. He turned professional in January 1984 and earned three caps with theEngland under-19 team but he was unable to live up to the heights expected of him atKenilworth Road and had a short loan spell atAldershot. In1987–88, he helped Luton win their first – and only to date – major trophy as they achieved a shock 3–2 overArsenal in theFootball League Cup final, with Stein coming on as a substitute in the final.
In June 1988 he moved on toQueens Park Rangers where he spent the1988–89 season scoring seven goals in 42 appearances.[1] He signed forOxford United in September 1989 after failing out of favour atLoftus Road. After two seasons with Oxford Stein found himself out of the side and playing in the reserves.[1] He joinedStoke City on loan in September 1991 and played five matches without scoring.[1] But he impressed managerLou Macari with his contribution so much that he persuaded the board to pay £100,000 for his services.[1] It proved to be a sound piece of business as Stein went on a fine run, scoring 22 goals in1991–92 helping Stoke reach the play-offs where they lost toStockport County although they did beat County in the1992 Football League Trophy final with Stein scoring the game's only goal. Stoke fans named Stein "The Golden One" and he went on to top-score in1992–93 as Stoke won the Second Division title, with Stein scoring 33 goals in 57 matches. In1993–94 Stein hit the headlines after scoring twice pastManchester United in the League Cup. After Macari moved toCeltic Stein also left theVictoria Ground moving toPremier LeagueChelsea for a fee of £1.5 million.[1]
Whilst at Chelsea, Stein set a Premier League record by scoring in seven consecutive matches from December 1993 to February 1994. The record stood until 2002, whenRuud van Nistelrooy surpassed it.[2] Stein also played in the1994 FA Cup final and, in total, he scored 25 goals in 63 games for the West London club, but by the1996–97 season, he had lost his place in the first team due to the arrival of new strikersMark Hughes,Gianluca Vialli andGianfranco Zola. He returned to Stoke on a short-term loan, scoring four goals in 11 games in1996–97, the club's final season at theVictoria Ground. He finally left Chelsea in the summer of 1998 when he signed forAFC Bournemouth after a loan spell.
His spell atDagenham & Redbridge, in the Conference from 2001 to 2003, was notable for its ending, as Stein resigned over the club's refusal to investigate allegations of racist comments made by Daggers managerGarry Hill againstFitzroy Simpson. Mark cited his father's work as a South Africananti-apartheid activist as inspiration for this; "My Dad was a political activist who fought against racism in South Africa all his life. So why should I have to put up with it here?"[3] Stein ended his career playing forIsthmian League Division One North clubWaltham Forest, scoring three goals in seven appearances in the 2003–04 season.
On 28 June 2007, Stein was appointed the new physiotherapist atBarnet after taking on a temporary role at the end of the2006–07 season.[4] On 22 September 2010, he took up a full-time role as physiotherapist atCrawley Town.
He is the younger brother of formerLuton Town strikerBrian Stein; another brother,Ed Stein, played for Barnet.[5] The Stein brothers were born in South Africa, and arrived in the United Kingdom in 1968 when their father Isaiah Stein, an activist with theAfrican National Congress and former boxer, fled the country to escape police persecution and torture for his political activities. Isaiah continued his activism in Britain, serving as a member of theSouth African Non-Racial Olympic Committee.[6][7] On 12 July 2008 he played for the England XI in the Gordon Banks Charity Match at theBritannia Stadium.
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Luton Town | 1983–84 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1984–85 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1985–86 | First Division | 6 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | |
| 1986–87 | First Division | 21 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 8 | |
| 1987–88 | First Division | 25 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4[a] | 1 | 39 | 13 | |
| Total | 54 | 19 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 71 | 23 | ||
| Aldershot (loan) | 1985–86 | Fourth Division | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 1988–89 | First Division | 31 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4[b] | 0 | 42 | 7 |
| 1989–90 | First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 33 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 44 | 7 | ||
| Oxford United | 1989–90 | Second Division | 41 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 44 | 9 |
| 1990–91 | Second Division | 34 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 41 | 8 | |
| 1991–92 | Second Division | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 82 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 92 | 18 | ||
| Stoke City | 1991–92 | Third Division | 36 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9[c] | 6 | 47 | 22 |
| 1992–93 | Second Division | 46 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 5[d] | 3 | 57 | 33 | |
| 1993–94 | First Division | 12 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3[e] | 1 | 19 | 13 | |
| Total | 94 | 50 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 10 | 123 | 68 | ||
| Chelsea | 1993–94 | Premier League | 18 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 14 |
| 1994–95 | Premier League | 24 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3[f] | 2 | 30 | 11 | |
| 1995–96 | Premier League | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1996–97 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1997–98 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 50 | 21 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 63 | 25 | ||
| Stoke City (loan) | 1996–97 | First Division | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 |
| Ipswich Town (loan) | 1997–98 | First Division | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
| AFC Bournemouth | 1997–98 | Second Division | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[d] | 0 | 14 | 4 |
| 1998–99 | Second Division | 43 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3[d] | 4 | 56 | 25 | |
| 1999–2000 | Second Division | 36 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2[d] | 1 | 46 | 15 | |
| Total | 90 | 30 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 116 | 44 | ||
| Luton Town | 2000–01 | Second Division | 30 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1[d] | 0 | 36 | 4 |
| Dagenham & Redbridge | 2001–02 | Football Conference | 34 | 24 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 38 | 25 |
| 2002–03 | Football Conference | 33 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 19 | |
| 2003–04 | Football Conference | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | |
| Total | 73 | 48 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 79 | 49 | ||
| Career total | 526 | 200 | 42 | 9 | 38 | 19 | 41 | 18 | 648 | 246 | ||
Luton Town
Stoke City
Individual
