Steve Lovell

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

Steve Lovell

Personal information
Full name	Stephen William Henry Lovell
Date of birth	6 December 1980 (1980-12-06)
Place of birth	Amersham, England
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–1999	Bournemouth	7	(0)
1999–2002	Portsmouth	32	(4)
2000	→ Exeter City (loan)	5	(1)
2002	→ Sheffield United (loan)	5	(1)
2002	→ Queens Park Rangers (loan)	0	(0)
2002–2005	Dundee	82	(35)
2005–2008	Aberdeen	76	(24)
2008–2009	Falkirk	28	(8)
2009–2010	Partick Thistle	16	(3)
2010–2011	Bournemouth	10	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:10, 18 May 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Stephen William Henry "Steve" Lovell (born 6 December 1980 in Amersham) is a former English footballer who played as a striker.

Career

Portsmouth

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

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. In May 2009, it was reported Lovell had undertaken a medical at Tannadice Park ahead of a proposed move to Dundee United, although United manager Craig Levein later refuted the story and Lovell admitted he knew "absolutely nothing about it". On 27 June 2009, he was allegedly, unlawfully released from his contract by new manager Eddie May, despite being the top goal scorer. He attempted to sue the club for breach of contract but Falkirk FC won the case.

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.

Bournemouth

In June 2010, Lovell joined his brother at AFC Bournemouth. After spending a period of pre-season with the club in 2009 he finally signed following the lifting of the club's transfer embargo. 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. Steve 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, Steve announced his retirement from professional football with immediate effect after struggling with injuries for the past two seasons.

Personal life

In 2008, Lovell became engaged to Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald. He is the half-brother of current Burnley manager Eddie Howe.

External links

• Steve Lovell career stats at Soccerbase