Eric Stephenson

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title: "Eric Stephenson" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1914-births", "1944-deaths", "english-men's-footballers", "england-men's-international-footballers", "leeds-united-f.c.-players", "english-football-league-players", "indian-army-personnel-killed-in-world-war-ii", "royal-gurkha-rifles-officers", "footballers-from-the-london-borough-of-bexley", "people-from-bexleyheath", "men's-association-football-inside-forwards", "20th-century-english-sportsmen"] description: "English footballer" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Stephenson" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary English footballer ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox football biography"]

Field	Value
name	Eric Stephenson
fullname	Joseph Eric Stephenson
birth_date
birth_place	Bexleyheath, England
death_date
death_place	British Burma
position	Inside left
youthyears1	1933–1935
youthclubs1	Leeds United
years1	1935–1941
clubs1	Leeds United
caps1	111
goals1	21
years2	1939–1941
clubs2	→ Leeds United (war)
caps2	32
goals2	7
totalcaps	143
totalgoals	28
nationalyears1	1938
nationalteam1	England
nationalcaps1	2
nationalgoals1	0
::

::callout[type=note] the footballer ::

| name = Eric Stephenson | image = | caption = | fullname = Joseph Eric Stephenson | birth_date = | birth_place = Bexleyheath, England | death_date = | death_place = British Burma | height = | position = Inside left | youthyears1 = 1933–1935 | youthclubs1 = Leeds United | years1 = 1935–1941 | clubs1 = Leeds United | caps1 = 111 | goals1 = 21 | years2 = 1939–1941 | clubs2 = → Leeds United (war) | caps2 = 32 | goals2 = 7 | totalcaps = 143 | totalgoals = 28 | nationalyears1 = 1938 | nationalteam1 = England | nationalcaps1 = 2 | nationalgoals1 = 0 Joseph Eric Stephenson (17 September 1914 – 8 September 1944) was an English footballer who played as an inside left at both professional and international levels.

Career

Born in Bexleyheath, he attended Tom Hood School in Leytonstone, from where in 1930 he represented London Schoolboys in their annual match against Glasgow Schoolboys at Hampden Park. Stephenson signed for Leeds United in 1933, turned professional in 1934, and made his first-team debut in 1935.

Stephenson also earned two international caps for England in 1938.

War service

He left Leeds in 1941 to serve in the Second World War. On 4 April 1942, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Indian Army. He would go on to become a major in the Gurkha Rifles. He died in active service in British Burma in September 1944 and is buried at Taukkyan War Cemetery, Myanmar. His younger brother Ernest had died in action August 1943, at the age of 27. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Stained_glass_memorial_window.jpg" caption="Stained glass memorial window in Lidgett Park Methodist Church. The light dedicated to Joseph Eric Stephenson depicts Saint Michael and displays his Gurkha Rifles regimental badge." alt="Stained glass window that depicts Saint Michael and displays the Gurkha Rifles regimental badge."] ::

A memorial stained glass window can be found in Lidgett Park Methodist Church in Roundhay, which he attended. It was produced by Clockie of Belfast and installed in 1948.

References

References

1. "England players: Eric Stephenson".
2. "Player profile – Stephenson: Joseph Eric (Eric)". Tony Hill (Oz White).
3. {{Englandstats
4. {{London Gazette. (17 April 1942)
5. "Major Stephenson, Joseph Eric". CWGC.
6. "Soldiers of St John's". St John's Church, Roundhay.
7. "Private Stephenson, Ernest Frank". CWGC.
8. "DMBI: A Dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::