Steven Fletcher

Hibernian

Fletcher made his debut for Hibs on 10 April 2004, replacing Garry O'Connor for the final eight minutes in a 3–0 Scottish Premier League win over Kilmarnock at Easter Road. He totalled five appearances that season, making his first start on 15 May in the final fixture, a 4–1 loss at Livingston. He became a first team regular in the 2004–05 season, playing 26 times and scoring five goals. His first goal came on 16 October, set up by O'Connor to conclude a 2–0 home win over Dundee United. On 19 March, as a 61st-minute substitute for Scott Brown, he scored twice in a 4–1 win at Dunfermline Athletic, also assisting one of Derek Riordan's brace. In the 2005–06 season, Fletcher scored 10 goals in just 1,966 minutes on the pitch, which approximated to a goal every other game. He took on a more prominent role in the 2006–07 season after Hibs had sold star strikers O'Connor and Derek Riordan. Fletcher scored in Hibernian's 5–0 Intertoto Cup win over Dinaburg and played regularly during the league season. The highlight of the season for Fletcher and Hibs was when he scored two goals in the 5–1 win over Kilmarnock in the 2007 League Cup Final. Fletcher became Hibs' main striker during the 2007–08 season. He scored his first professional hat-trick in a 4–2 win over Gretna and won the Scottish Football Writers' Young Player of the Year Award. Fletcher was touted for a move to Real Madrid due to Madrid's scouts watching him. In November 2008 it was reported that…

Fletcher was eligible to represent either England, his birthplace and the nation of his father, or Scotland, his mother's home country and his place of residence since the age of 10. Fletcher was the top scorer in the Scotland under-19 team which reached the final of the 2006 under-19 European Championship, losing to Spain. Following the achievements of the under-19 side, Fletcher was named by The Scotsman newspaper as one of the "ten to watch" in Scottish sport during 2007. Fletcher made his debut for Scotland under-21s in the 2004–05 season. Fletcher was named in the Scotland squad for the first time in March 2008, for a friendly match against Croatia. Fletcher started the game and provided the assist for Kenny Miller to score the equalising goal in a 1–1 draw. He was substituted at half-time due to injury. He was dropped back to the under-21 team in September 2008, but was immediately recalled to the full squad after scoring twice against Slovenia under-21s. Fletcher scored his first full international goal in a 2–1 win against Iceland on 1 April 2009. After being left out of Euro 2012 qualification matches against Czech Republic and Spain, Fletcher publicly criticised head coach Craig Levein. Fletcher was then left out of the next Scotland squad, although Levein claimed that this was because Fletcher had not been playing regularly for his club side. When Levein attempted to select him for the squad in February 2011, Fletcher sent a text message stating that he did not…

Fletcher, who was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, spent much of his early years living on British Army bases in England and Germany where his Liverpudlian soldier father, Kenny Fletcher was based. His father died from cancer aged 37 when Fletcher was aged only 10, prompting his Scottish mother, Mary, to relocate him and his younger sister Bree to Hamilton, South Lanarkshire to be closer to her family. Hibernian youth coach John Park, also from Hamilton, spotted his footballing talent and the youngster joined the Leith club's youth network aged 13. He was selected for the Lanarkshire Schools XI in 2002 while a pupil at Earnock High School.

In May 2016, Fletcher was fined for not disclosing that his wife was the driver when his car was caught speeding on the A66 in Appleby-in-Westmorland. Carlisle magistrates fined him £1,000, in addition to £620 costs and a £100 surcharge, and six points on his driving licence.