Anthony Stokes

Arsenal

Born in Dublin, Stokes broke into the Arsenal reserve team at 15 years old. He made his first-team debut as a substitute in a League Cup tie against Sunderland on 25 October 2005, coming on for Arturo Lupoli in the 88th minute of a 3–0 win. He trained with Sunderland with a view to a loan move in July 2006, but Sunderland manager Niall Quinn decided against it due to Sunderland's large squad depth and lack of a reserve team.

Falkirk (loan)

Arsenal agreed a loan deal with Falkirk that saw Stokes play for the Scottish Premier League (SPL) side until the end of 2006. Stokes scored his first goal for Falkirk in a 1–0 victory at Inverness Caledonian Thistle on 19 September 2006 in the Scottish League Cup. He followed that up on 21 October with two more goals against Inverness. On 28 October, he scored his first competitive hat-trick during Falkirk's 5–1 victory over Dundee United. Stokes then scored another hat-trick in the following match against Dunfermline Athletic, which meant that he had scored nine goals in just four games. Having become the first player to score hat-tricks in successive SPL games, Stokes then hit a third in what proved to be his last game for Falkirk, a 3–1 home victory over Inverness CT on 30 December. On 7 November, Stokes scored an equaliser for Falkirk in extra time in a League Cup match against Celtic; Falkirk advanced 5–4 on penalties. His continuing good form saw him named Young Player of the Month for October and…

Stokes played for the Republic of Ireland at youth international levels, earning promotion to the under-21 team in August 2006. Stokes earned his first full cap for the Republic of Ireland national football team in their 2–1 win away to San Marino on 7 February 2007, coming on as an 80th-minute substitute for Shane Long. He earned three full caps in 2007, but was not selected during 2008 or 2009, as he fell out of favour at Sunderland. His form with Hibernian earned him a recall in May 2010. Stokes scored the only goal of the game in a practice match against an Ireland under-23 side. At the start of the 2010–11 season, Stokes was included in the under-21 team to play Estonia, along with other senior fringe players. He scored two goals and set up two others in a 5–0 win. He and Cillian Sheridan were then added to the senior squad for their game against Argentina the next day. In May 2011, Stokes withdrew from the Ireland squad for the 2011 Nations Cup due to tiredness. Manager Giovanni Trapattoni expressed his disappointment and said he felt a footballer should only withdraw from a national squad if they were, "in hospital or dead". However, he also stated that he would still consider Stokes for future selection. In February 2012, Stokes said that he felt it was unlikely he would be picked for Ireland's squad for UEFA Euro 2012, despite good form for Celtic, as he thought Trapattoni was holding his 2011 withdrawal against him. Stokes was re-called to the Ireland squad in…

Club

As of 18 February 2020

International

As of 20 November 2014

Stokes attended secondary school at Terenure College, Dublin.

Assault conviction

On 8 June 2013, Stokes attacked and head-butted car park attendant Anthony Bradley, in Buck Whaley's nightclub on Lower Leeson Street in Dublin. Stokes subsequently agreed to pay Bradley €30,000 for breaking his nose and two of his teeth, in what was later described in court as a "nasty, cowardly attack". Bradley subsequently sued Stokes in the High Court in Dublin, having paid €13,500 over three and a half years in medical expenses, stopped working due to physical and psychological effects; he was subsequently diagnosed with a degenerative spinal condition. At the trial, Stokes pleaded guilty to assault, and was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years. Bradley was awarded a sum of €232,000 by the judge, made up of: €150,000 in general damages; €50,000 in aggravated damages; and €32,000 for medical expenses.

Stalking conviction

In September 2019, Stokes pleaded guilty to stalking his ex-girlfriend and her mother at Hamilton Sheriff Court in Scotland. He received an eight-month deferred sentence and was prohibited from contacting either woman for four years, apart from to arrange the custody of his two-year-old son. Stokes breached his restraining orders relating to both victims in November and December 2019. He missed his sentencing in August 2022 due to contracting COVID-19 and did not attend the rescheduled hearing the following month, leading to an arrest…