Tony Stokes

Stokes came up through the West Ham United academy along with Mark Noble and Kyel Reid. He made his first team debut and only appearance for West Ham at the age of 18 on 20 September 2005 as an 86th-minute substitute for Tomáš Řepka in the second round of the League Cup, a 4–2 win away to Sheffield Wednesday. During the 2005–06 season, Stokes was loaned to Conference National side Rushden & Diamonds, where he made 19 appearances. He joined Football League One side Brighton & Hove Albion in a one-month loan deal in August 2006, which was extended for a second month but he decided to return to West Ham after finding first-team opportunities at Brighton difficult. He made seven appearances in all competitions for Brighton. Stokes joined Stevenage Borough on a two-month loan in November 2007. He scored his first career goal in the 3–1 win over Salisbury City in December 2007. He was named reserve team captain when Jack Collison was promoted to the first team for the 2008–09 season. However, he found first team football hard to come by as Collison, Valon Behrami, Scott Parker and Mark Noble were the preferred starters and did not even make the bench on most occasions. On 19 February 2009, Stokes joined Újpest on loan until the end of the 2008–09 season. He made his competitive debut for Ujpest on 7 March 2009 in a 2–0 home win against Siófok. He was released by West Ham on 3 June 2009, and signed for Újpest FC the following month, ahead of the 2009–10 Nemzeti Bajnokság I…