David Stockdale

David Adam Stockdale (born 20 September 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for York City.

Stockdale started his career with the Huddersfield Town youth system before joining York City's youth system in 2000, where he became a trainee in 2002.

Born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, Stockdale played for the Huddersfield Town youth system before joining the York City youth system in 2000 and was promoted from the under-16 team to the under-19 team for a match against Bradford City in October 2001.

He made his first-team debut on the last day of the 2002–03 season.

He was offered a scholarship by the club in February 2002 to become a first-year trainee for the 2002–03 season.

By March 2003 he had established himself as the York first team's number two goalkeeper, having ousted John Collinson.

He made his debut for York as a 17-year-old when coming on as a 46th-minute substitute for Michael Ingham in the last match of 2002–03, which the team lost 2–0 at Oxford United on 3 May 2003.

He established himself in the team during 2004–05 and in 2006, following loan spells at Wakefield-Emley and Worksop Town, was released by the club.

He moved to Darlington and in his second season with the club played in the play-offs.

Stockdale's first appearance of 2004–05 came as a 20th-minute substitute for Chris Porter in a 1–0 defeat to Accrington Stanley on 31 August 2004.

After playing 19 successive matches from August to December, he was dropped by caretaker manager Viv Busby.

Despite this, he stated his determination at earning a new contract with York.

After discussing his future at York with manager Billy McEwan he was offered a one-year professional contract in April 2005.

He stalled on this contract offer and McEwan criticised him, saying "He's a young apprentice getting his first professional contract and the last thing in his mind should be money. That should be of secondary importance and he should be grateful York City are offering him a contract".

He was ruled out of most of York's pre-season schedule after breaking a bone in his foot in July.

Contract talks between Stockdale and York progressed and on 9 August he signed on for the club.

Stockdale made a loan move to Northern Premier League Premier Division club Wakefield-Emley in September and made his debut in a 1–0 victory over Gateshead.

After making seven appearances for Wakefield-Emley he returned to York in October and was rewarded with a place on the bench for the team's match against Canvey Island.

He was released by York at the end of 2005–06, after being publicly criticised by McEwan about his weight.

Having lost his place on the bench to teenager Arran Reid he signed for Conference North club Worksop Town on 1 March 2006, after McEwan questioned his commitment to the club.

He made his debut in a 1–1 draw with Vauxhall Motors on 14 March and the loan was extended for a second month in April.

Stockdale made six appearances for Worksop.

Stockdale joined League Two club Darlington on a one-year contract on 1 August 2006 after impressing in a period on trial in pre-season.

He made eight appearances in 2006–07, and when first-choice goalkeeper Andy Oakes was sent off in the opening match of 2007–08, Stockdale took over and became manager Dave Penney's preferred choice in goal.

Stockdale was rewarded with a new contract in November 2007, and went on to make over 40 appearances for Darlington in 2007–08.

He signed for Premier League club Fulham for an undisclosed fee in 2008, but never became a regular, and spent several spells on loan to Football League clubs.

Stockdale was scouted by Premier League clubs including Birmingham City and Newcastle United before, in April 2008, Darlington accepted a bid from Fulham.

He remained with Darlington until the end of the season, won the club's Player of the Year award, and played in the play-offs, in which they lost 5–4 in a penalty shoot-out to Rochdale in the semi-final after the matches had ended 3–3 on aggregate.

Stockdale completed his move to Fulham on 4 June 2008 on a two-year contract; the fee was undisclosed, but reported as £350,000 potentially rising to £600,000.

He returned to League Two after joining Rotherham United on a one-month loan on 21 November.

He made his debut a day later in a 2–0 defeat to Bradford City, and in his next match, a 1–1 draw away at Exeter City, he saved a Ben Watson penalty and made a late save from a Ryan Harley header.

The loan deal was extended for a further month, and he finished the spell with eight appearances, all in league competition.

On 2 March 2009, Stockdale joined League One club Leicester City on a one-month loan as cover for senior goalkeepers David Martin and Paul Henderson after previous loanee Mark Bunn was recalled by parent club Blackburn Rovers.

He made his debut in Leicester's 1–1 draw with Stockport County the next day.

He later picked up a shoulder injury, which led to Leicester signing Tony Warner on loan.

Stockdale extended his loan at Leicester until the end of the season on 6 April.

He joined Brighton & Hove Albion of the Championship in 2014, and helped them win promotion to the Premier League in his third season with the club.

He turned down a new contract with Brighton, and signed for Birmingham City in 2017.

In the 2018–19 season, he spent short spells on loan at Southend United, Wycombe Wanderers and Coventry City.

He has been called up to the England squad but remains uncapped.