Stuart Lovell

Stuart Lovell

Personal information
Date of birth	(1972-01-09) 9 January 1972
Place of birth	Sydney, Australia
Height
Position(s)	Striker; Midfielder
Youth career
	Reading
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1998	Reading	227	(58)
1998–2001	Hibernian	88	(17)
2001–2005	Livingston	87	(6)
2005–2006	Queen of the South	38	(1)
Total		440	(82)
International career
2000	Australia	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Stuart "Archie" Lovell (born 9 January 1972 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian professional footballer, who played as a striker early in his career, before reverting to a midfield role later in his career.

Born in Australia, Lovell spent his childhood in Reading. He joined the local professional team and was part of the Reading team that narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League in the 1994–95 season. He had a penalty kick saved in the playoff final against Bolton Wanderers when Reading were leading 2–0; they eventually lost 4–3 after extra time.

After damaging a cruciate ligament in 1997 and almost having his career ended as a result, Lovell moved to Scottish club Hibernian in 1998, ultimately prolonging his career by nearly a decade.

Hibs were in the First Division at the time and he was part of the team who won promotion back to the Scottish Premier League by winning the First Division. He was capped twice by Australia and was a Hibs first team regular as they finished a creditable third in the SPL and reached the Scottish Cup Final during the 2000/01 season.

He was surprisingly released by Hibs at the end of that season to make way for record signing Ulises de la Cruz. Lovell signed for SPL newcomers Livingston, who he helped to finish third in their first season in the SPL. He was subsequently appointed Livingston's captain, and in this role he skippered the club to their only major trophy win to date, the Scottish League Cup in 2004. Ironically for Lovell, Livingston defeated Hibs 2–0 in the final.

Lovell retired after a 15-month spell with Dumfries club Queen of the South, where he also had a spell as caretaker manager. Lovell has since done media work, appearing on Setanta Sports and Sky Sports, and writing a column for the Edinburgh Evening News. He has also served as a representative of PFA Scotland.

External links

• Stuart Lovell career statistics at Soccerbase

• Stuart Lovell, Reading F.C.
• BLOGS: Stuart Lovell, Setanta Sports