Anthony Stokes is an Irish football striker, who was born on July 25, 1988 in Dublin. He made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland on February 7, 2007 as a substitute in a 2-1 victory over San Marino in the European Championship.
Anthony Stokes started his football career with the youth club of Shelbourne, a Football Association of Ireland (FAI) First Division club, and moved to the youth team of Arsenal at the age of 15. Anthony Stokes made his first-team debut for Arsenal, when he came on as a substitute for Arturo Lupoli, a team-mate, in the 88th minute of the League Cup tie match against Sunderland on October 25, 2005, which his team won 3-0. During the summer of 2006, Anthony Stokes trained with Sunderland, and on August 29, 2006, he moved to the Scottish Premier League football club, Falkirk, on a loan.
On September 19, 2006, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1-0 victory over Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the third round of the Scottish League Cup. He added two more goals to his credit against the same opponent on October 21, 2006. Later that month, Anthony Stokes scored his first competitive hat-trick in a 5-1 win over Dundee United in the Scottish Premier League (SPL). He followed it up with a second one in the next match against Dunfermline Athletic and became the first player to score back-to-back hat-tricks in SPL.
In the 100th minute of the quarter-final match of the Scottish League Cup, Anthony Stokes played against Celtic and scored the equalising goal, helping his team win 5-4 in the penalties. For his outstanding performances with the club, he was named the Young Player of the Month, for October and November. Anthony Stokes played his final game for the club on December 30, 2006, against Inverness scoring his third hat-trick in the 3-1 home victory. Having scored an impressive 16 goals in 18 matches, he returned to Arsenal after the conclusion of his loan-term with Falkirk on December 31, 2006.
Amidst offers from many clubs, Anthony Stokes signed with Sunderland on January 8, 2007 for a fee of £2 million and played his first match for the club on January 13, 2007. In the match, he supplied the cross to David Connolly, a team-mate, and ensured a 1-0 victory over the Ipswich Town football club. On February 10, 2007, Anthony Stokes scored the first goal for his club against Plymouth Argyle, after he came on as a substitute. He scored his first Premier League goal for Sunderland on December 1, 2007, in its match against Derby County, which pulled his club out of the relegation zone.
