Stephen Jagielka (10 March 1978 – 17 March 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Career

Having begun his career without success at Stoke City, Jagielka broke through at Shrewsbury Town, where he spent six seasons before falling out of favour under Jimmy Quinn as they were relegated to the Conference in 2003. He then moved to Sheffield United for a season, where despite the presence of his younger brother Phil and a good relationship with manager Neil Warnock, he did not play a first-team match. Jagielka then spent two seasons at Accrington Stanley, contributing to their promotion to the Football League as Conference champions in 2006. Jagielka subsequently spent a season at Droylsden, helping them win promotion to the Conference National, but decided to leave due to difficulties navigating from Shrewsbury where he had a plumbing business. To remain in Shropshire he signed a one-year deal with AFC Telford United of the Conference North after initiating a phonecall with their manager. It was followed by playing for Hednesford Town and Shropshire teams Ellesmere Rangers and Market Drayton.

Personal life

Of Polish and Scottish descent, he was the elder brother of Premier League footballer Phil Jagielka. After retiring from football, he worked for Caterpillar Inc. and for his own plumbing business. He was formerly married, to Jo Fallows, with whom he had three children. On 17 March 2021, it was announced that Jagielka, who was living in Rodington, Shropshire, had died aged 43. An inquest into his death heard that Jagielka had drugs in his system, with a pathologist giving the cause of his death as aspiration pneumonia due to methadone toxicity.

Career statistics

Honours

Accrington Stanley