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Steven Fletcher (born March 26, 1987, in Shrewsbury, Shropshire)

Early career

Fletcher was born into an army background and spent much of his early years living on military bases in England and Germany where his Liverpudlian soldier father was based. His father died from cancer when Fletcher was aged only 10, prompting his mother to relocate to Hamilton, Scotland to be closer to her family. Hibs youth coach Donald Park, also from Hamilton, spotted his footballing talent and the young Anglo-Scot joined the Leith side’s youth network aged 13. [1]

Hibernian

Fletcher made his debut for Hibs towards the end of the 2003-04 season in a 3-0 win over Kilmarnock. However his big breakthrough came in the 2004-05 season when he became a regular, playing 26 times and scoring 5 goals. In the 2005-06 season, Fletcher scored 10 goals in just 1,966 minutes on the pitch, which approximates to a goal every other game.

Fletcher took on a more prominent role in the 2006-07 season, after Hibs had sold star strikers Garry O’Connor and Derek Riordan. He scored in Hibernian’s 5-0 Intertoto Cup win over Dinaburg and played regularly during the league season. The highlight of the season for Fletcher and Hibs was when he scored two goals in Hibernian’s 5-1 win over Kilmarnock in the 2007 Scottish League Cup Final.

Fletcher has become Hibs’ main striker during the 2007-08 season. He scored his first professional hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Gretna on 13 February 2008.

He has recently been touted for a £4.5million summer move to Real Madrid C.F. due to Madrid’s scouts watching his performances for both Hibs and Scotland.

International career

Fletcher made his debut for Scotland under-21s in the 2004-05 season. He was the top scorer in the Scotland under-19 side which reached the final of the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, losing to Spain in the final. Following the well acknowledged achievements of the under-19 side, Fletcher is seen as a hot prospect for the future. He was named by The Scotsman as one of the “ten to watch” in 2007.

On 17 March 2008, Fletcher was named in the squad for Scotland’s senior friendly international against Croatia. Fletcher started the game, providing the assist for Kenny Miller’s equaliser in a 1-1 draw. Fletcher was substituted at half-time due to injury[4].

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