Steven James Sidwell (born 14 December 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Sidwell was a product of the Arsenal academy, and after winning two FA Youth Cups, he had constructive loan spells at Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion, but never broke into the Arsenal first team. He came to prominence in the Championship with Reading after a January 2003 move to the Royals and spent years with the club, helping them to earn promotion to the Premier League for the first time ever in 2005–06. He joined Chelsea on a free transfer for the 2007–08 season, however opportunities were limited at Stamford Bridge and he moved on to Aston Villa in July 2008 for a fee of £5 million. In his -year stay at Villa Park he played 64 times, scoring four goals. Sidwell then spent years at Fulham, making 115 appearances scoring 17 goals. His time at Craven Cottage ended after the club was relegated from the Premier League in 2013–14, and he subsequently joined Stoke City in June 2014 on a free transfer. He made only 13 appearances for the club, and finished his career with a two year spell at Brighton & Hove Albion, initially on loan, retiring in 2018. Career Arsenal Sidwell was born in Wandsworth, London. He joined Arsenal at the age of 9 and was a part of the youth team that won the FA Youth Cup in 2000 and 2001. One of his teammates during these years was James Harper, who he would go on to play with at Reading. Sidwell spent the 2001–02 season on loan at Brentford where he played 35 times scoring four goals as Brentford lost 2–0 to Stoke City in the play-off final. After originally having been sent on loan to Beveren, but not being able to obtain a first team place in preseason, he began the 2002–03 season on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion for whom he scored five goals in 12 appearances. In January 2003 Brighton and Stoke City both had bids for Sidwell rejected by Arsenal but an offer from Reading was accepted. Reading Sidwell moved to Reading for an undisclosed fee on a -year deal in January 2003. He made his debut for Reading on 29 January 2003 in a 3–1 defeat against Leicester City. In his next match on 11 February 2003 he scored twice