A bright and lively central midfielder who has been with the club since being spotted on a Football in the Community course at the age of nine, Stephen made his first team debut while still in the first year of his scholarship.

In 2003-04, his first season as a full-time footballer, he was part of the youth team that reached the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup and went on to win the Merit Division of the South Central Conference. In April 2004, aged 17, he was handed a surprise League debut with a start at leaders Doncaster Rovers and impressed, but injury then ruled him out for the rest of the season.

'Smudger' was unfortunate to be overlooked by both managers during United's relegation season, although he was again part of a title-winning youth team. However he was a regular in the squad in 2005/06 and signed his first pro contract in October 2005.

He featured at right-back in the early stages of 06/07 under Rob Newman, struggled to get a game under new boss Jimmy Quinn, but after a successful month on loan with reserve side CRC he made a goalscoring comeback at Woking in December and featured regularly for the rest of the season.  This season he was mainly restricted to appearances from the bench and joined Cambridge City on loan in January 2008, which was soon extended to the end of the season.