He made his league debut for Huddersfield Town, as a nineteen-year-old against Brentford on 10 August 2002 coming as a 69th-minute substitute in the 2–0 loss on the opening day of the season.

Stead went on to score two goals in a game on three further occasions for the Terriers during the first part of the 2003–04 season, with his other braces coming against Northampton Town on 13 September in a 3–0 home win, in a dramatic 3–3 away draw at Mansfield Town on 22 November and then again in a 3–1 home win over Doncaster Rovers on 3 January 2004.

[3] Stead returned to collect his Play-offs Winners' Medal with Huddersfield Town while he was playing for Blackburn Rovers.

[5] He went on to score six goals, including vital winners against Fulham, Manchester United and Everton as Blackburn avoided relegation from the Premiership.

However, the goals for Blackburn dried up the following season and with manager Mark Hughes signing additional forwards including Welsh international Craig Bellamy, Stead was transferred on 13 June 2005 to Sunderland in a deal worth £1.8 million.

Stead was signed by Sheffield United from Sunderland for a fee of £750,000, potentially rising to £1.2 million, on a three-and-a-half-year deal on 11 January 2007.

[13] Stead found first team starts harder to come by the following season as he fell behind James Beattie and Billy Sharp in the pecking order but still managed to make over thirty appearances and score six goals.

During the subsequent transfer window Stead signed on loan for Championship rivals Ipswich Town with a view to a permanent move.

[14] Stead made his move to Ipswich permanent on 15 September 2008 after playing just one game on loan for a fee believed to be around £600,000.

On 15 February 2010, Stead joined Coventry City on loan until the end of the season with a view to a permanent move.

[19] On 8 May 2013, Stead was released by City, in hopes of making a move up north to involve his kids spending time with their grandparents.

[32] On 8 May 2021 – after the final game of the 2020–21 League Two season – Stead announced, on his Twitter account, that he was retiring from professional football having made a total of 704 first-team appearances scoring 165 goals.

[33] Stead joined Harry Watling's staff at Hartford Athletic in the USL Championship as an assistant coach in June 2021.