Stephen Michael Gleeson (born 3 August 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Southern League Premier Division Central club Hitchin Town.

[15] Gleeson joined League Two club Stockport County on a month's loan in November, with the aim of gaining experience and returning to Wolves to fight for a first-team place.

[19] He thought his second goal had come a few days later, when his last-minute 30-yard (27 m) shot off the crossbar appeared to cross the line before bouncing out for Liam Dickinson to seal a 2–0 win against Notts County.

[20] His loan was again extended,[21] and by the time it expired he had made 17 appearances, scored again, with a tap-in as Stockport beat Wycombe Wanderers 2–0,[22] and his manager was "sad to see him go, [but] also excited for him because he is going to have a great future in the game.

He came close to creating a goal for his side when his long ball forward was deflected past Albion's goalkeeper by a defender, who managed to recover in time to clear it off the line.

[29] After Gleeson's pre-season was disrupted by injury,[30] he damaged a hip in the League Cup in late August,[31] and a month later, he was allowed home leave to recover from concussion and a loss of feeling in the leg sustained in collision with the opposing goalkeeper in a reserve match.

[32] Starting in central midfield against local rivals Shrewsbury Town, the Hereford Times reported that he "struggled to come to terms with the pace of the game during the first half but showed his quality in the second period",[33] a performance that earned him a place in the League Two Team of the Week.

[34] In his second match, he should have done better with a shooting chance,[35] and after the third, a defeat to promotion rivals Stockport, manager Graham Turner made several changes; Gleeson lost his place to first-team regular Toumani Diagouraga who returned after injury.

In the first leg, at Wycombe's Adams Park ground, Stockport were a goal behind when half-time substitute Gleeson "sent an effort from 25 yards out spiralling past goalkeeper Frank Fielding with eight minutes remaining";[40] the Daily Telegraph's reporter termed it a "blistering" volley and a "piledriver".

[53] Injuries and suspensions among the Wolves players prevented his going out on loan until late March,[54] when he joined League One club Milton Keynes Dons for the remainder of the season.

[55] He provided two assists for Mark Wright as MK Dons won 2–0 at Southend United,[56] and generally impressed "with his all-action performances and slick passing"[57] in four consecutive wins, but on his fifth appearance, suffered ankle ligament damage that kept him out of their ultimately unsuccessful play-off campaign.

[65][66] Gleeson's knee recovered in time for pre-season training,[67] and he began the 2010–11 season in the unaccustomed position of right back, to which new manager Karl Robinson thought him well suited.

When he did return, in his more usual position of central midfield, he "[showed] all his customary composure and quality in possession" in a friendly match,[69][70] and went on to play in every competitive fixture until the final one of the regular season,[69][71] for which, with a play-off place secure, Robinson selected a young team.

[75] The sending-off was rescinded on appeal, but Peterborough United won the second leg 2–0, qualifying for the final 4–3 on aggregate, and Gleeson and teammate Keanu Marsh-Brown came to blows in frustration.

[79] The club's website highlighted his central midfield partnership with Darren Potter, a new signing with whom Gleeson had played for Wolves' reserves and in international football, as integral to the team's good start to the season,[80] and the pair helped MK Dons come close to eliminating Premier League Queens Park Rangers in the third round of the FA Cup.

[95] Captaining the side in Dean Lewington's absence through injury in April, Gleeson scored a late winner against Brentford to lead the team to a second consecutive victory[96] as they went on to finish four points outside the play-off places.

"[97] In December, while still returning to form and fitness,[98] he produced another "wonder goal" against Port Vale,[99] and followed it up in the next week match a similar effort to open the scoring as MK Dons won 2–0 at Crawley Town.

Clark's successor, Gary Rowett, included Gleeson in his first starting eleven, playing in front of the defensive line in a goalless draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

[109] This time, Gleeson did keep his place, tasked with "launching the counter-attacks" from Rowett's preferred 4–2–3–1 formation[110] as his "effective midfield partnership" with David Davis[111] started 18 consecutive league matches.

[112] He returned to the side after his suspension as part of a three-man midfield, but when Rowett reverted to 4–2–3–1, it was Gleeson's passing that earned him selection ahead of Davis as Tesche's partner.

[115] For the second, away to his former club MK Dons, he curled Clayton Donaldson's cutback over the goalkeeper into the corner of the net; later in the match, he was stretchered off with an ankle injury that proved less serious than initially feared.

[116] He continued as first choice in a two-man midfield, generally partnering new signing Maikel Kieftenbeld,[114] and according to the Birmingham Mail, was "arguably Blues' most important player, knitting together defence and attack and adding goals to his game".

[121] Gleeson was linked with moves to other Championship clubs, including Leeds United, Reading and Sheffield Wednesday, during the close season, and his pre-season was disrupted by an infected toe, but he still began the new campaign in the starting eleven.

[123][124] Playing a more advanced role in a 4–4–2 formation, Gleeson scored a winning goal against Blackburn Rovers in October,[125] which preceded a run in the starting eleven, under both Rowett and his successor, Gianfranco Zola.

[108] Gleeson left Birmingham on a free transfer on 19 January 2018, and signed until the end of the season for another Championship club, Ipswich Town, under the management of Mick McCarthy who had given him his debut at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

[127] He made his first appearance the following day, as a half-time substitute in a 1–1 draw away to Bolton Wanderers, and according to McCarthy – perhaps in response to fans reportedly "underwhelmed" by the arrival of a fringe player from a struggling side – was "a mile above anyone else in terms of getting it and passing it.

[156][157] Gleeson received a late call-up to the senior squad for a friendly at home to Iceland in March 2017, and this time did take the field, as a second-half substitute, winning his third cap nearly ten years after his second; Ireland lost 1–0.