Leeds start recruitment with Stephenson's arrival

MICHAEL STEPHENSON says the progressive foundations being laid at Leeds Carnegie was the contributing factor in his decision to become the Yorkshire club's first signing of the close season.

The former England winger, 29, has signed a two-year deal at Headingley Carnegie following his release from Bath, where he scored 23 tries in 93 appearances over five years with the Premiership mainstays.

Stephenson, who began his career at Newcastle Falcons, said: "I have been up to the training ground and have obviously played at Headingley Carnegie before and everything is in place for the club to kick on in the future.

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"If you look for indicators of how a club is going, things are very good at Leeds.

"The first team have done well in the Guinness Premiership, the A team got through to the semi-finals, the Academy is producing quality young players and someone like Hendre Fourie is getting picked for England.

"All those things say to me that Leeds Carnegie is a club going places.

"I want to play more Premiership rugby and hopefully I can work hard in pre-season and put myself in the plans of the coaching staff."

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Stephenson is the first piece in the Leeds jigsaw for next season with 14 players already on their way out of Headingley, including Jon Goodridge, Richard Welding, Jonny Hepworth, Phil Murphy and Vili Ma'asi whose departures were confirmed last night.

Leeds last week launched a county-wide appeal to raise 1m investment to help propel them towards a top-six finish next season.

That money has yet to arrive but with the clock already ticking on the countdown to the 2010-11 kick-off, Leeds have moved swiftly despite not

knowing how big their budget will be.

Stephenson, who played three times for England in 2001, has been interesting Leeds director of rugby Andy Key for some time.

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"I have known about Michael's abilities for years, going back to his time at Newcastle, and he has always impressed," said Key.

"He has pace and knows how to beat an opponent with his one-on-one skills."

Fourie was last night named Leeds Carnegie's player of the year and players' player of the season, with Joe Ford

chosen as academy player of the year.

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