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Birthdate:
19.01.1969
Birthplace: Drogheda, Ireland
Other clubs: Dundalk, Bradford (loan), Aston Villa, Crystal Palace (loan), Aston Villa (2), Coventry, Walsall
Bought from: Dundalk / Aston Villa
Signed for LFC: £20000 / Bosman 02.09.1986 / 03.07.1998
International debut: 19.10.1988 vs. Tunisia
International caps: Ireland 102/7 (38/3 at LFC) - 16.06.2002
Liverpool debut:
17.09.1988
Last appearance: 23.11.2000
Debut goal: 20.09.1988
Last goal: 14.09.1999
Contract expiry: 07.08.1991 / 06.12.2000
LFC league games/goals: 109 / 0
Total LFC games/goals: 148 / 7
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Player Notes:
Steve won the F.A. cup and League championship in his first spell at Anfield. But he became a victim of the rule restricting the number of non-English players at each club. Graeme Souness decided the defender was dispensable and sold him to Aston Villa on the 7th of August, 1991. Staunton developed into one of the best left full-backs in the country. Once Roy Evans had taken over at Anfield in 1994, Staunton was linked with a return to Liverpool almost every single year. Finally, when he arrived on the 3rd of July, 1998 he had obviously left his best years behind him at Villa.
Steve's versatility proved useful for Liverpool as he could play in a number of different positions. Although he played as a left-back more often than not, he actually struck a second-half hat-trick when replacing Ian Rush in a League Cup tie against Wigan in 1989 and even made a brief starring appearance in goal in a Merseyside derby ten years later when Sander Westerveld was sent off a few minutes after Liverpool had made their third and final substitution.
Staunton's second spell at Anfield was not a success. Experienced though he was as a man who would represent his country (the Republic of Ireland) over a hundred times, he was used only sparingly in Gerard Houllier's first full season in charge (1999-2000). In the following season, he appeared only twice for the first team, both times as substitute. Two weeks after his final appearance away to Olympiakos in the UEFA cup, Steve returned to Villa Park and appeared regularly for Villa for another two years before ending his playing career with spells at Coventry City and Walsall. His final game as a professional footballer came on New Year's Eve, 2005.
In the middle of January 2006, three days before his 37th birthday, Steve Staunton was surprisingly named as Brian Kerr's successor to manage the Republic of Ireland's full international team. It was quite a shock as many much more high-profile candidates had been mentioned, plus Steve himself had only a brief spell as Assistant Coach at Walsall on his c.v. The Irish had failed to qualify for the World Cup in Germany in 2006 so Steve's short-term aim was to ensure qualification for the next European championship finals in 2008. Although his first match in charge ... a friendly against Sweden ... was won comfortably, it was a different story when the competitive matches came along. He was sent to the stands for kicking a water-bottle in frustration towards the end of a narrow defeat in Germany; then he had to watch the Republic suffer a truly humiliating defeat, 5-2 away to minnows Cyprus. Although a draw was achieved in the return match with Germany, another miserable performance four days later against Cyprus, this time on Irish soil, saw a 1-1 draw that meant qualification for the Germans and the Czech Republic.
Despite the setback of another qualification failure, Staunton refused to resign and stated that he intended to honour his four-year contract. However, matters were taken out of his hands by the Football Association of Ireland on the 23rd of October 2007 and it was subsequently announced that he had been replaced as international manager by Don Givens, who took over as temporary manager until a permanent replacement to Steve Staunton was unveiled in Giovanni Trapattoni.
Staunton became Gary McAllister's assistant at Leeds United in February, 2008 but when McAllister was sacked in December of the same year, Staunton also left the Yorkshire club at the same time. Steve did some scouting for Wolverhampton Wanderers and apparently applied for but did not get the vacant manager's job at Port Vale, Micky Adams being appointed to that post in June, 2009. Staunton then applied for another vacant manager's position a couple of months later, at League Two club Darlington. This time he was successful and his appointment was officially announced on the 5th of October. With Darlington bottom of the 92 Premier League and Football League clubs in the top four divisions of English football, it was clear that Steve Staunton faced a massive task trying to prevent Darlington dropping out of the Football League and into the Conference.
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