Steve Staunton

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Personal information
Steve Staunton
Date of birth	19 January 1969 (1969-01-19) (age 39)
Place of birth	Drogheda, Ireland
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Leeds United (Assistant Manager)
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1985–1986 1986–1991 1987 1991–1998 1998–2000 2000 2000–2003 2003–2005 2005–2006 1985–2006	Dundalk Liverpool → Bradford City (loan) Aston Villa Liverpool → Crystal Palace (loan) Aston Villa Coventry City Walsall Total	00? 0(?) 065 0(0) 008 0(0) 205 (16) 044 0(0) 006 0(1) 073 0(0) 070 0(4) 007 0(0) 478 (21)
National team
1988–2002	Republic of Ireland	102 0(7)
Teams managed
2006–2007	Republic of Ireland
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Stephen Staunton (born 19 January 1969 in Drogheda, Republic of Ireland) was a professional footballer and is the current assistant manager of Leeds United. He enjoyed a distinguished career with Liverpool and Aston Villa, and became the Republic of Ireland's most capped player. He is also the former manager of Republic of Ireland.

1 Club career
2 International career
3 Career as Irish manager
4 Leeds United
5 Honours
6 Managerial stats
7 Notes
8 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Pre-Liverpool

Staunton was an accomplished all-round sportsman. As well as playing soccer for his home club of Dundalk, he played Gaelic football, appearing for Louth GAA in the All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship.

[edit] Liverpool

Staunton was spotted by Liverpool playing in Ireland for his home club of Dundalk as a 17 year old and was signed on the 2 September 1986 by manager Kenny Dalglish for the bargain price of £20,000.

He spent the first two seasons in the reserves and even went on loan to Bradford City for eight games during the 1987–88 season as cover for the injured Karl Goddard. He made his Liverpool debut on 17 September 1988 in the 1–1 league draw with Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield. As a result of his impressive performance he remained in the side for the rest of the season, despite him being vastly inexperienced compared to the players around him who were defending a League championship title won the year before. Following on from his impressive début he scored his first goal three days later on 20 September; however, his 80th minute strike wasn't enough to prevent Arsenal winning the Centenary Trophy semi-final 2–1.

An injury to captain Alan Hansen meant that regular left back Gary Ablett had to be shifted across to the centre of defence. Staunton was therefore given his chance and proved an impressive and consistent performer in a team of superstars, playing his part as Liverpool challenged for the title again.

In the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster of 15 April 1989 Staunton was among those players who comforted bereaved families and attended many of the funerals. He also put in an outstanding performance when the fateful FA Cup semi-final was rescheduled a month later, with Liverpool beating an under-par Nottingham Forest 3–1.

Staunton played in the FA Cup Final at Wembley - he was substituted at the start of the extra-time period – as Liverpool defeated Merseyside rivals Everton 3–2. However, the season ended in huge disappointment when Liverpool lost the League title in a decider against Arsenal at Anfield. The Gunners needed to win by two clear goals and were 1–0 up with just seconds remaining. With virtually the last kick of the season Michael Thomas broke through the centre of the Reds defence to score thus stopping Liverpool gaining a second league and FA Cup double.

The following year, Staunton was a frequent presence again as Liverpool reclaimed the League title but only played one more season with Liverpool before being sold, to a lot of people's surprise and disappointment, to Aston Villa on the 7 August 1991 for 1.1 million. New manager Graeme Souness was accused of misjudging the player's abilities, though the ruling for European ties possibly had a bearing, with Staunton being classed as a foreigner, of which no team was allowed to field more than four; the Bosman ruling (which included the abolishment of quotas for EU citizens on teams in member countries) was not passed until 1992.

[edit] Aston Villa

Staunton made a good impression on the Villa fans by marking his début on the 17 August with a goal in the 3–2 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

Staunton settled into life at Villa Park and won a Coca-Cola League Cup winners medal in 1994 when he helped Villa upset the odds by beating hot favourites Manchester United 3–1. The League Cup medal completed his domestic medal set. Over the next four years, he won another League Cup medal, this time as a non playing sub in the 3–0 victory over Leeds United.

[edit] Return to Anfield

With his contract set to expire at Villa, he gained a surprise move back to Liverpool on 3 July 1998 when joint managers Roy Evans and Gérard Houllier signed him on a Bosman.

On 27 September 1999, during the Merseyside derby against Everton at Anfield, Staunton played the last 15 minutes of the game in goal after Sander Westerveld had been sent off for fighting with Francis Jeffers after Liverpool had used all three substitutes.

His second spell on Merseyside lasted two years before he was told he could leave on a free transfer. After a brief loan spell at Crystal Palace, where he made six league appearances, he was recalled to Anfield to appear in his 148th and last game for the Reds: it came on the 23 November 2000 in the 2–2 draw with Greek side Olympiakos in the UEFA Cup.

[edit] Villa Park again

On 7 December 2000 he did another about-turn and returned to Aston Villa on another free transfer. He played in fourteen of the Midlands club's remaining league fixtures and then featured regularly for a further two seasons to bring his total Villa appearances to 350 games with 16 goals. However, only one of these strikes came in his second spell, Staunton finding the net against FC Zurich in the Intertoto Cup.

[edit] Coventry City

Staunton continued to play club football, plying his trade with Coventry City, moving there on the 15 August 2003 on another free transfer. He made his début on 16 August 2003 in the 0–0 league draw with Walsall at Highfield Road. He remained with the Sky Blues until the summer of 2005, clocking up 75 appearances.

[edit] Walsall

Staunton decided not to renew his contract once it had expired, and instead joined Black Country club Walsall on 2 August 2005. He played just 10 times for the Bescot club and also held the post of assistant coach until the 16 January 2006, when he was appointed manager of the Republic of Ireland senior international side. He was captain of the Walsall side that defeated Blackpool 2–0 on New Years Eve 2005, in what was his final game as a professional footballer.

[edit] International career

Staunton made his debut for the Republic of Ireland in the 4–0 friendly win over Tunisia. He went to Italy with Jack Charlton's squad as the Republic of Ireland competed in their first ever FIFA World Cup finals. Staunton, the youngest member of the squad, played in every match at left back (though by now at club level he had also proved his usefulness as a central defender or midfield player) as the Republic of Ireland progressed to the quarter finals, when they were beaten by the host nation.

He also represented the Republic of Ireland at FIFA World Cup 1994 in the United States. Again, he played in each game as the Republic of Ireland succumbed in the second round to the Netherlands.

The Republic of Ireland failed to qualify for both Euro 96 in England and the 1998 World Cup in France, though Staunton was still selected regularly for the team.

The Republic of Ireland qualified for the 2002 World Cup held in Japan and South Korea. Coach Mick McCarthy, who had been Staunton's captain at the country's first World Cup 12 years earlier, selected him for the squad and following the departure of Roy Keane from the squad, due to a bust up with McCarthy, Staunton was appointed captain for the tournament.

Again, Staunton played in every Republic of Ireland game of the tournament, with the 1–1 group match draw against Germany on 5 June proving to be a very special occasion as it was his 100th appearance for his country. Together with Gary Breen, he formed an impressive central defensive partnership in front of Shay Given. Staunton remains the only footballer to have reached a century of caps for the Republic of Ireland national team.

Ireland's competition ended once more in the second round when they lost agonisingly to Spain in a penalty shoot-out after the game had finished 1–1. Staunton announced his retirement from international football immediately afterwards after setting a national record of 102 appearances. He is the only player to have played in every single one of Ireland's 13 World Cup finals games.

On two occasions he scored directly from corner-kicks. The first of which came in a 2-0 victory over Portugal on June 7th 1992, during a US Cup game in Boston and the second came in a 3–0 defeat of Northern Ireland on 31 March 1993 during a World Cup qualifier in Dublin.

[edit] Career as Irish manager

Following the Republic of Ireland's failure to reach the 2006 World Cup, the tenure of manager Brian Kerr came to an end. A three-man FAI sub committee spearheaded by former FAI treasurer John Delaney was formed with the remit of appointing a capable successor to Kerr. Delaney assured the Irish public that a "world class" management team^[1] would be appointed to oversee Ireland's qualification campaign for the 2008 European Championship. After an initial flurry of rumours linking names of the calibre of Alex Ferguson^[2], Terry Venables^[3] and Bobby Robson^[4] with the post, Staunton was released from his player/assistant manager role for Walsall on 12 January 2006 and was officially named as the replacement for Brian Kerr as Republic of Ireland manager the following day^[5]. Staunton was something of a shock appointment^[6] given the names that had been circulated and his own limited coaching and managerial experience. Upon taking the position, Staunton appointed Aston Villa's reserve team coach and former teammate Kevin McDonald as his coach, and engaged an aging Bobby Robson, shortly to begin his fifth battle with cancer, in the somewhat nebulous role of "International Consultant". In the first of a series of public relations missteps, a press conference that would ultimately be lampooned by the Irish public^[7] saw Staunton proclaim himself "the Gaffer" - a nickname which has now stuck.

“	I know that the calibre of the team I have will bring a huge range of experience and talent to the challenges that lie ahead.	”
	— (Staunton upon his appointment as Republic of Ireland manager)

His international management career enjoyed a dream start, something Staunton called "a bit of a fairytale", when he led Ireland to an impressive 3–0 victory over Sweden on Wednesday 1 March 2006 with Damien Duff, Robbie Keane (captaining the Republic of Ireland for the first time) and Liam Miller getting onto the score sheet. Staunton's honeymoon period did not last long, however. The victory over Sweden was followed by two friendly defeats, the first a dour and disappointing 1–0 defeat to Chile in his second match in charge on 23 May 2006 and then a demoralising 4–0 thrashing by Holland at Lansdowne Road, Ireland's worst home reverse in 40 years.

Prior to the Holland game, Staunton was confronted and threatened by a man outside the team hotel on Monday 14 August with a gun that turned out to be an imitation Uzi machine gun^[8]. The 31-year-old assailant was arrested at a nearby beach and released by police the following day. No physical harm was caused but the event was a public relations disaster for both Staunton and the FAI (this was not the first time an assailant had attacked members of the squad at that particular hotel^[9]), further damaging the credibility of both parties in the eyes of the Irish public.

Staunton's first competitive match as Republic of Ireland manager ended in a 1–0 defeat against Germany in Stuttgart, despite a battling performance. Staunton himself was sent off by the referee for kicking a water bottle onto the pitch in frustration during the second half. Worse was swiftly to follow. On 7 October 2006, in their second Euro 2008 qualifier, Ireland suffered a crushing defeat by being beaten 5–2 by lowly Cyprus in Nicosia. Staunton was watching from the stands, having been given a touchline ban for his sending-off in Germany. The defeat by Cyprus heaped additional pressure on the already beleaguered Staunton ahead of Ireland's next game, at home to the Czech Republic on 11 October. An improved performance against the Czechs resulted in a 1–1 draw, which resulted in the pressure on Staunton easing somewhat.

Staunton was seen to be emotional after the 5–0 victory over San Marino; it was to be the last match to be played on the old Lansdowne Road pitch. In the return fixture, the quality of the side's performance deteriorated and the team needed a goal four minutes into injury time to secure the three points with a final score of 2-1. Coming so close to dropping points against a team ranked 195th in the world at the time of the match immediately sparked further calls for the manager's resignation^{[citation needed]}.

Ireland returned to form with two successive 1–0 home victories over Wales and Slovakia which brought Ireland close to contention for second place in Group D of the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying groups. Such was the surprise that greeted the results that RTÉ presenter Bill O'Herlihy concluded the coverage of the Slovakia game with the comment, "Ireland are now in contention for qualification for Euro 2008. Who would have thought it?" The upswing in form continued on 22 August 2007 with a 4-0 win in a non-competitive match against Denmark in Aarhus. Staunton was delighted with the results^[10] and headed into the next set of fixtures with Ireland placed third in the qualifying group.

The victories, however, proved to be something of a false dawn as, over the space of five days in September, an injury-hit Ireland dropped five points from two games and saw their qualifying campaign effectively come to an end. Leading 2–1 away to Slovakia the team would emerge with just one point after an injury-time strike from Marek Cech cancelled their advantage. Staunton was disappointed by the performance but four days later, on 12 September, a 1–0 defeat to the Czech Republic in Prague crippled the qualifying campaign. A 0–0 draw with Germany on 13 October at Croke Park and a 1–1 draw at home to Cyprus in the same stadium four days later (at which a chorus of boos greeted the final whistle^[11]) secured qualification for both Germany and the Czech Republic. Ireland would not be competing in the 2008 European Championship.

Amid the fans' dissatisfaction, many pundits commented that Staunton was now effectively on borrowed time^[6] and the FAI announced that an emergency meeting was to be called to discuss Staunton's position on 23 October^[12]. Prior to this, John Delaney gave an interview to RTE where he refused to publicly back the beleaguered manager and attempted to extricate himself from any blame for his part in Staunton's initial appointment^[13]. Staunton, for his part, refused to resign and publicly stated that he intended to see out the remainder of his four-year contract.^[11]

On the evening of 23 October 2007 after initially indicating to reporters that the FAI meeting would take place in Dublin's Crown Plaza Hotel, where two executive rooms had been hired for use by the FAI, it emerged that Staunton had met the FAI in secret in the Radisson Hotel at Dublin airport where he made his case to be retained in the job. The FAI subsequently met in private discussion for six hours after which it was confirmed that Staunton's turbulent 21 month reign as international manager had come to an end^[14] He was replaced by Don Givens who temporarily took charge of the national team until Giovanni Trapattoni's appointment as manager.

[edit] Leeds United

On 4 February 2008, Staunton joined up with recently-appointed Leeds United manager Gary McAllister for a training session, with a view to becoming McAllister's assistant manager at the club. He was given the post later that day.^[15] In his first month at Leeds, the club did not win a game, until a 1–0 victory on 1 March against Swindon Town, but Leeds have only lost three games in the 17 that he and McAllister have been in charge.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Honours

First Division: 1990 with Liverpool
FA Cup: 1989 with Liverpool
Football League Cup: 1994 and 1996 with Aston Villa
Charity Shield: 1988 and 1990 (Shared) with Liverpool

[edit] Managerial stats

As of 24 October 2007.

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
Team	Nat	From	To	G	W	L	D	Win %
Republic of Ireland		January 14, 2006	October 23, 2007	17	6	5	6	35.29

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by Roy Keane	Republic of Ireland national team Captain 2002	Succeeded by Kenny Cunningham

v • d • e Republic of Ireland squad - 1990 FIFA World Cup

1 Bonner • 2 Morris • 3 Staunton • 4 McCarthy • 5 Moran • 6 Whelan • 7 McGrath • 8 Houghton • 9 Aldridge • 10 Cascarino • 11 Sheedy • 12 O'Leary • 13 Townsend • 14 Hughton • 15 Slaven • 16 Sheridan • 17 Quinn • 18 Stapleton • 19 Kelly • 20 Byrne • 21 McLoughlin • 22 Peyton • Coach: Charlton

v • d • e Republic of Ireland squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup

1 Bonner • 2 Irwin • 3 Phelan • 4 Moran • 5 McGrath • 6 Keane • 7 Townsend • 8 Houghton • 9 Aldridge • 10 Sheridan • 11 Staunton • 12 G. Kelly • 13 Kernaghan • 14 Babb • 15 Coyne • 16 Cascarino • 17 McGoldrick • 18 Whelan • 19 McLoughlin • 20 D. Kelly • 21 McAteer • 22 A. Kelly • Coach: Charlton

v • d • e Republic of Ireland squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup

1 Given • 2 Finnan • 3 Harte • 4 Cunningham • 5 Staunton • 6 Roy Keane • 7 McAteer • 8 Holland • 9 Duff • 10 Robbie Keane • 11 Kilbane • 12 Kinsella • 13 Connolly • 14 Breen • 15 Dunne • 16 Kiely • 17 Quinn • 18 G. Kelly • 19 Morrison • 20 O'Brien • 21 Reid • 22 Carsley • 23 A. Kelly • Coach: McCarthy

v • d • e

Republic of Ireland national football team – Managers

Harris (193?–??*) • Lacey (193?–??*) • Livingstone (1951–53) • Stevenson (1953–55) • Carey (1955–67) • Cantwell (1967) • Hurley (1967–69) • Meagan (1969–71) • Tuohy (1971–73) • Thomas (1973**) • Giles (1973–80) • Kelly (1980**) • Hand (1980–85) • Charlton (1986–95) • McCarthy (1996–2002) • Givens (2002**) • Kerr (2003–2005) • Staunton (2006–07) • Givens (2007–08**) Trapattoni (2008–)

* =Between 1924 and 1936 the team was known as the Irish Free State
**=In a caretaker role

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