Steve Staunton

At 55 years old, Steve Staunton has this physical status:

Stephen Staunton (born 19 January 1969) is an Irish association footballer and former professional footballer who played as a defender.

He earned his 102 caps for the Republic of Ireland's national football team, captained his team to the knock-out stage of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and was named in the FIFA Century Club. Staunton spent a lengthy association with Aston Villa and Liverpool.

Before retiring, he spent time as the Republic of Ireland's national team coach before being named Giovanni Trattoni.

In Football League Two, he spent five months as manager of Darlington.

Source

Career

Staunton, who was born in Dundalk, County Louth, was an excellent all-round sportsman. He grew up in Dundalk, County Louth, and attended De La Salle College in the town. He played Gaelic football, represented Louth's U-16 squad, and captured a Louth Senior Championship medal with Clan na Gael, as well as playing soccer for his home club Dundalk. He also played for his hometown team, St Dominic's underage program.

Staunton was asked by Liverpool as a 17-year-old for his home club of Dundalk, and manager Kenny Dalglish said on September 2nd, 1986, for a £20,000 deposit.

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 back-up for injured Karl Goddard. In a 1–1 league draw with Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on September 17, he made his Liverpool debut on September 17. Despite being highly inexperienced compared to the players around him who were fighting a League championship title the year before, he stayed in the team for the remainder of the season. On September 20, he scored his first goal on his debut on September 20th; however, his 80th-minute strike wasn't enough to stop Arsenal from winning the Centenary Trophy semi-final 2–1.

Gary Ablett, a regular left back, had to be moved to the center of defense due to captain Alan Hansen's injury. Staunton was given his opportunity and produced an excellent and consistent player in a team of strong players, who was also playing for Liverpool as the club vied for the title.

Staunton was one of the survivors of the Hillsborough tragedy, which killed the lives of 96 fans in the FA Cup semi-finals on April 15, 1989. He also put on a superb showing when the crucial FA Cup semi-finals were postponed a month later, with Liverpool defeating Nottingham Forest 3-1.

Staunton defeated Everton 3–2 at Wembley Stadium, but he was forced to leave early in the extra time period. However, the season came to an end when Liverpool lost the League title in a decider against Arsenal at Anfield. With just seconds remaining, the Gunners were expected to win by two specific goals and not 1–0 up. Michael Thomas broke through the Reds' defense to score, effectively ending Liverpool from winning their second league and FA Cup double, which no English club had yet to achieve.

Staunton was back on the streets again in the following year as Liverpool regained the league championship for the second year. On October 4, 1989, his first goals for Liverpool came in a strange way as he came on as a replacement in a League Cup tie against Wigan Athletic and scored a hat-trick. In the FA Cup, he scored twice more during the season; against Crewe Alexandra and Blackburn Rovers. However, 1990-91 was his last season with Liverpool before being signed up by Aston Villa on August 7, 1991, for £1.1 million. Graeme Souness's appointment was accused of misjudging the player's capabilities, although the Bosman decision (which also banned quotas for EU citizens on teams in member countries) did not come before 1995; Staunton's being classified as an international player meant more than four players; the Bosman decision (which also included the removal of quotas for EU citizens on teams in member countries) was not released until 1995.

Staunton made a good impression on the Villa fans by scoring a goal on his debut in the 3–2 victory over Sheffield Wednesday. He soon became a regular in Villa's defense, as well as the likes of legendary Villan Paul McGrath, who finished seventh in 1991-92. In the first Premier League season, he was instrumental in the club's quest for the title. Villa in the end lost out to Manchester United and had to settle for second place.

He received a League Cup winners medal while assisting a wounded Villa in defeating Manchester United 3-1, effectively ending their chances of being denied a domestic treble. The League Cup champion finished his domestic medal set. Despite the club's managerial woes, he had a fine season and captained the team in the 1994-95 season. Staunton's 1995-96 season was a mixed one. He won another League Cup medal, this time as a non-playing substitute, but his playing time was limited due to a variety of injuries.

He was back in defence again in the UEFA Cup quarter finals in 1996-97, representing Villa's run to the UEFA Cup quarter finals. During his time at Villa, he also scored from a corner. In the meantime, he was assisting a transitional Villa team in 1996–97 to a fifth-place finish in 1997–98.

He made a surprise move back to Liverpool on July 3, 1998, when joint boss Roy Evans and Gérard Houllier agreed to a free transfer. Staunton played the last 15 minutes of the game in goal on September 27, 1999, after Liverpool had to call off Sander Westerveld for engaging with Francis Jeffers after Liverpool had used all three substitutes. In his second stint at Liverpool, he scored once more, with his goal against Hull City in September 1999.

His second stint on Merseyside lasted two years before he was told he could leave on a free transfer. He was recalled to Anfield for his 148th and final game for the Reds on November 23, 2000, after a brief loan stint with Crystal Palace, where he played six league appearances and scored once against Tranmere Rovers.

He rejoined Aston Villa on a free transfer on December 7, 2000. He appeared in 14 of the club's remaining league fixtures and then appeared in a number of seasons. He scored twice in his second stint at Villa, his second in the Intertoto Cup against FC Zurich.

Staunton began playing football for the rest of his career, plying his trade with Coventry City. On August 15, 2003, the city became a member of the United Kingdom On a new free transfer, Staunton joined them on August 15th. He made his debut on August 16, 2003 in the 0–0 league draw with Walsall at Highfield Road. He remained with the Sky Blues until 2005, clocking in at 74 appearances.

Staunton decided not to renew his deal after it had ended and instead joined Walsall on August 2, 2005. He appeared on just ten times for Walsall and later took over as head coach of the Republic of Ireland's senior international team until 16 January 2006. He was captain of the Walsall team that beat Blackpool 2–0 on New Year's Eve 2005 in what was his last game as a professional footballer at the end of his 20-year career.

International career

Staunton made his Republic of Ireland debut in a 4–0 friendly win over Tunisia. As the Republic of Ireland defeated Italy in their first ever FIFA World Cup finals, he traveled with Jack Charlton's squad. Staunton, the youngest member of the squad, appeared in every match at left back (though at a club level he had also shown his value as a central defender or midfield player) as the Republic of Ireland advanced to the quarter finals after being defeated by the host country.

At FIFA World Cup 1994 in the United States, he also represented Ireland in the Republic of Ireland. He appeared in every game as the Republic of Ireland lost in the second round to the Netherlands.

The Republic of Ireland failed to qualify for both Euro 96 and the 1998 World Cup in France, but Staunton was still on the roster.

Following a playoff against Iran, the Republic of Ireland qualified for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. In the second leg in Tehran, Staunton captained the Irish team. Following Roy Keane's departure from the team, coach Mick McCarthy, who had been Staunton's captain for the country's first World Cup 12 years ago, selected him for the squad and named him captain.

Staunton appeared in every Republic of Ireland game of the tournament, with the 1–1 group match draw against Germany on June 5th being a rare and historic event for the first Irishman to make 100 appearances for his country. He formed an amazing central defensive partnership with Shay Given, together with Gary Breen. Staunton was the first footballer to have played for the Republic of Ireland's national team, and he was still the joint record holder for Ireland's qualifying campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, alongside Robbie Keane, although both players (along with Robbie Keane) have since imitated Staunton's appearance record.

Ireland's competition came to an end in the second round after losing a tensely to Spain in a penalty shoot-out after the game had concluded 1–1. After achieving a national record of 102 appearances, Staunton announced his retirement from international football immediately afterwards. He is Ireland's only player to have played in every single one of Ireland's 13 World Cup finals games.

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

Managerial career

Following the Republic of Ireland's inability to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, manager Brian Kerr's tenure came to an end. With the intention of appointing a capable replacement to Kerr, a three-man Football Association of Ireland (FAI) was formed. Delaney told the Irish people that a "world class" management team would be appointed to control Ireland's qualification campaign for the 2008 European Championships. Staunton was announced as Kerr's replacement on the following day after a initial flurry of rumors linking Alex Ferguson, Terry Venables, and Robson's calibre, with former England manager Sir Bobby Robson as his mentor and former Aston Villa teammate Kevin MacDonald as coach. Staunton was something of a surprise appointment given the names that had been circulated and his own lack of coaching and managerial experience.

When he led Ireland to an impressive 3–0 win over Sweden on March 1, 2006, his international management career got off to a promising start, something Staunton referred to as "a bit of a fairy tale." The victory over Sweden was followed by two friendly losses, the first a disappointing 1–0 loss to Chile on May 23, 2006, and then a 4–0 loss to Holland at Lansdowne Road, Ireland's worst home run in 40 years.

Staunton was approached and threatened by a man outside the team's hotel on Monday 14 August with a weapon that turned out to be an imitation Uzi machine gun. The 31-year-old assassinant was arrested at a nearby beach and released by police the next day. No physical harm was caused, but the incident was a public relations disaster for both Staunton and the FAI (this was not the first time an assassination of members of the crew at the same hotel). Despite the fact that Andy Reid's recall to the national side of the player's former club Tottenham was soon after this incident, the FAI had brought news of him returning to the national team of the player's former club Tottenham, despite the fact that he was not a Charlton player at the time.

Staunton oversaw his first competitive match as the Republic of Ireland's boss, against Germany in Stuttgart, with Ireland losing despite a heroic effort. During the second half, Staunton was sent off by the referee for throwing a water bottle onto the pitch in a fit. Worse was soon to follow. Ireland suffered a humiliating 5–2 loss in Nicosia on October 7, 2006, in their second UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier. Staunton was watching from the stands after being banned from touchingline in Germany for his sending-off. The loss by Cyprus put added to the heat on Staunton, who, even at this early stage of his career, was already facing calls for his resignation ahead of Ireland's next game, which was hosted in the Czech Republic on October 11th. When pressed on the issue, the FAI refused to deny that a poor result would result in the manager's immediate dismissal. A 1–1 draw was a result of an improved showing against the Czechs, which lifted the heat on Staunton to a certain degree.

Staunton was seen being empathetic after defeating San Marino 5–0; it was to be the last match to be played on the old Lansdown Road pitch. In the return fixture, the team was without a goal from Stephen Ireland four minutes into injury time in order to gain the three points with a final score of 2–1. At the time of the match, the manager's resignation came so close to bringing points down against a team that had been ranked 195th in the world.

Ireland came back to form with two straight home victories over Wales and Slovakia, bringing them close to second place in Group D of the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying groups. "Ireland are now in contention for qualifying for Euro 2008" was the surprise that greeted the results by RTÉ presenter Bill O'Herlihy. With a 4–0 victory in a non-competitive match against Denmark in Aarhus on August 22, the upswing in form continued. Staunton was delighted with the results and was planning to meet Ireland, who came third in the qualifying group.

The victories, on the other hand, proved to be a false dawn as, in the ensuing five days, an injury-plagued Ireland lost five points from two games and effectively ended their qualifying campaign. The team would win by a single point after an injury-time blow from Marek Cech ended their advantage. Staunton was dissatisfied by the results, but the Czech Republic's 1–0 loss in Prague on September 12th crippled the qualifying campaign. On October 13, Germany shared a 0–0 draw with Germany and a 1–1 draw at home to Cyprus in the same stadium four days later (during which a chorus of boos welcomed the final whistle) confirmed qualification for both Germany and the Czech Republic. Ireland will not be competing in the 2008 European Championships.

Many pundits observed Staunton was now effectively on borrowed time, and the FAI announced that an emergency meeting was to be called to address Staunton's position on October 23th. Prior to this, John Delaney gave RTÉ an interview in which he refused to publicly support the beleaguered manager and pledged to excuse him from any responsibility for his role in Staunton's first appointment. Staunton, for his part, refused to resign and said explicitly that he wanted to see the remainder of his four-year deal through.

Staunton reported in the Royal Plaza Hotel in Dublin, where two executive rooms had been hired by the FAI to be used by the FAI, where he had remained in the lobby. The FAI then met in private deliberation for six hours after it was revealed that Staunton's turbulent 21-month tenure as the country's foreign manager had come to an end. Don Givens, who took over the national team for a short time until Giovanni Trapattoni's appointment as manager, was recalled.

Staunton met with recently appointed Leeds United manager Gary McAllister for a training session on February 4th, with the intention of becoming McAllister's assistant manager at the club. He was given the job later that day. The club did not win a game until beating Swindon Town 11-0 on March 1st. Staunton left the club when McAllister was fired by Leeds United in December 2008 after five straight losses.

Staunton was sent as a scout for Wolverham Wanderers under manager Mick McCarthy. It was revealed in May 2009 that he had applied for the then vacant manager's position at Port Vale. Darlington's new manager, John McCarthy, was announced on October 5, 2009, and takes over two days later against his old club Leeds United. His deal was supposed to bring him to an end of the season, with Kevin Richardson as his assistant manager. Staunton lost 2–0 to Dagenham & Redbridge in his first game as coach. Staunton was fired as the Darlington manager on Monday, putting Darlington last in the league and facing relegation to the Football Conference. He had only played four games from his 23 league games as boss, but his dismissal culminated in a record low attendance for a league match against Barnet in Staunton's final match in charge.

Staunton was given a job as a scout at Sunderland on August 22, 2011. However, he was booted from his job in 2013 after being accused of his conduct.

Source