Steve Staunton

Pre-Liverpool

Born in Drogheda, County Louth, Staunton was an accomplished all-round sportsman. He grew up in Dundalk, also in County Louth, and attended the De La Salle College in the town. As well as playing soccer for his home club of Dundalk, he played Gaelic football, appearing for Louth's U-16 team and winning a Louth Senior Championship medal with Clan na Gael. He also played for his local team St Dominic's at underage level.

Liverpool

Staunton was spotted by Liverpool playing in Ireland for his home club of Dundalk as a 17-year-old and was signed on 2 September 1986 by manager Kenny Dalglish for a fee 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 debut 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…

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 following a playoff against Iran. Staunton captained the Irish team in the second leg in Tehran. 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 named him captain following the departure of Roy Keane from the squad. Again, Staunton played in every Republic of Ireland game of the tournament. With the 1–1 group match draw against Germany on 5 June, he became the first Irishman to make 100 appearances for his country. As of the end of Ireland's qualifying campaign…

National team

Following the Republic of Ireland's failure to reach the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the tenure of manager Brian Kerr came to an end. A three-man Football Association of Ireland (FAI) subcommittee spearheaded by its former 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 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, Terry Venables and Bobby Robson with the post, Staunton was released from his player/assistant manager role for Walsall on 12 January 2006 and was officially named as Kerr's replacement the following day, with former England manager Sir Bobby Robson supporting him in the role of International Consultant and with former Aston Villa teammate Kevin MacDonald as coach. Staunton was something of a shock appointment given the names that had been circulated and his own limited coaching and managerial experience.

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 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. The victory over Sweden was followed by two friendly defeats, the first a disappointing…

Club

International

Managerial