Steve Staunton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the City Manager of Largo, Florida, USA, see Steve Stanton.

Personal information
Steve Staunton
Date of birth	January 19, 1969 (age 38)
Place of birth	Drogheda, Ireland
Height	6ft 1ins
Nickname	Stan "The Gaffer" "The Boss"
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Republic of Ireland (Manager)
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1985–86 1986–91 1987 1991–98 1998–2000 2000 2000–03 2003–05 2005–06	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
2005-2006 2006-present	Walsall (assistant manager) 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, Ireland) was a professional footballer who enjoyed a distinguished career with Liverpool and Aston Villa, he also became the Republic of Ireland's most capped player. He is currently the Republic of Ireland manager.

1 Club career
2 International career
3 Management career
4 Honours
5 Managerial stats
6 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Liverpool

He comforted bereaved families and attended many of the funerals after the Hillsborough disaster on the 15 April 1989 and put in an outstanding performance when the fateful FA Cup semi-final was rescheduled a month later, with Liverpool beating 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 2 clear goals and were 1 up with just seconds remaining, with virtually the last kick of the season Michael Thomas broke throuh 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. (This was before the Bosman ruling, which among other things abolished quotas for EU citizens on teams in member countries.)

[edit] Aston Villa

Staunton made a good impression on the Villa fans by marking his debut 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 winning of his League Cup medal completed the domestic medal set. Over the next four years, he won another Coca-Cola League Cup medal, this time as a non playing sub in the 3-0 victory over Leeds United.

[edit] Return to Anfield

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

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 6 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 Olympiacos in the UEFA Cup.

[edit] Villa Park Again

On the 7 December 2000 he did another about-turn and returned to Aston Villa on a free transfer. He played in 14 of the remaining league fixture for the Midlands club and then featured regularly or a further 2 seasons bringing the total of Villa appearances to 350 in which he scored 16 times.

[edit] Coventry City

Staunton continued to play club football, plying his trade with Coventry City moving there on the 15 August 2003 on a free transfer. He made his debut on the 16 August '03 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. He was an extremely popular figure at Coventry City earning the nickname Stan due him looking like Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy. His long stint with local rivals Aston Villa surprisingly did not affect the Coventry faithful's opinion of the Irishman.

[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. Fittingly, 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 Tunisiain the first game after the 1988 Europeen Championship Finals.He opened his scoring account for his country against the U.S.S.R. in a 1v0 victory in 1990

Staunton 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 USA. 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.

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.

Never a prolific goalscorer from either defence or midfield, Staunton nevertheless had a penchant for scoring spectacular long-range goals with his much-feared^{[citation needed]} left foot, particularly from set pieces. On one memorable occasion, in the 3-0 defeat of Northern Ireland on March 31, 1993, he scored a goal directly from a corner-kick.

[edit] Management career

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. In an interview that would be lampooned in various quarters, Staunton proclaimed himself "the gaffer", a nickname which has now stuck.

He appointed Aston Villa's reserve team coach and former teammate Kevin McDonald as his coach, he will be working alongside Bobby Robson who will provide his services in a consultancy role. Staunton is quoted to have said "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" on his appointment.

His international management career enjoyed a dream start, something Staunton called 'a bit of a fairytale', when he led the Republic of Ireland to an impressive 3-0 victory over Sweden on Wednesday 1 March 2006. Damien Duff, Robbie Keane (captaining the Republic of Ireland for the first time) and Liam Miller getting onto the score sheet. This was followed by two losses in friendlies, firstly a dour and disappointing 1-0 defeat to Chile in his second match in charge on 24 May 2006, and then a demoralising 4-0 thrashing by Holland at Lansdowne Road, Ireland's worst home loss in 40 years.

Prior to the Holland game, Staunton was confronted by a man outside the team hotel on Monday 14 August with a gun. The 31-year-old assailant was arrested at a nearby beach and released by police the following day. The unknown man apparently used an imitation Uzi machine gun and his motives remain equally unknown.

A tearful Steve Staunton after his Irish team beat San Marino in the final match at Lansdowne Road

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, however. On October 7, 2006, in their second Euro 2008 qualifier, Ireland suffered what was by common consensus the worst defeat in their history, being beaten 5-2 by unfancied Cyprus in Nicosia. Staunton was watching from the stands, having been given a touchline ban for his sending-off in the 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 October 11. Many in the media were calling for him to quit. An impressive performance followed against the Czechs which saw a 1-1 draw and an Irish squad that looked like winning the game. The public pressure eased somewhat.

Staunton was seen to be emotional after the 5-0 victory over San Marino; it was to be the last international match to be played on the old Lansdowne Road pitch. In the return fixture Ireland won 2-1 needing a goal four minutes into injury time from Stephen Ireland to clinch the game. Coming so close to dropping points against a team ranked 195th in the world at the time of the match immediately sparked more calls for his resignation.

On March 24, 2007, in the first soccer game to be played at Croke Park, Ireland scraped past Wales with a 1-0 win, thanks once again to Stephen Ireland. It was an unimpressive display with Irish TV pundit Eamon Dunphy reaching new levels of pessimism by admitting he actually wanted Ireland to lose the game to ensure Staunton was sacked. Two days later, Staunton reacted to growing media criticism by giving a 32 second-long press conference after a squad training session in Malahide.

Staunton eased public pressure on his position somewhat on March 28 with a 1-0 victory over Slovakia in Croke Park, Kevin Doyle scoring the only goal with a close range header. The Irish performance was far superior to what had been seen the previous Saturday, with even Eamon Dunphy admitting the team's performance gave him some hope.

[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

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
Team	Nat	From	To	G	W	L	D	Win %
Republic of Ireland		January 14, 2006	Present	10	5	4	1	50.00

[edit] External links

Preceded by Brian Kerr	Republic of Ireland national football team Head Coach 2006-	Succeeded by Incumbent

	Republic of Ireland squad - 1990 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists
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

	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

	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

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../s/t/e/Steve_Staunton_a4e1.html"