Stephen Staunton was born on 19 January 1969 and is an Irish football manager, scout and former professional footballer.
38 Facts About Steve Staunton
2.
Steve Staunton played as a defender with two separate spells each with Premier League sides Aston Villa and Liverpool.
3.
Steve Staunton played in the Football League for Bradford City, Crystal Palace, Coventry City and Walsall.
4.
Steve Staunton earned 102 caps for the Republic of Ireland national football team, captained his team to the knock-out stage of the 2002 FIFA World Cup and earned his place in the FIFA Century Club.
5.
Steve Staunton spent five months as manager of Darlington in Football League Two and has worked on the coaching staff at Leeds United and Sunderland.
6.
Steve Staunton lived in Dundalk, County Louth, and attended the De La Salle College in the town.
7.
Steve Staunton played for his local team St Dominic's at underage level.
8.
Steve Staunton was therefore given his chance and proved an impressive and consistent performer in a team of strong players, playing his part as Liverpool challenged for the title again.
9.
New manager Graeme Souness was accused of misjudging the player's abilities, though the ruling for European ties possibly had a bearing, with Steve Staunton being classed as a foreigner, of which no team was allowed to field more than four; the Bosman ruling was not passed until 1995.
10.
Steve Staunton scored from a corner during his time at Villa.
11.
On 27 September 1999, during the Merseyside derby against Everton at Anfield, Steve 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.
12.
Steve Staunton scored once in his second spell at Liverpool, his goal coming in a League Cup tie against Hull City in September 1999.
13.
Steve Staunton's second spell on Merseyside lasted two years before he was told he could leave on a free transfer.
14.
Steve Staunton played in 14 of the club's remaining league fixtures and then featured regularly for a further two seasons.
15.
Steve Staunton scored once in his second spell at Villa, his goal coming in the Intertoto Cup against FC Zurich.
16.
Steve Staunton continued to play club football, plying his trade with Coventry City, moving there on 15 August 2003 on another free transfer.
17.
Steve Staunton remained with the Sky Blues until the summer of 2005, clocking up 75 appearances.
18.
Steve Staunton decided not to renew his contract once it had expired, and instead joined Walsall on 2 August 2005.
19.
Steve Staunton played just 10 times for Walsall and held the post of assistant coach until 16 January 2006, when he was appointed manager of the Republic of Ireland senior international side.
20.
Steve Staunton went to Italy with Jack Charlton's squad as the Republic of Ireland competed in their first ever FIFA World Cup finals.
21.
Steve Staunton represented the Republic of Ireland at FIFA World Cup 1994 in the United States.
22.
The Republic of Ireland failed to qualify for both Euro 96 in England and the 1998 World Cup in France, though Steve Staunton was still selected regularly for the team.
23.
Steve Staunton captained the Irish team in the second leg in Tehran.
24.
Steve Staunton was the first footballer to have reached a century of caps for the Republic of Ireland national team, and as of the end of Ireland's qualifying campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup he was still the joint record holder with former teammates Shay Given and Kevin Kilbane, though both players have since emulated Steve Staunton's appearance record.
25.
Steve Staunton announced his retirement from international football immediately afterwards after setting a national record of 102 appearances.
26.
Steve Staunton is the only player to have played in every single one of Ireland's 13 World Cup finals games.
27.
Steve Staunton was something of a shock appointment given the names that had been circulated and his own limited coaching and managerial experience.
28.
Steve Staunton himself was sent off by the referee for kicking a water bottle onto the pitch in frustration during the second half.
29.
Steve Staunton was watching from the stands, having been given a touchline ban for his sending-off in Germany.
30.
Steve Staunton was delighted with the results and headed into the next set of fixtures with Ireland placed third in the qualifying group.
31.
Steve Staunton was replaced by Don Givens who temporarily took charge of the national team until Giovanni Trapattoni's appointment as manager.
32.
On 4 February 2008, Steve 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.
33.
When McAllister was sacked by Leeds United in December 2008 after five consecutive defeats, Steve Staunton left the club.
34.
Steve Staunton was appointed as a scout at Wolverhampton Wanderers under manager Mick McCarthy.
35.
Steve Staunton's contract was initially to take him to the end of the season, with Kevin Richardson appointed as his assistant manager.
36.
On 21 March 2010, with Darlington bottom of the league and facing relegation to the Football Conference, Steve Staunton was sacked as the Darlington manager.
37.
Steve Staunton had won just four games from his 23 league matches in charge, although his sacking was put down to a record low crowd for a league game at the Darlington Arena of 1,463 against Barnet in Staunton's final match in charge.
38.
Steve Staunton was then handed a job as a scout at Sunderland on 22 August 2011.