Dalglish signed the Dundalk Defender
Steve Staunton was only 17 in 1986 when Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish saw him playing for Dundalk, his hometown team. Dalglish was so impressed by the 6 ft. 1 inch young defender that he signed him for Liverpool for a fee of £20,000.
Steve made his Liverpool debut for the club at Anfield two years later. It was a 1— 1 draw with Spurs. He was a huge success, even though massively inexperienced compared with the players around him — Alan Hansen was captain. Staunton remained in the side for the rest of the season.
Between then and 1991, when he went to Aston Villa for the first time, he made 65 appearances for Liverpool.
In the aftermath of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster in which 92 fans died, Steve was among the players who comforted bereaved families and attended many of the funerals.
Overall, in a remarkable career, he would have two spells with each of the two clubs mentioned — Liverpool and Aston Villa.
He won the FA Cup with Liverpool, and was a key member of the side that won the League title in 1990. In 1991 Liverpool transferred him to Aston Villa for £1.1 million. At Aston Villa, where he played alongside his fellow Irishman, the legendary Paul McGrath, he was again outstanding, helping them to victory over Manchester United in the 1994 League Cup Final. They won it again in 1996. In total he played for Villa on over 300 occasions.
His goals total in top class British club football (481 appearances) amounted to 21 — remember he was a defender. He also played 102 times for the Republic of Ireland, scoring 8 goals, and was national team coach 2006-2007, prior to the arrival of Trapattoni.
When he was playing for Ireland I met him on the many occasions I visited Mick McCarthy’s Irish squad sessions. More often than not we chatted, or exchanged a few words of greeting, or maybe just a wave or a nod. My project for a world international soccer museum interested him. He agreed to donate an Irish shirt, and his Aston Villa match shirt.
Sometimes the intervals between squad sessions could be as long as six weeks or even a couple of months. Even so, Steve kept his word and delivered the shirts to me. The Irish match shirt was very special — it was his very first international shirt. The accompanying pictures tell their own story of this warm-hearted and very grounded County Louth soccer hero.
