About Dean Saunders
Dean Nicholas Saunders (born 21 June 1964) is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a striker in a career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He played for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the 1990s, and set a new British transfer record when he joined the former from Derby County and was Aston Villa's record signing. He began at his home club Swansea City before also playing for Brighton, Oxford United, Bradford City, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United as well as spells at Galatasaray and Benfica. He was capped 75 times at senior level for Wales between 1986 and 2001, scoring 22 times, making him one of the nation's highest-scoring and most-capped players of all time, although Wales never qualified for any major international competitions while Saunders was playing for them. Following his retirement from playing in 2001, he entered football coaching and then management, firstly of Wrexham and since then of Doncaster Rovers, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Crawley Town and Chesterfield. == Playing career == === Early career === Saunders was born in Swansea and began his career with Swansea City, where his father Roy had been a player and coach, signing as an apprentice on leaving school in 1980. He turned professional in the summer of 1982, after Swansea had finished sixth in their debut season as a First Division club. Swansea were relegated in 1982–83, and Saunders made his debut in the 1983–84 season. A goalless four-game loan spell at local rivals Cardiff City also came in 1984–85, before he signed for Second Division club Brighton & Hove Albion on a free transfer on 7 August 1985.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.