Steve Staunton - Defender Date of Birth: January 19, 1969 Birthplace: Drogheda, Ireland Nationality: Irish Height: 1.83m / 6' Previous Clubs: Liverpool Joined Villa: August 7, 1991 Acquisition Price: £1.1 million Debut: August 1991 Left Villa (for): August 16, 2003 (Coventry) Transfer fee: Free transfer

Joined Villa from Liverpool in a 1.1 million deal in 1991. He is a talented left-sided player who plays at full-back or midfield and is well known for his accurate crosses and corners. In the summer of 1994 he signed a contract for another 4 years at Villa Park. He has represented the Republic of Ireland on 55 occasions, playing in all four games in the 1994 world cup.

Every summer, it was rumored that Liverpool wanted to buy him back. The 96-97 season saw Staunton return among the starting eleven, and in other positions than normal. However, he filled the position as sweeper brilliantly after the sad exit of Paul McGrath, arguably the best defender ever at Aston Villa. Perhaps Brian Little had found the position where Stan really belonged? Fewer fans now doubted his place among the starting 11, and it was quite clear he was missed in the starting three fixtures of the 1997-98 season, which were all lost due to poor defending.

There were a few vital mistakes by Staunton in the 97-98 season, but overall, he did wonderfully. However, the prospects of Villa holding on to him when his contract expired next summer looked very bleak. It was quite clear that Staunton wasn't playing for Villa out of love, Steve turning down a lucrative £20.000 a week offer from John Gregory. He joined Liverpool on a free transfer on July 2, 1998. The feelings were mixed, Steve being a great defender, but his greed a little too hot to handle.

There were laughs a plenty when he was sent off for Liverpool in a match at Villa Park two seasons later. However, just one season later, he signed up with Aston Villa once more after failing to aggree with Liverpool on a new contract. He spent another three seasons with Aston Villa before moving on to Coventry on a free transfer.