Steve Staunton was born in Drogheda on the 19th of January 1969. He played for Irish club side Dundalk as a youth before his transfer to Liverpool in 1986. It was two more years before he would make his debut for Liverpool first XI - in a 1-1 draw against Spurs at Anfield. Staunton's tough tackling and accurate left foot meant that within a few months he had made the Liverpool Number 3 shirt his own! The end to the 1988-1989 season was quite a painful one for the young Staunton - Liverpool lost 96 supporters at the Hillsborough disaster in April; in May they beat Everton to win the FA Cup only to lose the Championship to Arsenal in the famous 2-0 defeat at Anfield.

A young Steve Staunton (fourth from right) prior to Ireland's match against Malta in 1990.

In 1991, Kenny Dalglish resigned as the manager of Liverpool and Graeme Souness took over as manager. Souness quickly sold many of Liverpool's players - Staunton was included in that and left to join Aston Villa for £1.1 Million. Souness would later confess that his decision to sell Staunton was his biggest mistake as the manager at Liverpool (and that really is saying something because Souness made quite a few!). At Villa Park, Staunton began to show the kinds of qualities that had earned him the respect of so many players and fans alike. He helped Villa to a Runners-up spot in the inaugural Premier League season of 1992 - 1993. He also collected a League Cup Winners' medal against Manchester United in 1994 and another one again in 1996.

Staunton collects some water from manager Jack Charlton during Ireland's famous win over Italy at the 1994 World Cup Finals.

Staunton re-joined Liverpool in 1998 under the Bosman ruling. However, by this stage Liverpool were but a mere shadow of their glorious past and Staunton struggled to command a regular place in their starting XI. He then went and re-joined Aston Villa before eventually signing for Coventry City on a free transfer in 2003. Staunton made his debut for Ireland in the 4-0 win over Tunisia in 1988. He clearly impressed manager Jack Charlton because he more or less became Ireland's first-choice left-back from that point onwards. He was the youngest player in Ireland's squad for the 1990 World Cup Finals in Italy at the age of 21. During the mid-1990s Staunton was moved out of defence and into the left-side of midfield. His natural skill and cultured left foot meant that this switch was well within him. He went on to star for Ireland in the 1994 World Cup Finals.

Staunton leads out the Irish team as captain for the opening 2002 World Cup group fixture against Cameroon.

The pinnacle of Staunton's career in the green jersey was at its end - the 2002 World Cup Finals. With Roy Keane back at home, Mick McCarthy asked Staunton to take over as captain. Staunton reached the mark of 100 caps for Ireland during the Finals also. His last game for Ireland was in the disappointing defeat to Spain on penalties in the Second-Round match. Steve Staunton played 102 times for Ireland and scored 8 goals. He recently took over from Brian Kerr as the Irish manager and is the current boss of the Ireland team.