Steven Saunders

Steven Saunders (born 30 March 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a defender for East Kilbride.

For other people named Stephen Saunders, see Stephen Saunders (disambiguation).

Steven Saunders
Personal information
Full name Steven Saunders
Date of birth (1991-03-30) 30 March 1991
Place of birth Rutherglen, Scotland
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s)
Club information
Current team
 East Kilbride
Youth career
2007–2008 Queen's Park
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2013 Motherwell 56 (2)
2013–2015 Ross County 19 (1)
2015–2016 Dumbarton 25 (4)
2016–2018 The New Saints 39 (4)
2018–2019 Livingston 3 (0)
2019–2020 Partick Thistle 28 (2)
2020 Gartcairn
2020– East Kilbride
National team‡
2009–2010[2] Scotland U19 3 (0)
2010–2012[3] Scotland U21 2 (0)
2010[4] Scotland 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:00, 4 December 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 November 2010

He played for Motherwell, Ross County, Dumbarton, The New Saints, Livingston and Partick Thistle at club level, and also represented Scotland once.

Club career

Motherwell

After spending time with Queen's Park as a youth player, Saunders started his professional career with Motherwell. He made his debut as a substitute in a Scottish Premier League match against Aberdeen on 29 November 2008.[5] After the match, manager Mark McGhee said that he was "delighted" with Saunders' performance.[5] Saunders then started the following two games against Kilmarnock and Hamilton Academical, playing at right back, and he was again praised by McGhee for his performance in the first of those games.[6]

In the 2009–10 season, under new manager Jim Gannon, Saunders has established himself as a regular starter in his preferred position of centre back. He scored his first goal for the club on Saturday 24 April 2010 against Hearts.[7] Under Gannon's successor, Craig Brown, Saunders became a regular starter at right back.

On 10 August 2011, whilst playing for the Scotland under-21s, Saunders suffered an achilles tendon injury that ruled him out for most of the 2011–12 season.[8] On 8 April 2012, Saunders made his first-team comeback as a late substitute in a 1–1 draw against Hibernian.[9] Saunders was released by Motherwell at the end of the 2012–13 season, after another lengthy injury lay-off restricted him to just one further appearance.[10]

Ross County

On 8 July 2013, Saunders signed a one-year deal with Ross County.[11] He made his debut for the club on 3 August 2013, in a 2–1 defeat against Celtic in the opening game of the 2013–14 season.[12] On 17 November 2013, he scored his first Ross County goal against St Mirren, but he was then sent off later in the match.[13]

Saunders signed a new one-year contract with Ross County on 19 May 2014.[14] He was one of 14 players released by the club at the end of the season.[15]

Dumbarton

After being released by Ross County, Saunders signed a short-term contract with Scottish Championship side Dumbarton in September 2015.[16][17] He scored his first two goals for the club within two minutes of each other in a 3–3 draw with Raith on 21 November 2015.[18] He extended his deal until the end of the season in January 2016.[19]

The New Saints

Saunders signed a two-year deal with Welsh Premier League club The New Saints on 8 June 2016, alongside Dumbarton teammate Jon Routledge.[20] He left the club in May 2018.[21]

Livingston

On 31 May 2018, Saunders returned to Scotland to sign a two-year deal with Livingston.[22] He only made five appearances for the Lions before departing in January 2019.[23]

Partick Thistle

Saunders signed an 18-month contract with Partick Thistle in January 2019;[23] he chose the number 43 squad number.[24] He scored his first goal for Thistle in a 4–1 victory against Stranraer in the 2018–19 Scottish Cup.[25] Saunders scored his first league goal for The Jags opening the scoring in an eventual 2–1 home defeat to Dundee United in August 2019.[26]

In August 2020, with the lower leagues yet to commence due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland (which also caused the cancellation of the previous campaign, with Partick controversially relegated to Scottish League One),[27] Saunders announced his retirement from full-time football to pursue a career as a financial advisor.[28]

East Kilbride

Saunders had a short spell with Gartcairn before signing with East Kilbride on 4 December 2020.[29]

International career

On 15 November 2010, Saunders was called up to the Scotland Squad for the first time, and made his debut the following evening in a 3–0 win over the Faroe Islands, replacing Phil Bardsley at right back in the 70th minute.[30]

Career statistics
As of 13:28, 16 August 2020 (UTC)[1]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Motherwell 2008–09 300000000030
2009–10 25110200040321
2010–11 25120300060361
2011–12 200000000020
2012–13 100000000010
Total 562305000100742
Ross County 2013–14 12110000000131
2014–15 700000000070
Total 19110000000201
Dumbarton 2015–16 25420000000274
The New Saints 2016–17 29430102110365
2017–18 10010000040150
Total 39440102150515
Livingston 2018–19 300020000050
Partick Thistle 2018–19 12041000000161
2019–20 16220412000243
Total 28260412000404
Career total 169131601214115023716

Honours

The New Saints[1]

Individual

References
  1. Steven Saunders at Soccerway. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  2. Steven Saunders – U19 Squad, Scottish Football Association
  3. Steven Saunders – U21 Squad, Scottish Football Association
  4. Steven Saunders – A Squad, Scottish Football Association
  5. McGhee points to positives, www.eatsleepsport.com, 1 December 2008.
  6. Saunders' debut is ray of light on dull night at Fir Park, Wishaw Press, 17 December 2008.
  7. "Hearts 0–2 Motherwell". BBC Sport. 24 April 2010.
  8. "Motherwell's Steven Saunders to miss rest of season". BBC Sport. 10 August 2011.
  9. "Hibernian 1 – 1 Motherwell". BBC Sport. 8 April 2012.
  10. "Forthcoming squad changes". Motherwell FC. 20 May 2013.
  11. "Ross County sign ex-Motherwell defender Steven Saunders". BBC Sport. 8 July 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  12. Crawford, Kenny (3 August 2013). "Celtic 2-1 Ross County". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  13. "St Mirren 2-1 Ross County". BBC Sport. 17 November 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  14. "Ross County duo sign new deals while Evangelos Oikonomou departs". STV Sport. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  15. "Ross County to release 14 players at end of season". BBC Sport. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  16. "Steven Saunders signs short-term deal at Dumbarton". Scotsman. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  17. "Dumbarton Football Club – Saunders Signs". dumbartonfootballclub.com.
  18. "Dumbarton 3-3 Raith Rovers". BBC Sport. 21 November 2015.
  19. "Dumbarton Football Club – Saunders Signs New Deal". dumbartonfootballclub.com.
  20. "Saints Sign Scottish Saunders". Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  21. "Rawlinson heads departures from Saints". Welsh Premier League. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  22. "Second new signing completed". Livingston F.C. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  23. "Partick Thistle sign Livingston defender Steven Saunders & Celtic keeper Conor Hazard on loan". BBC Sport. 3 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  24. Signing News: Steven Saunders is a Jag, Partick Thistle FC, 3 January 2019
  25. Idessane, Kheredine (19 January 2019). "Partick Thistle 4–1 Stranraer". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  26. Partick Thistle 1-2 Dundee United, BBC Sport, 9 August 2019
  27. "Hearts & Partick Thistle relegations confirmed by arbitration panel". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  28. Steven Saunders calls time on career aged 29 as former Scotland cap gets ready for white-collar life, Sunday Mail, 16 August 2020
  29. FC, East Kilbride. "Saunders joins up at K-Park". eastkilbridefootballclub.co.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  30. "Scotland 3–0 Faroe Islands". BBC Sport. 16 November 2010.
  31. "2016/17 Dafabet WPL Team of the Season". Welsh Premier League. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
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