Daniel James Sonner (born 9 January 1972) is an English-born former

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He won thirteen

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s in a seven-year international career. A much-travelled midfielder, despite 18 years of professional football he never spent more than two seasons at any one club. He played for numerous English clubs, predominantly in the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

, and also played in Germany. In the latter part of his career he was easily recognizable due to his iconic

long hair Long hair is a hairstyle where the head hair is allowed to grow to a considerable length. Exactly what constitutes long hair can change from culture to culture, or even within cultures. For example, a woman with chin-length hair in some cultures ...

. His more notable spells were with

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

, and

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

; he played around fifty games for each club. In all he played 386 games in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

, as well as more than 42 games in German football. He played in all of the top four divisions of English football, with his greatest honour being a runners-up medal in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

Club career

Burnley

Starting his professional career with Third Division

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

in 1990, Sonner never made a first team appearance for

Bryan Hamilton Bryan Hamilton (born 21 December 1946) is a Northern Irish former professional football player and manager. He gained 50 caps for Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1980, and later managed the national team for four years. He later became Techn ...

's side, and so signed with

Frank Casper Frank Casper (born 9 December 1944) is an English former professional football player, coach and manager, born in Barnsley. As a player, he made nearly 400 appearances in the Football League as a striker for Rotherham United and Burnley. He ...

's Fourth Division

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

in March 1991. After Casper was replaced by Jimmy Mullen, Sonner barely featured at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional football ...

during their table-topping 1991–92 season and so was

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

ed out to Mike Walsh's

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

, back in the fourth tier, in November 1992, staying for the rest of the season.

Germany

Making little impact in the

, he packed his bags and moved to Germany for the start of the 1993–94 season, signing with

NOFV-Oberliga Süd The NOFV-Oberliga Süd is the fifth tier of the German football league system in the southern states of the former East Germany. It covers the German states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Saxony and southern Brandenburg. It is one of fourteen Oberl ...

side

FC Erzgebirge Aue Fußball Club Erzgebirge Aue e.V., commonly known as simply FC Erzgebirge Aue or Erzgebirge Aue (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Aue-Bad Schlema, Saxony. The former East German side was a founding member of the 3. ...

. After Aue's

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

he played in the third-tier

Regionalliga Nordost The Regionalliga Nordost is the fourth tier of German football in the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia. These comprise the states of former East Germany as well as West Berlin. It i ...

for the 1994–95 season. He spent the 1995–96 season with Preußen Köln in the Oberliga Nordrhein.

Ipswich Town to Sheffield Wednesday

It was whilst at Cologne that he was plucked from obscurity by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...

. Sonner would spend the 1996–97 season in the English First Division. In two seasons with the club he played 56 league games, half of which were substitute appearances. However, he and Burley soon fell out and Sonner was on the move to Danny Wilson's

in October 1998 for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £75,000. Once again Sonner had fallen on his feet, spending the 1998–99 season in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. He played the club's 8–0 thumping at the hands of

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Park ...

on 19 September, and Wednesday suffered

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

at the end of the 1999–2000 season. He was not retained for the following season after failing to agree a new

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

and was forced to search for a new club.

Birmingham City

He soon signed for

, where he helped the club to the 2001 League Cup Final. In the quarter-finals he had given his old club some food for thought, scoring in a 2–0 victory over the "Owls" on 12 December 2000. In the final he was replaced by

Bryan Hughes Bryan Hughes (born 19 June 1976) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. He played as a midfielder from 1994 to 2015, notably Premier League for Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic and Hull City as well as featuring ...

after 71 minutes and was forced to watch his team lose the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

5–4, after a 1–1 draw in normal time. In a

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

semi-final defeat at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

, Sonner, teammate Michael Johnson and boss

Trevor Francis Trevor John Francis (born 19 April 1954) is an English former footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia. In 1979 he became Britain's first £1 million player foll ...

were all charged with misconduct by

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

, Sonner and Johnson were also charged for using abusive language. Sonner was fined £1,000 following a hearing. He was released by Birmingham at the end of the 2001–02 season. He played his last game for the club on 7 November 2001 and was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

77 minutes into a 1–0 home defeat by

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

after a poor challenge on

Phil Gilchrist Philip Alexander Gilchrist (born 25 August 1973) is an English former footballer and manager. He played as a defender. Career Gilchrist first joined Oxford United from Hartlepool United for £100,000 in February 1995. He soon formed one of the ...

. Not long after this

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...

was appointed as the club's new manager. Bruce never selected Sonner for a matchday squad, and he therefore played no part in the 2002 play-off final.

Walsall

After training with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

, he spent the 2002–03 season with

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

. He got off to a bad start, wrestling opposition player Tommy Smith to the ground in a 2–0 defeat at

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

, earning a

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

and causing manager

Colin Lee Colin Lee (born 12 June 1956) is an English football manager and former footballer. He is currently head of football at South Dartmoor Community College in Ashburton, Devon along with Chris Beard. Playing career Lee began his football career ...

to brand his behaviour "a disgrace". He managed to recover his reputation, scoring four goals in 28 games. After getting released at the end of the season by the cash-strapped club, he considered a move to

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

, before opting for

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

Nottingham Forest

He was with Forest throughout the 2003–04 season, playing 32 games over all competitions. At Forest, a bad miss caused the late

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

to say: "I wish I'd been out there. I scored 250 goals in 271 games and I could have put that in with my you-know-what!" Sonner was keen to stay at the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when E ...

, but was released by manager

Joe Kinnear Joseph Patrick Kinnear (born 27 December 1946) is an Irish former football manager and player. Kinnear played as a defender, spending the majority of his career—ten seasons—with Tottenham Hotspur. With Tottenham he won the FA Cup, the EFL ...

at the end of the season. Sonner received an offer from

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

, a trial at

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

and an offer from

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

Peterborough United to Port Vale

Sonner spent the 2004–05 season at

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

, then managed by

Barry Fry Barry Francis Fry (born 7 April 1945) is an English former football player and manager. A winger, Fry was an apprentice at Manchester United in his youth, and had brief spells with Bolton Wanderers, Luton Town and Leyton Orient, before he reti ...

. He spent February to May of that season on loan with

, making 13 appearances. Impressing during his loan spell, he signed with Vale permanently for the start of the 2005–06 season. A regular under

Martin Foyle Martin John Foyle (born 2 May 1963) is an English former professional footballer and manager who is the Head of Recruitment at club St Mirren. In his 20-year playing career he played 533 League games, scoring 155 goals. As a manager, he took ...

, he also spent the 2006–07 season at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

, where he and

Tony Dinning Tony Dinning (born 12 April 1975) is an English former football midfielder who spent sixteen years of an eighteen-year career in the Football League, making 515 appearances in league and cup competitions. A former Newcastle United trainee, h ...

became the old heads at the centre of the park. Sonner was popular with the fans and in fact played more games for the club than he did for any other club. However, at the age of 35, Sonner rejected Vale's contract offer, claiming that offer was too low paying. He said: "I deserve a rise and a decent offer. The club wants me to play for next to nothing. If they carry on paying

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

wages, then the club is going nowhere. They talk about promotion, but don't want to keep players." Chairman Bill Bratt responded by saying that: "The manager had faith in Danny to pluck him from Peterborough reserves and to offer him another contract with better terms... if he thinks he is on next to nothing he should try working in the

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

industry for 40 hours a week for £200."

Later career

He moved on to former club Walsall, now led by

Richard Money Richard Money (born 13 October 1955) is an English former footballer and manager who was most recently manager of National League club Hartlepool United. Before this, he managed Cambridge United, overseeing the side's return to the Football Leag ...

, but due to injury he played just seven games of the 2007–08 season before leaving the club in September 2007. In January 2008, Sonner and fellow "Saddlers" teammate, Paul Hall both joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

strugglers

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. He was released by manager

Brian Little Brian Little (born 25 November 1953) is an English football manager and former player. As a player, Little was a striker who spent his entire career for Aston Villa in a career that spanned from 1971 to 1980. He made 247 league appearances, ...

in May 2008, following the club's relegation to the Conference. Sonner scored once during his spell at Wrexham, his goal coming in a 2–2 draw with Morecambe on 29 January 2008.

International career

Sonner has represented

13 times. Between 1995 and 1999 he also earned four Northern Ireland B

s, scoring one goal. He earned his first

on 10 September 1997 in a 1–0 defeat to

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

. His second cap came in a 3–0 home loss to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

on 27 March 1999 in a Euro 2000 qualifier. The rest of his caps were all friendlies. His first start for Northern Ireland came in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

on 26 April 2000, his sixth cap – the Northern Irish beat the

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...

1–0. After three years away from the international scene, he was recalled in February 2004. He played six games in 2004 after being recalled, his last one coming in a goalless draw with

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

on 18 August.

Style of play

Sonner was a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

with long hair, a languid playing style and excellent vision and passing skills.

Coaching career

Sonner joined Savannah United (based in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

) as a staff

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

in August 2015.

Career statistics

Club level

International level

Honours

Burnley *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

: 1991–92 Birmingham City *

runner-up:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonner, Danny Footballers from Wigan English men's footballers Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's B international footballers Northern Ireland men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Wigan Athletic F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Bury F.C. players Expatriate men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Expatriate men's footballers in Germany FC Viktoria Köln players FC Erzgebirge Aue players Ipswich Town F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players English expatriates in the United States Association football coaches 1972 births Living people