Steven Saunders (born 30 March 1991) is a Scottish professional

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 ...

who plays as a defender for

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

. He played for

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

, Ross County, Dumbarton,

The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, also known as The New Saints ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed y Seintiau Newydd) or TNS, are a professional football club that currently play in the Cymru Premier. They are the most successfu ...

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

and

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

at club level, and also represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

once.

Club career

Motherwell

After spending time with Queen's Park as a youth player, Saunders started his professional career with

. He made his debut as a substitute in a

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

match against

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

on 29 November 2008. After the match,

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 ...

Mark McGhee said that he was "delighted" with Saunders' performance.McGhee points to positives
www.eatsleepsport.com, 1 December 2008. Saunders then started the following two games against

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

and Hamilton Academical, playing at

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, and he was again praised by McGhee for his performance in the first of those games. In the 2009–10 season, under new manager Jim Gannon, Saunders 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. 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 The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

injury that ruled him out for most of the 2011–12 season. On 8 April 2012, Saunders made his first-team comeback as a late substitute in a 1–1 draw against Hibernian. 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.

Ross County

On 8 July 2013, Saunders signed a one-year deal with Ross County. He made his debut for the club on 3 August 2013, in a 2–1 defeat against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in the opening game of the 2013–14 season. On 17 November 2013, he scored his first Ross County goal against St Mirren, but he was then sent off later in the match. Saunders signed a new one-year contract with Ross County on 19 May 2014. He was one of 14 players released by the club at the end of the season.

Dumbarton

After being released by Ross County, Saunders signed a short-term contract with

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

side Dumbarton in September 2015. 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. He extended his deal until the end of the season in January 2016.

The New Saints

Saunders signed a two-year deal with Welsh Premier League club

on 8 June 2016, alongside Dumbarton teammate Jon Routledge. He left the club in May 2018.

Livingston

On 31 May 2018, Saunders returned to Scotland to sign a two-year deal with

. He only made five appearances for the ''Lions'' before departing in January 2019.

Partick Thistle

Saunders signed an 18-month contract with

in January 2019; he chose the number 43 squad number. He scored his first goal for Thistle in a 4–1 victory against

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

in the

2018–19 Scottish Cup The 2018–19 Scottish Cup was the 134th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The tournament was sponsored by bookmaker William Hill in what was the eighth season of a nine-year partnership, after contract negotia ...

. 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. In August 2020, with the lower leagues yet to commence due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland The COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland is part of the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease-2019, caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Scotland on 1 March 2020. Community transmission was first reported on ...

(which also caused the cancellation of the previous campaign, with Partick controversially relegated to

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...

), Saunders announced his retirement from full-time football to pursue a career as a financial advisor.

East Kilbride

Saunders had a short spell with Gartcairn before signing with

on 4 December 2020.

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 The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

, replacing

Phil Bardsley Phillip Anthony Bardsley (born 28 June 1985) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Stockport County. He has played international football for the Scotland national team. Bardsley began his career with Manchester United whe ...

at right back in the 70th minute.

Career statistics

Honours

The New Saints * Welsh Premier League: 2016–17, 2017–18 *

Welsh League Cup The Cymru Premier League Cup, currently known as the Nathaniel MG Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a cup competition in Welsh football organised by the Cymru Premier. The competition was established in 1992 and is considered to be the second-mos ...

: 2016–17, 2017–18 Individual * Welsh Premier League Team of the Year: 2016–17

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Steven 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Rutherglen People educated at Stonelaw High School Scottish footballers Queen's Park F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Ross County F.C. players Dumbarton F.C. players Scotland under-21 international footballers Scottish Premier League players Scotland international footballers Association football defenders Scotland youth international footballers Scottish Professional Football League players The New Saints F.C. players Cymru Premier players Livingston F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Footballers from South Lanarkshire Lowland Football League players