Wesley Saunders (born 23 February 1963) is an English former 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'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and

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 ...

, who played as a

central defender 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 ...

. He played for

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 ...

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

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 ...

and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

the 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 Engla ...

and

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

. He later managed Torquay United from 1998 to 2001.

Playing career

Saunders was born in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and brought up in

East Boldon East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

, attending Boldon Comprehensive School. He began his career as a junior with

, turning professional in June 1981. Increasingly out of the first team picture at Newcastle, Saunders joined

on loan in March 1985, moving to

for a fee of £20,000 in August 1985. Saunders subsequently joined

before joining

in July 1990 for a then club record fee of £60,000. He captained the Torquay side to promotion the following season, Torquay beating

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

on penalties in the play-off final at Wembley. The following season he had a lengthy spell as caretaker manager of the team following the sacking of

John Impey John Edward Impey (born 11 August 1954 in Exeter) is an English former professional football player and manager. As player, he made 461 appearances in the Football League representing Cardiff City, AFC Bournemouth, Torquay United and Exeter ...

, and reverted to his playing role upon the appointment of

Ivan Golac Ivan Golac ( sr-cyr, Иван Голац, ; born 15 June 1950) is a Yugoslav former professional football player and manager. A Yugoslav international right-back, he is best known as a player and manager of FK Partizan, of Belgrade. In the Unit ...

as manager. His professional playing career was ended by a knee ligament injury just a couple years later. On leaving Torquay he played non-league football for

Spennymoor United Spennymoor United Association Football Club was an association football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, England. History Spennymoor United Association Football Club was formed in 1904 as an amalgamation of Spennymoor Town and Weardale ...

and went on to play for and coach a number of non-league sides in the north east of England while working in his family's textile firm.

Management career

In summer 1998, Saunders became manager of Torquay United, this time on a permanent basis, after the departure of

Kevin Hodges Kevin Hodges (born 12 June 1960) is an English retired football player and manager who played as a midfielder, and now works as assistant manager at Dorchester Town. He spent the majority of his playing career with Plymouth Argyle of the Footb ...

. He struggled to maintain the progress made by Hodges and in the 2000–01 season, Torquay struggled to the extent that former player

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 ...

was brought in as a consultant. Saunders was dismissed by Torquay on 28 March 2001 after a 1–0 defeat to Carlisle United the previous week had left the club at the bottom of the league and facing relegation to the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

. He subsequently became a player agent and his players included former

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

international

Paul Gascoigne Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally talente ...

.Doonhammers want Gazza
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Wes 1963 births Living people People from The Boldons Footballers from Tyne and Wear Footballers from Sunderland English footballers Newcastle United F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players English football managers Torquay United F.C. managers English Football League players Spennymoor United F.C. players Association football central defenders Scottish Football League players