Harvey Saunders

Harvey Read Saunders (born 20 July 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays for Tranmere Rovers as a striker.

Harvey Saunders
Personal information
Full name Harvey Read Saunders[1]
Date of birth (1997-07-20) 20 July 1997[2]
Place of birth Wolverhampton, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3]
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Tranmere Rovers
Number 19
Youth career
Barnard Castle
Darlington Railway Athletic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Darlington Railway Athletic
Bishop Auckland
Durham City
2017–2019 Darlington 66 (11)
→ Ryhope Colliery Welfare (loan)
→ Dunston UTS (loan)
2019–2021 Fleetwood Town 27 (3)
2019 → Darlington (loan) 16 (1)
2021 → Hartlepool United (loan) 2 (0)
2021–2023 Bristol Rovers 33 (2)
2023– Tranmere Rovers 29 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:45, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

Early and personal life

Saunders is from Staindrop.[4] He is nicknamed "Rooster".[4]

Career

Early career

Saunders joined local club Barnard Castle at the age of 6 or 7, leaving at under-14s after the club folded.[4] He occasionally played rugby for a local club and then began working full-time in an Indian restaurant.[4] The restaurant entered a team into a football competition, which they won.[4] Saunders then began playing Sunday League football, before signing for Darlington Railway Athletic, initially at under-18 level but then for the senior team.[4] He then played for Bishop Auckland and Durham City.[4] He then signed for Darlington, making his debut in January 2017.[5] Whilst at Darlington he had loan spells at Ryhope Colliery Welfare and Dunston UTS.[4] In total he scored 11 goals in 66 league games for Darlington.[6]

Fleetwood Town

He signed for Fleetwood Town in January 2019 for an undisclosed fee, on a 2+1⁄2-year contract, and was immediately loaned back to Darlington.[7][8]

He made his first-team debut for Fleetwood on 3 September 2019 in the EFL Trophy.[9] He scored his first goals for Fleetwood when he scored twice in an EFL Trophy tie against Carlisle United on 1 September 2020,[10] and his first league goal followed in a 2–1 defeat to Rochdale on 3 October 2020.[11] On 6 October 2020 Saunders scored a hat-trick in the EFL Trophy against Aston Villa U21s.[12]

He signed on loan for Hartlepool United on 22 April 2021.[13]

At the end of the 2020–21 season, Saunders was released by Fleetwood Town.[14]

Bristol Rovers

On 25 June 2021, Saunders agreed to join Bristol Rovers on a two-year deal from the expiration of his Fleetwood contract. Saunders joined former Fleetwood teammates Paul Coutts and Sam Finley in joining former manager Joey Barton that summer.[15][16] On 7 August 2021, Saunders made his debut for the club in a 2–1 opening day defeat to Mansfield Town,[17] playing the full match on account of the fact that he was the club's only fit striker.[18] On 17 August 2021, Saunders scored his first goal for the club with the only goal in a victory over Oldham Athletic, the club's first win of the season, heading home a cross from Harry Anderson via a deflection.[19] After suffering an injury during an aerial collision in a match against Bradford City on 16 October, Saunders was ruled out until the new year with torn ankle ligaments.[20] On 29 January 2022, Saunders made his return to action from the bench as he assisted Rovers' late winner to defeat Walsall.[21]

Tranmere Rovers

On 27 January 2023, Saunders signed for League Two club Tranmere Rovers for an undisclosed fee on an eighteen-month contract. The club had previously tried to sign him in the summer.[22][23]

Career statistics
As of match played 24 October 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Fleetwood Town 2019–20[24] League One 6010005[lower-alpha 1]0120
2020–21[25] League One 21310304[lower-alpha 2]5298
Total 273203095418
Darlington (loan) 2019–20 National League North 16100—00161
Hartlepool United (loan) 2020–21[25] National League 2000—0020
Bristol Rovers 2021–22[26] League Two 21200101[lower-alpha 2]1233
2022–23[27] League One 12020105[lower-alpha 2]2202
Total 332202063435
Tranmere Rovers 2022–23[27] League Two 193000000193
2023–24[28] League Two 100001010120
Total 293001010313
Career Total 1079406016813317
  1. 3 appearances in EFL Trophy and 2 appearances in EFL League One play-offs
  2. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

Honours

Bristol Rovers

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Fleetwood Town" (PDF). English Football League. p. 27. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  2. Harvey Saunders at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  3. "Hervey Saunders". Bristol Rovers F.C. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  4. Steve Coney (6 April 2017). "Harvey Saunders loving Darlington ride just two years after thinking his football dream was over". The Non-League Football Paper. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  5. "Profile". Darlington F.C. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  6. Harvey Saunders at Soccerway. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  7. Rosie Swarbrick (16 January 2019). "Darlington attacker Harvey Saunders latest hotshot bidding to follow in Jamie Vardy's footsteps as he clinches Fleetwood Town transfer". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  8. Craig Stoddart (16 January 2019). "Darlington striker Harvey Saunders signs for Fleetwood Town". Northern Echo. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  9. "Leasing.com Trophy (Sky Sports)". Sky Sports.
  10. "Carlisle United 1 Fleetwood Town 3: Saunders double and debut goal for Camps seal winning start". blackpoolgazette.co.uk. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  11. "Rochdale 2–1 Fleetwood". BBC. 3 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  12. "Report: Saunders first-half hat-trick sees Town beat Aston Villa". fleetwoodtownfc.com. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  13. "Pools sign Harvey Saunders". 22 April 2021.
  14. "Retained list announced". www.fleetwoodtownfc.com. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  15. "Rovers complete the signing of Harvey Saunders!". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 25 June 2021.
  16. "Rovers bring in striker Saunders". BBC Sport.
  17. "Mansfield Town 2–1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 7 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  18. "Bristol Rovers have just one fit striker for Mansfield Town clash after Brett Pitman scare". Bristol Post. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  19. "Bristol Rovers 1–0 Oldham Athletic". BBC Sport. 17 August 2021.
  20. Frost, Sam (9 November 2021). "Joey Barton reveals how long Bristol Rovers striker Harvey Saunders will be out injured". Bristol Post.
  21. "Bristol Rovers 1–0 Walsall". BBC Sport. 29 January 2022.
  22. "Harvey Saunders arrives at Prenton Park". www.tranmererovers.co.uk. 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  23. "Tranmere sign Bristol Rovers striker Saunders". BBC Sport.
  24. "Games played by Harvey Saunders in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  25. "Games played by Harvey Saunders in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  26. "Games played by Harvey Saunders in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  27. "Games played by Harvey Saunders in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  28. "Games played by Harvey Saunders in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  29. "Bristol Rovers go up after extraordinary 7–0 win". BBC Sport. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
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