| Harvey Saunders | |
| Fullname: | Harvey Read Saunders[1] |
| Birth Date: | 20 July 1997 |
| Birth Place: | Wolverhampton, England |
| Height: | 1.8m (05.9feet)[2] |
| Position: | Striker |
| Currentclub: | Tranmere Rovers |
| Clubnumber: | 19 |
| Youthclubs1: | Barnard Castle |
| Youthclubs2: | Darlington Railway Athletic |
| Clubs1: | Darlington Railway Athletic |
| Clubs2: | Bishop Auckland |
| Clubs3: | Durham City |
| Years4: | 2017–2019 |
| Clubs4: | Darlington |
| Caps4: | 66 |
| Goals4: | 11 |
| Clubs5: | → Ryhope Colliery Welfare (loan) |
| Clubs6: | → Dunston UTS (loan) |
| Years7: | 2019–2021 |
| Clubs7: | Fleetwood Town |
| Caps7: | 27 |
| Goals7: | 3 |
| Years8: | 2019 |
| Clubs8: | → Darlington (loan) |
| Caps8: | 16 |
| Goals8: | 1 |
| Years9: | 2021 |
| Clubs9: | → Hartlepool United (loan) |
| Caps9: | 2 |
| Goals9: | 0 |
| Years10: | 2021–2023 |
| Clubs10: | Bristol Rovers |
| Caps10: | 33 |
| Goals10: | 2 |
| Years11: | 2023– |
| Clubs11: | Tranmere Rovers |
| Caps11: | 59 |
| Goals11: | 6 |
| Club-Update: | 18:27, 17 August 2024 (UTC) |
Harvey Read Saunders (born 20 July 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Tranmere Rovers.
Saunders is from Staindrop.[3] He is nicknamed "Rooster".[3]
Saunders joined local club Barnard Castle at the age of 6 or 7, leaving at under-14s after the club folded.[3] He occasionally played rugby for a local club and then began working full-time in an Indian restaurant.[3] The restaurant entered a team into a football competition, which they won.[3] Saunders then began playing Sunday League football, before signing for Darlington Railway Athletic, initially at under-18 level but then for the senior team.[3] He then played for Bishop Auckland and Durham City.[3] He then signed for Darlington, making his debut in January 2017.[4] Whilst at Darlington he had loan spells at Ryhope Colliery Welfare and Dunston UTS.[3] In total he scored 11 goals in 66 league games for Darlington.
He signed for Fleetwood Town in January 2019 for an undisclosed fee, on a -year contract, and was immediately loaned back to Darlington.[5] [6]
He made his first-team debut for Fleetwood on 3 September 2019 in the EFL Trophy.[7] He scored his first goals for Fleetwood when he scored twice in an EFL Trophy tie against Carlisle United on 1 September 2020,[8] and his first league goal followed in a 2–1 defeat to Rochdale on 3 October 2020.[9] On 6 October 2020 Saunders scored a hat-trick in the EFL Trophy against Aston Villa U21s.[10]
He signed on loan for Hartlepool United on 22 April 2021.[11]
At the end of the 2020–21 season, Saunders was released by Fleetwood Town.[12]
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.[13] [14] On 7 August 2021, Saunders made his debut for the club in a 2–1 opening day defeat to Mansfield Town,[15] playing the full match as he was the club's only fit striker.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18] On 29 January 2022, Saunders made his return to action from the bench as he assisted Rovers' late winner to defeat Walsall.[19]
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.[20] [21]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Fleetwood Town | 2019–20 | League One | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2020–21 | League One | 21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 29 | 8 | ||
| Total | 27 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 41 | 8 | |||
| Darlington (loan) | 2019–20 | National League North | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | ||
| Hartlepool United (loan) | 2020–21 | National League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Bristol Rovers | 2021–22 | League Two | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 3 | |
| 2022–23 | League One | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 20 | 2 | ||
| Total | 33 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 43 | 5 | |||
| Tranmere Rovers | 2022–23 | League Two | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 3 | |
| 2023–24 | League Two | 38 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 3 | ||
| Total | 57 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 60 | 6 | |||
| Career Total | 135 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 17 | 8 | 162 | 20 | |||
Bristol Rovers