Dean Windass

Dean Windass (born 1 April 1969) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.

He was brought back to Hull City by manager Terry Dolan in October 1991, entering professional league football at the relatively late age of 22.

They met in 1992, married on 31 July 1993, and had two sons, Josh, who also became a professional footballer, and Jordan.

After 18 years his marriage to Helen ended.

In December 1995, with the club in financial difficulty, he was sold to Aberdeen for £700,000.

During his time at Aberdeen, Windass was a popular player, though he gained a reputation as a player who often got into trouble with the authorities.

On 9 November 1997, during a league game with Dundee United, Windass was shown three red cards – once for foul play (having previously been booked); another for verbally abusing the referee; and a third for taking out his frustration on a corner flag as he left the field – for which he received a six-match ban.

This game was the club's last match under the management of Roy Aitken, and Windass himself was to move on at the end of the season.

In the three years he spent at Aberdeen he scored 21 goals in 72 League appearances, and a total of 31 goals in 92 appearances in all competitions.

In July 1998, he moved to Oxford United for a club record £475,000.

He won a Division One Player of the Month award, and scored 15 goals in 33 league games in his nine months with the club, but was unable to prevent them from relegation to Division Two at the end of the 1998–99 season.

He helped Bradford City to runners-up position in Division One in 1998–99 and thus gain promotion to the top division for the first time in 77 years.

Promotion meant his transfer fee rose to £1 million, and he became the club's third seven-figure signing of the season.

During the summer, Windass opted not to go on holiday and instead continued to train in preparation for his own first season in the top flight.

His dedication was rewarded as he was the club's top scorer in their first season in the Premiership with ten goals, including a hat-trick in a 4–4 draw with Derby County.

He transferred to Bradford City in March 1999 for an initial fee of £950,000 as manager Paul Jewell looked to build his squad for a promotion push to reach the Premiership.

City avoided relegation on the final day of the 1999–2000 season, when they defeated Liverpool 1–0 thanks to a header from David Wetherall.

Paul Jewell left City in the days following City's successful battle against relegation and his assistant manager Chris Hutchings was appointed new manager.

Hutchings was given money by chairman Geoffrey Richmond to spend on new players, which included new strikers Benito Carbone and Ashley Ward.

He initially played in midfield for the Tigers and later as a forward, playing 205 games and scoring 64 goals, becoming a firm fans' favourite – in a 2005 poll to name the top 100 Tigers, Windass was named the fourth best player in the club's 100-year history.

He played spells at Bradford City and contributed to his hometown team Hull City's promotion to the Premier League in 2008.

Windass started his footballing career as a trainee at his hometown club, Hull City, and signed his first professional contract there.

He scored 64 goals in 205 games for Hull, and, when he left, he brought the club a record transfer fee at the time, going on to play in the top divisions in both English and Scottish football.

Later in his career, he returned to Hull City, and scored the only goal of the 2008 Football League Championship play-off final to take them to the top flight for the first time in their history.

Windass also had two spells at Bradford City, where he became the club's third-highest scorer of all time.

He has also played for Aberdeen, Oxford United, Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United, and Oldham Athletic.

He is seen as a controversial player, once being sent off three times in a game for Aberdeen, as well as grabbing another opponent's testicles in a match at Bradford City.

Windass scored his last Premier League goal at the age of 39, becoming Hull City's oldest-ever scorer.

He officially announced his retirement from the game on 19 October 2009, but hoped to carry on with a career in coaching.

He briefly worked as player-coach, under former manager Colin Todd at Darlington, but the pair only lasted nine games in charge.

He came out of retirement and played for Barton Town Old Boys before joining Scarborough Athletic on a game-by-game deal.

In 2012 he began playing for AFC Walkington in the Premier Division of the East Riding League, where his ex-teammate Leigh Palin is the manager.

Windass was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, and grew up in the Gipsyville area of the city.

His parents, John and Doreen, divorced when he was thirteen years old.

He regularly attended Hull City matches at Boothferry Park, and played football, cricket and hockey for his school.

Windass credits his wife, Helen, a police officer, also from Hull, with devising his fitness and diet regimes.

Windass revealed he attempted suicide twice during January 2012, having battled with alcohol and depression following his retirement from playing.

Windass completed his UEFA A and B football coaching licences.

Windass started his footballing career as a YTS trainee at Hull City before being released by manager Brian Horton.

He had unsuccessful trials at professional clubs Sunderland, Cambridge United, and York City and instead started playing for non-league North Ferriby United while also having to work on building sites and packing frozen peas.