Brian Deane

It was the first double hat-Trick by Blades players since Harry Johnson and Arthur Mercer helped the Blades achieve their record 11–2 victory over Cardiff City on 1 January 1926.

His goals helped the Blades win promotion as Third Division runners-up that season, and followed this up with a second successive promotion a year later which saw the club return to the First Division after 14 years away.

Brian Christopher Deane (born 7 February 1968) is an English football coach and former player.

His most recent managerial position was as the manager of the Norwegian side Sarpsborg 08.

During his playing career, he played as forward from 1985 until 2006.

Deane made his debut for Doncaster Rovers in the 1985–86 season and went on to play 66 times for them in the Third Division, scoring 12 goals, before they were relegated at the end of 1987–88 season.

He was then sold to Sheffield United, just relegated from the Second Division, for a fee of £25,000.

He first appeared for Sheffield United in an 8–1 friendly victory against Skegness Town.

His first league goal came in the Third Division in the opening game of the season against Reading but his hero status did not really start until 17 September, when both he and Tony Agana hit hat-tricks in a 6–1 victory over Chester City.

In 1990-91, Deane scored 13 goals as the Blades survived their first season back in the First Division.

He scored 12 goals the following season to help the Blades finish ninth in the league - their highest finish for 17 years - and comfortably qualify for a place in the new FA Premier League.

He was the scorer of the first ever goal in the FA Premier League in 1992, when he was a Sheffield United player.

Deane also played in the Premier League for Leeds United and Middlesbrough as well as playing top-flight football in Portugal and Australia for Benfica and Perth Glory respectively.

Deane scored the first goal in the FA Premier League for Sheffield United against Manchester United after 5 minutes on 15 August 1992.

In the same game he scored a second after 50 minutes from the penalty spot as Sheffield United went on to win 2–1.

Deane went on to say of the goal, "I found out I had scored the first goal at half-time but it didn't really feel like a big thing at the time."

On 16 January 1993, Deane scored a hat-Trick against Ipswich Town in a 3–0 league victory, making him one of the first players to score a hat-Trick in the Premier League.

He left Sheffield United for Leeds United for £2.9million in June 1993 – a record signing for Leeds and a record sale for the Blades.

At the time he was one of the most expensively signed players in English football.

He had first been linked with a move to Elland Road 18 months previously.

He spent four years at Elland Road, scoring 32 goals in 138 Premier League appearances, enjoying an appearance in the UEFA Cup and collecting a Football League Cup runners-up medal in the 1995–96 season.

In July 1997, Deane returned to Sheffield United for £1.5million as new manager Nigel Spackman prepared to build a promotion winning team.

He scored 11 league goals in his second spell with the Blades before Graeme Souness signed him for S.L. Benfica in a £1million deal.

In his 18 Portuguese league matches for Benfica, Deane found the net seven times.

In October 1998, after nine months in Portugal, he returned to England in a £3million move to Middlesbrough.

His second season with Boro saw him score nine Premier League goals, but in 2000–01 the goals dried up and he soon found himself struggling for a place in the first team.

In November 2001, he joined Leicester City, where he scored the first competitive goal at the Walkers Stadium, scoring both goals in a 2–0 victory over Watford.

He had scored six goals in 15 Premier League appearances for them the previous season, but his goals weren't enough to stop the Foxes from being relegated.

He had been brought to Leicester by Dave Bassett, the man he had played under at Sheffield United a decade earlier, but Bassett had been succeeded as manager by Micky Adams just before relegation was confirmed.

He then moved to West Ham United.

Here he scored a last minute equaliser against Wigan Athletic on the final day of the 2003–2004 season.

This goal sent Crystal Palace into the Division One playoffs at the expense of Wigan, and ironically they beat West Ham in the final.

When Deane was brought on as a substitute in the match he received a standing ovation by both sets of fans.

After the play-off final he ended up returning for a second spell at Leeds, who had just been relegated from the Premier League with huge debts.

He struggled to make an impact in his second period at the club but memorably scored four goals in a 6–1 thrashing of Queens Park Rangers in November 2004.

After a short spell at Sunderland, he signed for Perth Glory in the Australian A-League.

He left mid-season after failing to make an impact and sustaining a long-term injury, scoring once in seven appearances.

He stated that he did not want to prevent Perth Glory from signing another striker due to salary cap and squad size restrictions imposed by the league.

He also played in the Football League for Doncaster Rovers, Leicester City (scoring another first goal, this time the first competitive goal at the new Walkers Stadium), West Ham United and Sunderland before finishing his playing career in 2006 with a brief spell back at Sheffield United.

Deane was capped three times by England.