Sam Saunders

Sam Daniel Saunders (born 29 August 1983) is an English professional footballer, who plays for club Langley and is assistant coach of Brentford B.

Saunders made over 290 appearances as a midfielder in the English Football League, most notably for Brentford and Dagenham & Redbridge.

He spent a year in the academy at Fulham, but was unable to win a contract and dropped into non-League football when he signed for Southern League Premier Division club Welling United's youth team in 2000.

While with Welling, Saunders returned to Fulham briefly to appear in a youth tournament in Marseille, but was unable to win a scholarship deal.

Saunders played sparingly for Welling before moving to Southern League First Division East club Ashford Town (Kent) on 7 March 2002.

He moved to the Isthmian League Premier Division to join Carshalton Athletic in February 2004 and after being allocated to the newly created Conference South for the 2004–05 season, the Robins narrowly avoided relegation during Saunders' solitary full season on the club's the books.

Saunders joined Conference Premier club Dagenham & Redbridge during the 2005 off-season.

He made 29 appearances during the 2005–06 season and scored three goals as Dagenham finished in mid-table.

Injuries disrupted the start of Saunders' first season at Dagenham, but following a starting appearance in a 2–1 league win over Tamworth on 21 January 2006, he became a regular in the first team until the end of the season.

Saunders was a virtual ever-present during the 2006–07 season, making 43 appearances and scoring three goals as Dagenham won the Conference Premier title to secure promotion to the Football League for the first time in the club's history.

He began his career in non-League football and in 2007 was part of the Dagenham & Redbridge team which was promoted to the Football League for the first time in the club's history.

He later made over 200 appearances for Brentford and is a member of the club's Hall of Fame.

Saunders began his career at Charlton Athletic and spent five years in the club's youth setup up to the age of 15.

Saunders started each of Dagenham's first 10 games in League Two and played in the club's first ever League Cup tie on 14 August 2007, which ended in a 2–1 defeat to Luton Town.

He finished the 2007–08 season with 25 appearances and one goal.

A medial ligament problem in October saw him miss over two months of the season and he endured another injury-hit spell between late January and early April 2008.

Saunders began the 2008–09 season in excellent form, with five goals in a seven-match spell.

Beginning with an injury time equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Chesterfield on 14 March, he finished the 2008–09 season with a run of six goals in eight games, as Dagenham narrowly missed out on the League Two playoffs.

His form won him the League Two Player of the Month award for April 2009.

It was Saunders' final season for the Daggers, in which he made 45 appearances and scored 14 goals.

During his four seasons at Victoria Road, he made 142 appearances and scored 21 goals.

On 1 July 2009, Saunders and Dagenham & Redbridge teammates Danny Foster and Ben Strevens signed for League One club Brentford on free transfers, with Saunders agreeing a three-year contract.

Used as a wide midfield player by manager Andy Scott, Saunders began the 2009–10 season as a starter, before falling out of favour in October and being used as an impact substitute.

Despite making 30 appearances during the 2009–10 season, Saunders found himself well down the wide-midfield pecking order at the start of 2010–11 and didn't make an appearance until 18 September 2010.

He requested a loan move, which was rejected by Andy Scott and he later admitted that the first few months of the 2010–11 season were the most difficult of his career.

Saunders made 27 appearances during the 2010–11 season and scored three goals.

After Andy Scott was sacked in February 2011, teammate Nicky Forster was given the manager's job until the end of the season and immediately reinstated Saunders to the starting line-up.

Saunders scored Brentford's first goal in their 2–1 Football League Trophy semi-final second leg win over Exeter City on 7 February, which sent the Bees to the 2011 Football League Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium.

He started in the final, but came away empty-handed as Brentford lost 1–0 to Carlisle United.

Under new manager Uwe Rösler for the 2011–12 season, Saunders went on a goalscoring run in September and October 2011, scoring four goals in six games and helping Brentford to a winning position in each game.

He finished the 2011–12 season with 43 appearances, a seasonal-best 12 goals and he was also credited with 9 assists.

He came into form again in January 2012, scoring three goals in five games.

Saunders signed a one-year contract extension in late February 2012.

Saunders began the 2012–13 season as a first-choice at the top of a midfield diamond formation, but he was dropped to the bench in mid-September 2012 and was utilised predominantly as a substitute for the remainder of the season.

He made 44 appearances and scored three goals during the 2012–13 season and signed a new two-year contract in June 2013.

Saunders appeared in each of Brentford's three end-of-season playoff games as a substitute, but he was unable to help the Bees to victory in the 2013 League One play-off final.

Saunders began the 2013–14 season with starting roles in cup games and substitute cameos in the league.

An illness suffered by George Saville brought Saunders into the game as a first-half substitute against Preston North End on 21 December and late in the second half he capped a fine Brentford performance by scoring the third goal in a 3–0 victory.

He went on to score in four consecutive games and his form won him the December 2013 League One Player of the Month award.

Saunders was sidelined with a knee problem in mid-January 2014, which required season-ending surgery in February.