Callum Luke Saunders (born 26 September 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for club

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

. Born in Turkey, he represented Wales internationally at youth levels U19 and 21.

Club career

Saunders began his career in the Crewe Alexandra Academy and signed a professional contract with the club in June 2014. He made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

debut on 9 August 2014 in a 2–1 defeat away at

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

, and scored his first Crewe goal at Doncaster on 12 December 2015. On 9 May 2017, Crewe announced that Saunders had been released by the club. He then signed for Notts County at the beginning of the 2017–18 season but was released at the end of the season. Saunders signed for

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

side Nantwich Town on the eve of the 2018–19 season, scoring 10 goals in 36 games, before joining

Curzon Ashton Curzon Ashton Football Club is an association football club based in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1963 and nicknamed "The Nash", the club is affiliated to the Manchester Football Association and currently compete ...

in the summer of 2019. He then returned to Nantwich Town in November 2019. He signed for

Premier League side

Witton Albion Witton may refer to one of several places in England: *Witton, historic name of an area of Northwich, Cheshire **Witton Albion F.C. *Witton Gilbert, County Durham *Witton-le-Wear, County Durham *Witton, an area of Blackburn, Lancashire * Witton, B ...

on a free transfer in September 2021. Saunders signed for

Ashton United Ashton United Football Club is a football club in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently members of and play at Hurst Cross. History The club was founded in 1878 as Hurst Football Club and the earliest known match ...

in June 2022. On 19 December 2022, Saunders left Ashton United by mutual consent and joined

International career

Saunders has represented Wales at under-17 and under-19 level, and made his under-21 debut on 17 November 2015, coming on as an 87th-minute substitute against Romania.

Personal life

Saunders was born in Istanbul when his father, former professional footballer

Dean Saunders Dean Nicholas Saunders (born 21 June 1964) is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a striker in a career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He played for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the 1990s, and s ...

, was playing for the Turkish club Galatasaray.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Callum 1995 births Living people Welsh men's footballers Men's association football forwards Welsh people of English descent Footballers from Istanbul Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Nantwich Town F.C. players Curzon Ashton F.C. players Witton Albion F.C. players Ashton United F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Wales men's youth international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers