This Week In Football History: Dean Saunders' cheeky throw-in

Dean Saunders celebrating a goal during the final year of his career.

Today, Adrian North concludes his ongoing theme of unique goals by looking back on one of English football's most bizarre moments of ingenuity - Dean Saunders' throw-in for Sheffield United against Port Vale...

March 28, 1998 - Sheffield United 2-1 Port Vale, Bramall Lane.

The past three Week in Football History entries have all been about goals of outright genius. Breathtaking strikes produced by some of the world's best players and goals of such exceptional uniqueness I've made quite the point as to just how difficult, or essentially impossible they would be to replicate down my local park.

Yet the prize for most unique goal I've ever seen doesn't go to Di Canio, Ronaldinho, or Bergkamp, but rather to one of British football's most beloved journeymen - Dean Saunders.

Saunders, who began his career at Swansea played for 12 teams over the course of 19 years, and banged in his fair share of goals up and down England as well as enjoying successful spells abroad for Galatasaray and Benfica.

And it is at Villa Park that Saunders is remembered most fondly. During the Premier League's first season he became Aston Villa's record signing and formed quite the partnership with at first Dalian Atkinson and then Dwight Yorke that saw Villa push Fergie's United all the way to the final few weeks.

Villa made quite the habit of scoring incredible goals that season too with Steve Staunton's laser versus United and Saunders' 40-yard lob against Ipswich being bettered only by Dalian Atkinson's famous solo goal against Wimbledon.

And while Saunders' long-range volley from February 1993 is the best goal the Welshman has ever scored he is almost solely remembered by the majority of neutral fans for a throw-in he took while playing for Sheffield United during the 97/98 season.

United would go on to lose in the FA Cup semi-final and Division One playoffs later that season but back in late March of 1998 Saunders ended up chasing a long ball down the left-hand touchline of Bramall Lane in a game against Port Vale.

Vale keeper Paul Musselwhite beat Saunders to the ball, slide tackling it out of play. Saunders' ingenious reaction has since gone down in football folklore, replayed at least once a year in any Sky Sports montages and featuring in every football blooper DVD to have been released at the turn of the millennium.

"No goal is unique" - A sentiment that is often true. And while Bergkamp, Ronaldinho and Di Canio all produced moments to challenge such a statement it is the image of Saunders throwing the ball against Musselwhite's back that has endured as arguably English football's most brilliant piece of improvisation.