As a player, he was an old-fashioned, hard-shooting centre forward who "led the line"scoring 246 goals in 16 years for Everton, Tonbridge Angels, Gillingham, Portsmouth, Watford and Charlton Athletic. Saunders was leading goalscorer for six consecutive seasons at Portsmouth and his goals were a key factor in helping Pompey win the Third Division title in 1962. He remains their third highest goalscorer. He retired from full-time playing in 1967, when with Charlton.
Managerial career
Early career
Saunders became player-manager at non-league Yeovil Town.
Norwich City
As a manager, Saunders first tasted success at Norwich City, guiding them to the Second Division title in 1972, which saw them promoted to the First Divisionfor the first time in their history. Saunders steered Norwich City to survival in their first season in the top flight. They also reached the Football League Cup final, losing 1–0 to Tottenham Hotspur. He resigned as Norwich manager on 17 November 1973 following a boardroom row after a 3–1 home defeat to Everton.
Manchester City
Five days later, Saunders accepted an offer to take over at Manchester City. For the second season running Saunders managed a team to the Football LeagueCup final, but once again they lost – this time to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite their cup success, City's league form was shaky, and Saunders was dismissed three weeks before the end of the season, with the club outside the relegation places on goal average alone. He did not stay out of work for long however, and the following month joined Second Division side Aston Villa as manager.
Aston Villa
He guided Villa to promotion to the First Division in his first season as manager, also winning the League Cup. He became the first manager to guide three clubs to the League Cup Final in three successive years. He re-established them as a top First Division club, winning the League Cup again in 1977. In 1980–81, he guided Villa to their first First Division title for 71 years. He resigned from Villa on 9 February 1982, due to a disagreement with the board over his contract. At the time, Villa were mid table in the First Division but in the quarter-final of the European Cup. His assistant Tony Barton took over, guiding them to European Cup glory four months later.
He moved straight to Villa's local rivals, Birmingham City. They went down in 1984 but he got them back into the top flight at the first attempt. In January 1986, Saunders walked out on struggling Birmingham to take charge of local rivals and fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion.
West Bromwich Albion
He was unable to stop Albion from sliding into the Second Division and was dismissed in September 1987, after failing to get them back into the First Division. This was his last managerial role.
Retirement
In a friendly fixture staged as a testimonial for the recently deceased Tony Barton, Saunders appeared at Villa Park in 1994 as manager of a Villa side drawn mostly from players who had played in the European Cup final in 1982, against a West Midlands all-stars side. This was the first time he had returned to the club since his resignation some 13 years earlier. In December 2006, the 74-year-old Saunders was the guest of honour at Villa Park for the match between Aston Villa and Manchester United, invited by new chairman Randy Lerner. He returned to Villa Park shortly after, on 5 May 2007, for the 25th anniversary celebrations of the 1982 European Cup win.
