Dean Windass

Dean Windass (born 1 April 1969 in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire) is an England Association football who plays as a striker for his hometown club, Hull City A.F.C..

Windass' career has come full circle, having started as a trainee at Hull and signing his first professional contract there. He has also played for Aberdeen F.C., Oxford United F.C., Bradford City A.F.C., Middlesbrough F.C., Sheffield Wednesday F.C. and Sheffield United F.C.. He is seen as a controversial player, once being sent off three times in a game for Aberdeen, as well as grabbing another opponent's testicles while at Bradford City, but also is Bradford's third highest scorer of all-time.

Personal life

Windass was born on April Fools' Day, 1 April 1969 and grew up in Gipsyville, Hull. His parents, John and Doreen, divorced when he was thirteen years old. He regularly attended Hull City matches at Boothferry Park, and played football, cricket and hockey for his school. They met in 1992 and married on 31 July 1993. They have two sons.

Career

Hull City

Windass started his footballing career as a Youth Training Scheme trainee at Hull City A.F.C. before being released by Brian Horton, following which he had unsuccessful trials at Sunderland A.F.C., Cambridge United F.C. and York City F.C.. Instead he started playing for non-league North Ferriby United A.F.C. while also having to work on building sites and packing frozen peas. He was brought back to City by manager Terry Dolan (football manager) in October 1991, entering professional league football at the relatively late age of 22. He initially played in midfield for the Tigers and later as a forward, playing 205 games and scoring 64 goals, becoming a firm fans' favourite - in a 2005 poll to name the top 100 Tigers, Windass was named the fourth best player in the club's 100-year history. In December 1995, with the club in financial difficulty, he was sold to Aberdeen F.C. for £700,000.

Aberdeen

During his time at Aberdeen, Windass was a popular player, though he gained a reputation as a player who often got into trouble with the authorities. On 9 November 1997, during a league game with Dundee United F.C., Windass contrived to be shown three red cards - once for foul play (having previously been booked); another for verbally abusing the referee; and a third for taking out his frustration on a corner flag as he left the field - for which he received a six match ban. This game was the club's last match under the management of Roy Aitken, and Windass himself was to move on at the end of the season. In the three years he spent at Aberdeen he netted 23 goals in 78 League appearances.

Oxford United

In July 1998 he moved to Oxford United F.C. for £400,000. He won a Football League First Division Player of the Month award and scored 15 goals in 33 league games in his nine months with the club, but was unable to prevent them from sliding into Division Two at the end of the 1998-99 in English football.

Bradford City

He transferred to Bradford City A.F.C. in March 1999 for an initial fee of £950,000 as Paul Jewell looked to build his squad for a promotion push to the Premier League. He helped Bradford City to runners-up position in Football League First Division in 1998-99 in English football and thus gain promotion to the top division for the first time in 77 years. Promotion meant the transfer fee rose to £1million, and he became the club's third seven-figure signing of the season. and his league appearances were restricted to just 38 as he failed to become a first-team regular at the Riverside Stadium, and instead spent periods on loan at Sheffield Wednesday F.C. and rivals Sheffield United F.C., before a permanent move to Sheffield United in January 2003 after an approach from his former teammate Stuart McCall who was assistant at United. Windass helped the Blades to the Football League Championship play-offs but he was dropped by manager Neil Warnock for the final, opting instead to watch his side's 3–0 defeat by Wolves in a pub. Earlier that year he had received a five game ban for abusing referee Darren Drysdale in the Valley Parade car park after a drawn game against Brentford F.C..

Despite persistent speculation about a return to Hull City, and repeated bids of up to £500,000 from Premiership Wigan Athletic F.C. by former manager Paul Jewell, on 19 October 2006 he signed an extension to his Bradford City contract until 2009, stating an ambition to score the 40 goals he needs to become the club's all time top scorer by the time his new contract ends.

However, on 17 January 2007, it was confirmed that Dean Windass would return to Hull City A.F.C. on loan until the end of the season. The money Hull paid for the loan deal and the savings Bradford made on Windass' wages ensured Bradford City chairman Julian Rhodes could pay urgent bills.

At the end of the season the two clubs entered protracted negotiations over the size of the transfer fee required to make the loan move a permanent one. On 19 June 2007 the transfer was completed and Windass signed for Hull City on a two year deal for an initial fee of £150,000 plus further add-ons based on appearances.

In October 2007, Windass' autobiography was published by Great Northern Books, entitled Deano - From Gipsyville to the Premiership, with a foreword from Bryan Robson.

On 22 March 2008, in a match against Leicester City F.C., Windass made his 700th career appearance. On 11 May, he scored his 200th goal in English football, in the Championship Football League play-offs semi-final first leg against Watford F.C.. His 201st was a volley from the edge of the area in the 2008 Football League Championship playoff final at Wembley Stadium on 24 May 2008, giving Hull City a 1–0 win against Bristol City F.C., which meant that Hull City were promoted to the Premier League for the first time in their 104-year history. His goal was estimated to be worth £60 million to the club because of Premier League television rights gained. He had predicted scoring the goal several weeks earlier: "When Phil Brown left me out against Sheffield United this year I weren't happy about it. He said to me, 'You will play a major part.' And I said, 'I will score the winning goal to get you in the Premier League.'"

After the game, Windass offered his man-of-the-match award to Hull assistant manager Brian Horton, the manager who had released him from Hull City as a trainee, but Horton declined to take it. "Brian said he'd told me to prove him wrong and he said 'That goal's enough for me.'" who responded modestly when described as a legend: "Nah, I'm not a legend. I don't like that word. People fight for their country, there are soldiers in Iraq. I'm just a footballer who gets paid a lot of money to do what I enjoy."

Windass has no plans to retire, stating that he intends to play on as long as possible. When he does eventually stop playing, he intends to go into football management, and has already started taking his UEFA coaching badges to that end.

Windass was not selected for Hull's first two games in the Premier League, but after he started and scored in Hull's 2–1 Football League Cup defeat to Swansea City F.C., he was a second-half substitute in Hull's next league game, as they lost 5–0 to Wigan, for Windass' first Premier League game since leaving Middlesbrough. It was his only action during Hull's start to the season, which saw them take 14 points from their first seven games, leading to Windass being frustrated at his lack of first-team action. After he was left out of the squad to face Everton F.C. on 21 September 2008, he held talks with manager Phil Brown, following which he vowed to stay and fight for his place.