Harvey Saunders
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Harvey Read Saunders[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 20 July 1997[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Wolverhampton, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team |
Eastleigh (on loan from Tranmere Rovers) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Barnard Castle | |||
| Darlington Railway Athletic | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Darlington Railway Athletic | |||
| Bishop Auckland | |||
| Durham City | |||
| 2017–2019 | Darlington | 66 | (11) |
| → Ryhope Colliery Welfare (loan) | |||
| → Dunston UTS (loan) | |||
| 2019–2021 | Fleetwood Town | 27 | (3) |
| 2019 | → Darlington (loan) | 16 | (1) |
| 2021 | → Hartlepool United (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2021–2023 | Bristol Rovers | 33 | (2) |
| 2023– | Tranmere Rovers | 94 | (7) |
| 2025– | → Eastleigh (loan) | 8 | (2) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 16:28, 4 October 2025 (UTC) | |||
Harvey Read Saunders (born 20 July 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Eastleigh, on loan from EFL League Two club Tranmere Rovers.
Early and personal life
[edit | edit source]Saunders is from Staindrop.[4] He is nicknamed "Rooster".[4]
Career
[edit | edit source]Early career
[edit | edit source]Saunders joined local club Barnard Castle at the age of 6 or 7, leaving at under-14s after the club folded.[4] He occasionally played rugby for a local club and then began working full-time in an Indian restaurant.[4] The restaurant entered a team into a football competition, which they won.[4] Saunders then began playing Sunday League football, before signing for Darlington Railway Athletic, initially at under-18 level but then for the senior team.[4] He then played for Bishop Auckland and Durham City.[4] He then signed for Darlington, making his debut in January 2017.[5] Whilst at Darlington he had loan spells at Ryhope Colliery Welfare and Dunston UTS.[4] In total he scored 11 goals in 66 league games for Darlington.[6]
Fleetwood Town
[edit | edit source]He signed for Fleetwood Town in January 2019 for an undisclosed fee, on a 2+1⁄2-year contract, and was immediately loaned back to Darlington.[7][8]
He made his first-team debut for Fleetwood on 3 September 2019 in the EFL Trophy.[9] He scored his first goals for Fleetwood when he scored twice in an EFL Trophy tie against Carlisle United on 1 September 2020,[10] and his first league goal followed in a 2–1 defeat to Rochdale on 3 October 2020.[11] On 6 October 2020, Saunders scored a hat-trick in the EFL Trophy against Aston Villa U21s.[12]
He signed on loan for Hartlepool United on 22 April 2021.[13]
At the end of the 2020–21 season, Saunders was released by Fleetwood Town.[14]
Bristol Rovers
[edit | edit source]On 25 June 2021, Saunders agreed to join Bristol Rovers on a two-year deal from the expiration of his Fleetwood contract. Saunders joined former Fleetwood teammates Paul Coutts and Sam Finley in joining former manager Joey Barton that summer.[15][16] On 7 August 2021, Saunders made his debut for the club in a 2–1 opening day defeat to Mansfield Town,[17] playing the full match as he was the club's only fit striker.[18] On 17 August 2021, Saunders scored his first goal for the club with the only goal in a victory over Oldham Athletic, the club's first win of the season, heading home a cross from Harry Anderson via a deflection.[19] After suffering an injury during an aerial collision in a match against Bradford City on 16 October, Saunders was ruled out until the new year with torn ankle ligaments.[20] On 29 January 2022, Saunders made his return to action from the bench as he assisted Rovers' late winner to defeat Walsall.[21]
Tranmere Rovers
[edit | edit source]On 27 January 2023, Saunders signed for League Two club Tranmere Rovers for an undisclosed fee on an eighteen-month contract. The club had previously tried to sign him in the summer.[22][23]
In August 2025 he moved on loan to Eastleigh.[24]
Career statistics
[edit | edit source]- As of match played 4 October 2025
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Fleetwood Town | 2019–20[25] | League One | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5[a] | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 2020–21[26] | League One | 21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4[b] | 5 | 29 | 8 | |
| Total | 27 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 41 | 8 | ||
| Darlington (loan) | 2019–20 | National League North | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | |
| Hartlepool United (loan) | 2020–21[26] | National League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Bristol Rovers | 2021–22[27] | League Two | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[b] | 1 | 23 | 3 |
| 2022–23[28] | League One | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[b] | 2 | 20 | 2 | |
| Total | 33 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 43 | 5 | ||
| Tranmere Rovers | 2022–23[28] | League Two | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 3 |
| 2023–24[29] | League Two | 38 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 3 | |
| 2024–25[30] | League Two | 37 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 2 | |
| 2025–26[31] | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 94 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 105 | 8 | ||
| Eastleigh (loan) | 2025–26[31] | National League | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | |
| Career Total | 180 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 20 | 8 | 215 | 24 | ||
- ^ 3 appearances in EFL Trophy and 2 appearances in EFL League One play-offs
- ^ a b c Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
Honours
[edit | edit source]Bristol Rovers
- League Two promotion: 2021–22[32]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Harvey Saunders at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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- ^ a b c d e f g h Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Harvey Saunders at Soccerway. Retrieved 16 January 2019.Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
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- ^ https://www.tranmererovers.co.uk/news/2025/august/29/harvey-saunders-joins-/
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- 1997 births
- Living people
- English men's footballers
- Men's association football forwards
- Darlington Railway Athletic F.C. players
- Bishop Auckland F.C. players
- Durham City A.F.C. players
- Darlington F.C. players
- Ryhope Colliery Welfare F.C. players
- Dunston UTS F.C. players
- Fleetwood Town F.C. players
- Hartlepool United F.C. players
- Bristol Rovers F.C. players
- Tranmere Rovers F.C. players
- English Football League players
- National League (English football) players
- People from Staindrop
- Footballers from County Durham
- 21st-century English sportsmen
- Eastleigh F.C. players