Dean Saunders

Personal information
Full name	Dean Nicholas Saunders
Date of birth	(1964-06-21) 21 June 1964 (age 48)
Place of birth	Swansea, Wales
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Doncaster Rovers
Youth career
1980–1982	Swansea City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1982–1985	Swansea City	49	(12)
1985	→ Cardiff City (loan)	4	(0)
1985–1987	Brighton & Hove Albion	72	(21)
1987–1988	Oxford United	59	(22)
1988–1991	Derby County	106	(42)
1991–1992	Liverpool	42	(11)
1992–1995	Aston Villa	112	(37)
1995–1996	Galatasaray	27	(15)
1996–1997	Nottingham Forest	43	(5)
1997–1998	Sheffield United	43	(17)
1998–1999	Benfica	17	(5)
1999–2001	Bradford City	44	(3)
Total		618	(190)
National team
1986–2001	Wales	75	(22)
Teams managed
1999-2001	Bradford City F.C. (coach)
?-2004	Blackburn Rovers F.C. (first team coach)
2004-2006	Newcastle United F.C. (striker coach)
2007-2010	Wales (Assistant)
2008–2011	Wrexham
2011–	Doncaster Rovers
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Dean Nicholas Saunders (born 21 June 1964) is a former Wales international footballer who played as a striker in a professional career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He is the manager of Doncaster Rovers.

He is probably best known for playing for Aston Villa. However he also played for Swansea City, Cardiff City (on loan), Brighton, Oxford United, Derby County, Liverpool, Galatasaray, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Benfica and Bradford City. He also won 75 caps for Wales.

He is also an occasional pundit for the BBC, sometimes providing analysis on Wales' matches.

He was capped 75 times at senior level for Wales between 1986 and 2001, scoring 22 times - making him one of the nation's highest scoring and most capped players of all time.

Playing career[link]

Early career[link]

Saunders was born in Swansea and began his career with Swansea City, where his father Roy had been a player and coach, signing as an apprentice on leaving school in 1980.

He turned professional in the summer of 1982, after Swansea had finished sixth in their first season as a First Division club. Swansea were relegated in 1982-83, and Saunders made his debut in the 1983-84 season. He scored three goals in 19 games as a second successive relegation pushed Swansea in the Third Division. He scored nine goals in 30 league games in 1984-85, as Swansea narrowly avoided a third successive relegation. A goalless four-game loan spell at local rivals Cardiff City also came in 1984-85, before he signed for Second Division club Brighton & Hove Albion on a free transfer on 7 August 1985.

Brighton and Oxford[link]

He was a success at the Goldstone Ground, scoring 14 league goals in his first season. He scored six goals from 30 league games in 1986-87 before a £60,000 move took him to the First Division with Oxford United. He was an instant success and quite a bargain for Oxford, where his six goals from the final 12 league games secured First Division survival.

He scored 12 goals in 37 games during the 1987-88 season (during which Maurice Evans was dismissed as manager and replaced by Mark Lawrenson) but it was not enough to prevent Oxford from going down in bottom place after three seasons in the top flight.

He began the 1988–89 season still in the Second Division, with manager Mark Lawrenson and chairman Kevin Maxwell agreeing that they would only sell Saunders if Oxford failed to win promotion at the end of the season.^[1]

However, he was sold to Derby County for £1million on 28 October 1988 and Oxford manager Mark Lawrenson was later sacked by the club's board after he complained to them about selling Saunders.^[2]

Derby County[link]

Saunders made his Derby County debut on 29 October 1988 against Wimbledon in a First Division fixture at the Baseball Ground. He made an impressive start at his new club scoring twice in his first game. In his first season at his new club he scored 14 goals in 30 games. His goals helped Derby finish an impressive fifth in the 1988–89 First Division table — their highest finish since they were league champions in 1975 — but they were unable to compete in the UEFA Cup due to the ban on English teams in European competition following the Heysel Disaster of 1985. He added 11 league goals to his name in the 1989-90, but Derby slumped to 16th place.

He scored 17 league goals in the 1990–91 season but Derby still went down in bottom place with just five league wins all season. Derby's relegation saw most of the country's top clubs queue up in their bid to capture his services, and Everton were favourites to sign him, and there was also an approach from Aston Villa's new manager Ron Atkinson. But Saunders ended up at Liverpool, who paid a then English record fee of £2.9million for Saunders on 19 July 1991 as Ian Rush's new strike-partner following the departures of David Speedie and Peter Beardsley. He linked up with England defender Mark Wright, who also made the switch from Derby to Liverpool that summer.

Liverpool[link]

In 1991–92, Saunders partnered Ian Rush (also his strike partner for Wales) in attack, backed by young Steve McManaman which saw the club win the FA Cup for the fifth time in its history in manager Graeme Souness's first full season in charge. Saunders scored 23 goals in all competitions, though just 10 of these were the league which Liverpool rarely looked like winning and could only manage a sixth place finish - one of their lowest positions since their current top flight tenure began in 1962.

On the positive side, he scored in all of Liverpool's three First Division games of 1992 (all victories by a single goal margin) and hit the net twice on 21 March 1992 in a 2-1 win over FA Cup holders Tottenham Hotspur. He became the first Liverpool player to score four goals in a European fixture in their 6-1 home win over Kuusysi Lahti in the UEFA Cup first round first leg on 18 September 1991. He also scored twice against FC Tirol in the third round first leg and a hat-trick in the return game.^[3]

He added two more goals at the start of the 1992-93 as Liverpool began their career in the new FA Premier League.

Aston Villa[link]

On 1 September 1992, Saunders became Aston Villa's record signing in a £2.5million deal and linked up with former Liverpool players Steve Staunton and Ray Houghton at Villa Park. He managed six goals in his first four league games including two on his home debut against the club who had sold him. He also scored the winner at Anfield later in the season. He developed a strong partnership with Dalian Atkinson until the latter suffered an injury midway through the season. Linking up with Dwight Yorke, Saunders kept on scoring and Villa challenged for the 1992-93 FA Premier League but the goals dried up and Villa could only manage second place behind Manchester United. Saunders had managed 16 goals with 12 of them in the league including a 35 yard strike against Ipswich Town. Saunders, or "Deano" as he was known around Villa Park, had quickly won over the hearts of the supporters with his 100% work-rate even when he was suffering a lean spell in front of goal - and he is still remembered fondly by fans today.

Saunders and Villa found goals hard to come by in the league in 1993-94 and he only managed 10, although he did manage a hat-trick in a game against Swindon Town. He did however manage six more in the cups, four of which came in the League Cup. His goals against Birmingham City and Tranmere Rovers helped Aston Villa reach the 1994 Football League Cup Final where they beat Manchester United 3-1, Saunders scoring twice to end Villa's 12-year wait for a major trophy.

Saunders hit the target 17 times in the 1994–95 season but Villa came one place short of relegation — two years after they had come one place short of the league title. 15 of those goals were in the Premier League and at one point he managed seven goals in six games including braces against Wimbledon in a 7-1 victory, and Sheffield Wednesday. His final Villa goal came against Leicester City and despite not scoring in his final twelve appearances for the club he was named the Supporters Player of the Year for 1994-95.

Galatasaray[link]

As part of new Villa manager Brian Little's rebuilding programme, which resulted in most of the Ron Atkinson era of players being sold, Saunders was off-loaded to Turkish club Galatasaray for £2.35million (a large sum for a 31-year-old player), being managed by his former Liverpool manager Graeme Souness, on 1 July 1995. In fact, according to Shelley Webb's book Footballers' Wives, the first Saunders' wife Helen knew of the move was when she went to Turkey with him one weekend, to find that by Monday he'd signed for the Istanbul club and this was her new home.

Later career[link]

Saunders spent one season at Galatasaray, before he returned to the Premiership with Nottingham Forest in 1996 for £1.5m. His only season at the City Ground was a disappointment with a shortage of goals which contributed to Forest's relegation before joing Sheffield United in Division One. Whilst at Sheffield United he is remembered for an ingenious passage of play which resulted in a cheeky goal for his team. In a game against Port Vale, Saunders chased a long ball down with Vale keeper Paul Musselwhite, Musselwhite won the race and knocked the ball out for a throw in, only for Saunders to quickly pick it up and throw it onto the keeper's back, and then proceed to curl it in from 25 yards.^[4] He remained at Sheffield United for two years before another spell abroad with Benfica (again under Souness) before moving back to the Premier League with newly promoted Bradford City. He remained at Bradford for two years until he finally hung up his boots in the 2000–01 season, when Bradford were relegated from the Premier League. It was the eighth time in his career that Saunders had been involved with a club during a season of relegation.

Hobbies and Interests[link]

Saunders is a fan of classic cars and regularly attends classic motor auctions.

International[link]

Dean Saunders was one of the Welsh national side's most prolific goalscorers. He made his Welsh debut as a 21-year-old against the Republic of Ireland in 1986. He was capped 75 times and scored a creditable 22 goals, putting him fourth on the all time Wales list behind Ian Rush, Ivor Allchurch and Trevor Ford. One of his most memorable moments in a Wales shirt was when he scored the goal to secure a 1-0 win over Brazil in Cardiff in 1991. He won the last of his 75 caps as a replacement in the World Cup qualifier against the Ukraine on 28 March 2001, a few months short of his 37th birthday. Saunders is rated alongside the likes of Ian Rush and Mark Hughes when Welsh fans discuss who the greatest Welsh striker of all time was.

Honours[link]

Club[link]

Liverpool[link]

• FA Cup
  • Winner: 1992
• FA Charity Shield
  • Runner-up: 1992

Aston Villa[link]

• Premier League
  • Runner-up: 1992-93
• League Cup
  • Winner: 1994

Galatasaray[link]

• Turkish Cup
  • Winner: 1996

Individual[link]

Aston Villa Supporters Player of the Year: 1994-95

Coaching[link]

He initially became a coach at Bradford after his retirement, before he moved to Blackburn Rovers to work alongside his former manager Graeme Souness. He moved to Newcastle United in 2004, initially as striker coach, and then first-team coach under Souness. The Scot was sacked on 2 February 2006 due to a run of poor results, and his entire backroom team including Saunders were also replaced. Saunders started the Certificate in Football Management course at the University of Warwick Business School in June 2007.^[5] He has the UEFA Pro Licence coaching badge.^[6] In June 2007, Saunders was appointed assistant manager to John Toshack for the Wales national football team.

Management[link]

Wrexham[link]

On 2 October 2008, Saunders was appointed as manager of Conference National side Wrexham, taking over from Brian Little to become the side's fourth manager in 22 months. He was allowed to combine the role with his position as assistant manager of Wales.^[7] Wrexham won their first five league games with Saunders in charge, giving him the best starting record of any new manager in the club's history. However, Wrexham failed to maintain that early form and missed out on the 2008/09 play-offs. Whilst he solved the club's defensive frailties during 2009/10, the lack of striking options continued to be an issue, although the arrival of Andy Mangan in January 2010, the BSP's leading goalscorer during the previous year, went some way to getting over that problem. Dean Saunders made several signings in the summer of 2010, but after just 4 points out of a possible 12 in the first four games of the season, the fans wanted to see him sacked by the board, following a 2-2 draw with Kidderminster Harriers, a game which Wrexham took a 2-0 lead in the first 5 minutes. By the end of 2010, Wrexham were second of the "half-time" league (taking half-time results into account), indicating problems within the team to essentially kill a match, and this was a cause for concern for the fans. He however left his post leaving the team as the league leaders, a position they currently still hold.

Doncaster Rovers[link]

On 23 September 2011, he was named manager of Doncaster Rovers following their sacking of Sean O'Driscoll.^[8] Saunders led Doncaster to the first win of the season and their first in 20 games, only a day after signing as manager, in a 1-0 victory against Crystal Palace.^[9] In 2012 a run of poor results for Doncaster saw a section of fans call for Saunders to be sacked as Doncaster remained at the bottom of the league.^[10] His attempts to keep Doncaster in the Championship came to an end on 14 April 2012 as they were relegated following a 4–3 home defeat by Portsmouth at the Keepmoat Stadium, ending their four-year stay in the Championship.^[11]

Personal life[link]

Saunders lives in Cheshire and his closest neighbour was Gary Speed, his former international team mate. Following his death, Saunders described himself as 'flabbergasted' upon hearing the news.

He is married to Helen. His son Callum plays for Crewe Alexandra youth team and is a very highly rated youngster.

Statistics[link]

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Wrexham		2 October 2008	23 September 2011	&10000000000000155000000155	&1000000000000006400000064	&1000000000000004400000044	&1000000000000004700000047	&1000000000000004128999941.29
Doncaster Rovers		23 September 2011	Present	&1000000000000004000000040	&100000000000000080000008	&1000000000000001100000011	&1000000000000002100000021	&1000000000000002000000020.00
Total				&10000000000000195000000195	&1000000000000007200000072	&1000000000000005500000055	&1000000000000006800000068	&1000000000000003692000036.92

28 April 2012

References[link]

External links[link]

• Dean Saunders career stats at Soccerbase
• Dean Saunders management career stats at Soccerbase
• Liverpool FC profile
• Profile at LFCHistory.net

William Robert "Will" Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor^[1] who came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the British music contest Pop Idol, making him the first winner of the now-worldwide Idols-format franchise. His debut single, "Anything is Possible", was released two weeks after the show's finale and became the fastest-selling debut single in the United Kingdom.

As a teenager, Young studied politics at the University of Exeter before moving to London, where he pursued a musical theatre degree at the Arts Educational School. Although enrolled in a three-year programme, Young put his studies on hold in late 2001 to become a contestant on Pop Idol. After winning the competition the following year, he released his debut album From Now On (2002) which went to straight to number one. Friday's Child (2003) followed one year later and enjoyed greater popularity, eventually going platinum five times in the UK and spawning three top five singles. Achieving similar success, the album's successors include the multi-platinum Keep On (2005) and platinum Let It Go (2008) with his most recent release Echoes (2011) becoming his third UK number-one album.

In addition to his string of platinum-selling albums, Young has embarked on numerous tours, acted on film, stage and television, participated in philanthropy and authored the two books Anything is Possible (2002) and On Camera, Off Duty (2004). Established in the music industry, his albums have spawned many songs that have accomplished top ten positions in the UK: four of which went to the number one spot. His success as a singer has been proved by his accumulation of multiple awards, including 2 BRIT Awards from 12 nominations, and the estimated worldwide sale of over eight million albums.^[2] Young's net worth was estimated at £13,5 million in April 2012.^[3]

Early life[link]

Young was born in Wokingham, Berkshire, with a fraternal twin, Rupert Maxwell Young. He also has an elder sister Emma. He had a pleasant childhood and has often spoken about his happy memories of this time. Young was educated at three independent schools: Horris Hill School near the village of Newtown in Berkshire and from the age of thirteen, at Wellington College in Crowthorne, also in Berkshire, and at D'Overbroeck's College in Oxford.^[1] He then studied at the University of Exeter in Exeter, Devon, where he read Politics and graduated with a 2:2 honours degree. In September 2001, he became a student at the Arts Educational Schools in Chiswick, London, starting a three-year course in musical theatre with a scholarship.^{[citation needed]}

Music career[link]

[edit] Pop Idol and touring (2001–02)

In February 2002, Young came to national prominence by winning the ITV television programme contest Pop Idol. Contrary to press claims of being the underdog, after having beaten the widely accepted front-runner Gareth Gates in the final show, it emerged that Young had in fact gained the most votes in six out of the nine rounds of public voting. This was published in the Pop Idol book, which was released shortly after the programme.

In early 2002, Young joined his fellow Pop Idol contestants in a nationwide arena tour. The final concert at Wembley was in aid of the Prince's Trust, of which Young is an ambassador, together with Gareth Gates and Darius Danesh, the runner-up and third-placed contestant in Pop Idol. In June 2002, Young performed at the Queen's Jubilee Concert in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, singing "We Are the Champions" with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor.^[4]

During July 2002, Young sang at two concerts with the renowned songwriter Burt Bacharach at Hammersmith Apollo and at the Liverpool Summerpops event. In August 2002, he performed at the closing ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, singing "I Get the Sweetest Feeling" in the pouring rain. He was praised by the announcer, Grandmaster Flash, who said that it was not easy entering a talent show. November 2002 brought an appearance at the Royal Command Performance.^[5] In November 2003, Young performed the wartime song "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square", accompanied by the Squadronaires, at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The songs Young sang on Pop Idol were:

From Now On (2002–05)[link]

Young's first single was a double A-side featuring Westlife's song "Evergreen" and "Anything Is Possible", a new song written for the winner of the show by Chris Braide and Cathy Dennis. In March 2002, this became the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history, selling 403,027 copies on its day of release (1,108,659 copies in its first week). It went on to sell over 1.7 million copies, and on the official list of the all-time best-selling singles in the UK issued later that year, it was ranked eleventh. In 2008, Official Charts Company released the Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of the 21st century (so far) in which Will's version of Evergreen topped the chart.^[6] On 31 December 2009, Radio 1 confirmed that "Anything Is Possible"/"Evergreen" was the biggest selling single of the 2000s decade in the United Kingdom.This was again confirmed on 7 May 2012 when Radio 1 played a countdown of the top-selling 150 songs of the millenium so far. ^[6] "Anything is possible" won an Ivor Novello Award for Bestselling Song of 2002.

In October 2002, Young released his debut album, From Now On, which included "Evergreen" nominated in the Best single category in 2003 at the BRIT Awards and "Anything Is Possible". It produced three singles: "Light My Fire", "The Long and Winding Road" (a duet with Gareth Gates, released as a double A-side with Gates's song "Suspicious Minds") and "Don't Let Me Down"/"You and I" (released in aid of Children in Need). He won his first BRIT Award in February 2003 as Best Breakthrough Artist.^[7]

[edit] Friday's Child and Keep On (2003–06)

Young's second album, Friday's Child, was released in December 2003. It features the singles "Leave Right Now", nominated in the Best British single category of the past 25 years at the 2005 BRIT Awards and winner of the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically in 2004, "Your Game" (which won Young his second BRIT Award in 2005)^[8] and "Friday's Child" In November 2005, Young released his third album, Keep On, which included the single "All Time Love", nominated in the Best British Single category at the 2007 BRIT Awards. Other singles from the album were "Switch It On" and "Who Am I".

Young at Guilfest in 2009

In May 2006, he sang at the Prince's Trust 30th Birthday, which took place at the Tower of London.^[9] From 12 September until 2 October 2006, Young toured the UK with his Keep On Live tour, which included the songs taken from his album Keep On and a selection of past songs. The official merchandise range for the tour, highlighted by the press, included a "tip and strip" pen which, when turned over, reveals Young in his underpants. In October 2006, Young sang at Nitin Sawhney's concert in the BBC Electric Proms series of concerts. He followed this by performing in South Africa for Nelson Mandela's Unite of the Stars charity concerts.^[10]

In July 2007, he appeared at the Concert for Diana at the new Wembley Stadium. Young was the headline act at the Proms in the Park,^[11] which took place in Hyde Park in September 2007 as part of the Last Night of the Proms. In September 2007, Young performed at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with the Vanguard Big Band. Young took part in the Little Noise Sessions, a series of intimate, acoustic gigs for the learning disability charity, Mencap. He performed in November 2007 with special guests at Islington's Union Chapel.

[edit] Let It Go and Greatest Hits (2008–10)

On 29 September 2008, Young's fourth album, Let It Go, was released. It peaked at Nº2 in the album charts, having been preceded by the single "Changes", which was released on 15 September and peaked at Nº10 in the UK Singles Chart. His next single "Grace" was released on 1 December 2008, and peaked at Nº33 on the UK Singles Chart.^[12] The third single taken from the album, "Let It Go", was released on 2 March 2009 in the UK, and peaked at Nº58 on the UK Singles Chart.^[13][14] The fourth and final single, "Tell Me the Worst", was released in the UK only, on 5 July 2009. It served as a club promo, and featured some Fred Falke remixes.^[15]

Young performing at Guilfest in 2009

In April 2008, Young again appeared at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with the Vanguard Big Band. Young is to perform at various festivals during mid 2008, including Glastonbury, T In the Park^[16] in Scotland and Bestival^[17] on the Isle of Wight.

On 24 August 2008 Young appeared at the Olympic Party which took place in the Mall, London. He performed his latest single Changes and I Can See Clearly Now, which was originally sung by Johnny Nash.^[18] On an interview with Digital Spy, Will Young revealed that he was working on a Dance-Pop album, which might be released in late 2009. He also confirmed that he was working with British duo Groove Armada, Superbass, who remixed his UK Top 10 single "Changes", and Gregg Alexander, who has previously worked with British pop singers Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Geri Halliwell. He also confirmed that he is working on an album covering songs by Noël Coward, which is as yet in its very early stages and he "doesn't know if it will end up".^[19] Young performed in a sell-out theatre tour, commencing on 16 November 2008 and continuing until 13 December 2008 with two dates at the Roundhouse in Camden, London.

Young was the featured singer on the X-Factor programme on ITV1 on Saturday 1 November 2008. He also mentored the remaining contestants.^[20] On 31 December 2008 Young was featured as a guest on Elton John's Live New Year show at the O2 Arena in London. He joined Sir Elton in the song Daniel. Young was one of the performers at the BBC's "Live at Blackpool" programme on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday 5 September 2009.^[21]

Young's greatest hits collection was released on 16 November 2009. It included two brand new songs, one of them the single "Hopes & Fears". The album was a success on the charts, being certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.^[22] In 2010 Will Young collaborated with Groove Armada on their album Black Light, singing vocals on the track 'History'. As part of his 2010 outdoor summer tour, it was announced that he would be a special guest and play on the Queen's Sandringham Estate, Sandringham in Norfolk.^[23] Pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor was his supporting act for his 2010 tour.^[24]

Recently his 2003 song "Leave Right Now" has been featured on American Idol as the "departing song".^[25] He also performed live on the programme on 25 May 2010. Young gave his first U.S. concert on 26 May at West Hollywood's Ultra Suede nightclub.^[26] He was also featured on the cover of the U.S. magazine Instinct.^[27]

[edit] Echoes (2011–present)

In early 2011, Will tweeted teaser clips of tracks from his new album, 'Echoes', which was subsequently released on 22 August 2011 and entered the UK Album charts at No. 1 on 29 August 2011 making it Youngs first number one album since "Friday's Child" in 2003. The first single is called 'Jealousy', and premiered on BBC Radio 2, between 9.00am-12noon, Monday 11 July 2011, as confirmed on Will's Facebook page. The single was released on 21 August 2011, preceding the album by 1 day with the single peaking at No.5. "A Night With...Will Young" was aired two days before the release of Echoes on ITV1 presented by Kate Thornton charting all of Young's greatest hits plus performing a few new tracks from the album. Young appeared on the third episode of the Jonathan Ross Show performing a track from Echoes to further promote the album. Will has announced a brand new 23 date UK tour including 2 nights at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire.

Other ventures[link]

Acting career[link]

Young added acting to his repertoire when he accepted a role in the BBC film Mrs. Henderson Presents,^[28] starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins, in which he played Bertie. The film was released in the UK in November 2005 to excellent reviews—not least for Young's performance as both actor and singer in the film. The scene, in which Young appears naked, postdated his "absolutely thrilled" acceptance of the British male Rear of the Year Award 2005, an accolade to add to the Most Stylish Male Music Star, Best Bod, Sexiest Star, Best Dressed and Best Hair awards he had already won.

Young trod the boards in the Royal Exchange Theatre's production of The Vortex by Noël Coward. This production ran from January to March 2007 and Young played the leading role of Nicky Lancaster. Critics, including Nicholas de Jongh, were very positive.^[29]

In October 2007 Young narrated an audio version of the Roald Dahl novel Danny, the Champion of the World.

Young also appeared in the Marple drama The Mirror Crack'd From Side To Side and guest starred in an episode of Skins in 2010.^[30][31]

In 2011, he starred in a new drama series on Sky Living called Bedlam, about supernatural happenings taking place at a disused asylum being converted into loft-style apartments. The £3 million six-part series began airing on 7 February 2011. It was distributed by BBC Worldwide.^[32]

In November 2004, Young presented a documentary entitled Runaways^[33] as part of the Children in Need campaign, highlighting the problems facing distressed teens who run away from home, and the plight they were in being picked up off the streets and railway stations by pimps who offered them work and drugs. The children did not know where to go for immediate help unless they were picked up by the police and sent to a refuge centre.

During June 2007 a series of documentaries entitled Saving Planet Earth was shown on BBC Television. Young filmed an episode about saving the gorillas of West Africa during his visit to Africa earlier in the year.

In March 2009, ITV1 arts programme, The South Bank Show presented an hour long fly on the wall documentary about Young that they had been filming over the course of the year as he returned to promote the Let It Go album. It showed him in Iceland filming the video for the Let It Go single, backstage before his performance on The X Factor and on his UK theatre tour from November 2008 amongst other segments.^[34]

Young has been made a "Companion" of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.^[35]

Young was a guest on Top Gear during season 12 episode 2 and was the fastest wet lap around the track in the Chevrolet Lacetti.

Young is making a documentary about Ralph Fiennes production of Shakespeare's Coriolanus which is being filmed in Serbia. He also has a small role in the film as well as being Executive Producer.^[25]

In August 2011, ITV based an hour-long programme on Young, entitled "A Night with Will Young". This was to promote the release of his most recent album, Echoes.

31 October 2011, Will was the guest host of Never Mind The Buzzcocks.

Other work[link]

On 27 October 2008, Young spoke on Celebrity at the Oxford Union, where he showed an interest in forming a band named 'Will Young and the Credit Crunchers'.^[36] he was invited to appear on Question Time after he revealed he was a fan of the show.^[37] He participated in the edition from Dunstable, Bedfordshire, in February 2009 and March 2012^[37]

Young supports the charity Women's Aid, about which he wrote: "I am proud to put my name beside this cause, and hope that I might be able to help more people affected by the terrors of domestic violence, as well as help to create a wider awareness within our society."^[38]

Young also supports Mencap—about which he wrote, "I'm very much in this for the long term, and I'd like to help continue to break down peoples' misconceptions and prejudices"—, The Children's Society Safe and Sound Campaign, and Positive Action Southwest (PASW),^[39] for which he performed at his first solo concert, in July 2003, at Killerton House, Exeter.

Young has been an ambassador for the Prince's Trust since 2002, and performed at the 30th anniversary concert in the grounds of the Tower of London.

Together with Dame Helen Mirren, Helena Bonham Carter and Martin Freeman, Young appeared in a series of advertisements during the Christmas period 2007 for Oxfam; "Oxfam Unwrapped".

Young is the ambassador for Mood Foundation, a charity which aims to build a database of private therapists and alternative therapies to treat various types of depressive conditions. It was set up by Young's twin brother Rupert Young.^[40]

Young is an ambassador for Catch22,^[41] a UK young people's charity, which supports young people in tough situations. The young people may come from tough upbringings or districts, where poverty, crime and unemployment are common features. They may be leaving care, truanting, or have been excluded from school. Some of them have started getting into trouble with the police or may have got as far as custody.^[42] In April 2011 Young ran the London Marathon for Catch22.^[43]

Personal life[link]

In March 2002, Young revealed that he is gay, pre-empting a tabloid newspaper that was preparing to out him. He also stated that he had never hidden and was comfortable with his sexuality.^[44][45]

Discography[link]

• From Now On (2002)
• Friday's Child (2003)
• Keep On (2005)
• Let It Go (2008)
• Echoes (2011)

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Will Young discography at Discogs.
• Will Young at the Internet Movie Database.
• Will Young Tour Review on the Daily Music Guide, 6 November 2008.
• Interview with Will Young on the Daily Music Guide, 8 November 2008.

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