'I'm a former Liverpool star who got paid £7k to appear in Goal! – but they cut my scene'

Former Premier League forward Dean Saunders has revealed that he once appeared in the film ‘Goal!’ only to later find out that his scene had not made the final cut.

Saunders claims to have been paid £7,000 for his part in the 2005 film, which covered the story of fictional player Santiago Munez and his journey from being a gardener to a Newcastle United superstar.

But when he turned up to the cinema with friends and family to witness his big-screen debut, Saunders found out that his role as an extra had been axed from the final cut, while fellow ex-footballers David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Alan Shearer were all left in.

“Did you ever watch Billy Elliot? His dad in that film (actor Gary Lewis) was in Goal! and he was one of the coaches,” the Welshman told talkSPORT.

“I was stood next to him in the classroom when the manager was walking round the classroom talking to the players and saying, ‘we’re going to do this’. I was stood there, I didn’t have a speaking part. I got £7,000 and they cut the scene out the picture. I was devastated.

“I told all my family I was in the film – then when we got there I said ‘It’ll be on in a minute, don’t worry, my bit is on in a minute’. But they cut it out. But I got seven grand.”

Swansea-born Saunders scored 190 goals in 618 games at club level during a career which took him to the likes of Liverpool, Aston Villa, Galatasaray and Benfica. He also boasts 22 goals for Wales, leaving him fifth on their list of all-time international scorers.

Saunders had been retired for four years when Goal! was released, and he would never go on to revisit his brief acting career following the disappointment of being left out of the film.

A stint in management followed for the 60-year-old, who took charge of Wrexham, Doncaster Rovers, Wolves, Crawley Town and Chesterfield between 2008 and 2015 before moving into a career in the media.