His first league goal came in the Third Division in the opening game of the season against Reading but his hero status did not really start until 17 September, when both he and Tony Agana hit hat-tricks in a 6–1 victory over Chester City.
[5] In July 1997, Deane returned to Sheffield United for £1.5million as new manager Nigel Spackman prepared to build a promotion winning team.
[7] This goal sent Crystal Palace into the Division One playoffs at the expense of Wigan, and ironically they beat West Ham in the final.
After the play-off final he ended up returning for a second spell at Leeds, who had just been relegated from the Premier League with huge debts.
He struggled to make an impact in his second period at the club but memorably scored four goals in a 6–1 thrashing of Queens Park Rangers in November 2004.
He stated that he did not want to prevent Perth Glory from signing another striker due to salary cap and squad size restrictions imposed by the league.
In December 2005 he made two substitute appearances before retiring at the beginning of the 2006–07 season, after the Blades had won promotion back to the Premier League following a 12-year exile.
His England debut was as a half-time substitute in a tour match against New Zealand at Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland on 3 June 1991.
His other England caps were against New Zealand at Athletic Park on 8 June 1991, and against Spain at Estadio El Sardinero, Santander, Cantabria on 9 September 1992.
It was announced on 21 November 2012 that Deane had been appointed as head coach of newly promoted Norwegian top-flight team, Sarpsborg 08 FF.