As a result of his impressive performance he remained in the side for the rest of the season, despite him being vastly inexperienced compared to the players around him who were defending a League championship title won the year before.

Following on from his impressive debut he scored his first goal three days later on 20 September; however, his 80th-minute strike wasn't enough to prevent Arsenal winning the Centenary Trophy semi-final 2–1.

Staunton was therefore given his chance and proved an impressive and consistent performer in a team of strong players, playing his part as Liverpool challenged for the title again.

In the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster, which ultimately claimed the lives of 97 fans at the FA Cup semi-final on 15 April 1989, Staunton was among the players who comforted bereaved families and attended many of the funerals.

Staunton played in the FA Cup Final at Wembley – he was substituted at the start of the extra-time period – as Liverpool defeated Merseyside rivals Everton 3–2.

With virtually the last kick of the season Michael Thomas broke through the centre of the Reds defence to score, thus stopping Liverpool gaining a second league and FA Cup double – something which no English club had yet achieved.

Staunton made a good impression on the Villa fans by marking his debut on 17 August with a goal in the 3–2 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

The following season, he won a League Cup winners medal when he helped a wounded Villa gain revenge on Manchester United by beating them 3–1 (denying them a domestic treble).

With his contract set to expire at Villa, he gained a surprise move back to Liverpool on 3 July 1998 when joint managers Roy Evans and Gérard Houllier signed him on a free transfer.

On 27 September 1999, during the Merseyside derby against Everton at Anfield, Staunton played the last 15 minutes of the game in goal after Sander Westerveld had been sent off for fighting with Francis Jeffers after Liverpool had used all three substitutes.

He played just 10 times for Walsall and also held the post of assistant coach until 16 January 2006, when he was appointed manager of the Republic of Ireland senior international side.

Staunton, the youngest member of the squad, played in every match at left back (though by now at club level he had also proved his usefulness as a central defender or midfield player) as the Republic of Ireland progressed to the quarter-finals, when they were beaten by the host nation.

Again, Staunton played in every Republic of Ireland game of the tournament, with the 1–1 group match draw against Germany on 5 June proving to be a very special and historic occasion as he became the first Irishman to make 100 appearances for his country.

A three-man Football Association of Ireland (FAI) subcommittee spearheaded by its former treasurer John Delaney was formed with the remit of appointing a capable successor to Kerr.

Delaney assured the Irish public that a "world class" management team[11] would be appointed to oversee Ireland's qualification campaign for the 2008 European Championship.

After an initial flurry of rumours linking names of the calibre of Alex Ferguson,[12] Terry Venables[13] and Bobby Robson[14] with the post, Staunton was released from his player/assistant manager role for Walsall on 12 January 2006 and was officially named as Kerr's replacement the following day, with former England manager Sir Bobby Robson supporting him in the role of International Consultant and with former Aston Villa teammate Kevin MacDonald as coach.

The victory over Sweden was followed by two friendly defeats, the first a disappointing 1–0 loss against Chile on 23 May 2006 and then a 4–0 thrashing by Holland at Lansdowne Road, Ireland's worst home reverse in 40 years.

No physical harm was caused but the event was a public relations disaster for both Staunton and the FAI (this was not the first time an assailant had attacked members of the squad at that particular hotel).

The defeat by Cyprus heaped additional pressure on the already beleaguered Staunton, who even at this early stage of his leadership was already facing calls for his resignation,[22] ahead of Ireland's next game which was at home to the Czech Republic on 11 October.

In the return fixture, a poor performance ensured the team needed a goal from Stephen Ireland four minutes into injury time to secure the three points with a final score of 2–1.

Such was the surprise that greeted the results that RTÉ presenter Bill O'Herlihy concluded the coverage of the Slovakia game with the comment, "Ireland are now in contention for qualification for Euro 2008. Who would have thought it?"

The victories, however, proved to be something of a false dawn as, over the space of five days in September, an injury-hit Ireland dropped five points from two games and saw their qualifying campaign effectively come to an end.

[27] Prior to this, John Delaney gave an interview to RTÉ where he refused to publicly back the beleaguered manager and attempted to extricate himself from any responsibility for his role in Staunton's initial appointment.

The FAI subsequently met in private discussion for six hours[29] after which it was confirmed that Staunton's turbulent 21-month reign as international manager had come to an end.

On 5 October 2009, he was announced as Darlington manager, to take over officially two days later following a Football League Trophy game against his previous club Leeds United.