Dean Windass is a professional football player, who was born on April 1, 1969 in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. When he was 13 years old, his parents, John and Doreen, got divorced. Dean Windass is married to Helen, a policewoman, and they have two sons. He was raised in Gipsyville and played football, cricket and hockey for his school teams.
Dean Windass began his football club career as a trainee in the Youth Training Scheme (YTS) at the Hull City club and started playing football with the non-league side, North Ferriby United club in 1990. In October 1991, despite of starting as a midfielder, he became a forward and honed his striking abilities and scored 64 goals in 205 games for the Tigers. As the club was facing financial difficulties, Dean Windass was sent to the Aberdeen club in December 1995.
During his 3-year tenure at the club, he scored 23 goals in 78 matches, which he had played for the Aberdeen side. On moving to the Oxford United club in July 1998, Dean Windass scored 15 goals in 33 league games within a span of 9 months. His commendable performance fetched him a ‘Division One Player of the Month’ award, but could not help his team from sliding into Division Two in the closing months of the 1998-99 season.
In March 1999, Dean Windass was transferred to the Bradford City club and his remarkable performances fetched his team the runners-up position in Division One in 1998-99. On promoting his side to the Premiership, he sincerely trained during his holidays and made commendable performances in the 1999-2000 season. By scoring a hat-trick against the Derby County club, he helped his team to draw the match 4-4. He became the club’s top scorer during his tenure with ten goals in 1999-2000 and eight goals in 2000-01.
Dean Windass moved to the Middlesbrough club in 2001 and a back injury cut short his presence with the team after appearing in 38 matches and scoring 3 goals. After recovery, he spent 2 brief loan periods, in 2001 at the Sheffield Wednesday club and in 2002 at the Sheffield United club. In January 2003, he moved to Sheffield United as a permanent member.
On returning to the Bradford City club in July 2003, Dean Windass scored 28 goals in 2004-05 and became the top scorer in the Football League. Despite of his 20 goals in the following season, Bradford City managed to finish only 13th in the Football League. Between 2003 and 2007, Dean Windass made 142 appearances for the team and scored 60 goals before moving to the Hull City F.C. in 2007. His commendable performances for Hull City in the 2007-08 season, fetched the club its promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 104 years.
In a poll that was conducted in 2005, Dean Windass was named the fourth best player out of top 100 players in the Hull City club’s 100-year history. An autobiography of Dean Windass, titled Deano – From Gipsyville to the Premiership was published by Great Northern Books in October 2007. The book included a foreword from Bryan Robson, a renowned former football player and manager.
