Dean Sturridge 1998 Duration: 37 (1.37), 48 (1.48) - 63 (1.63) Position: Striker (#11) For Dean Sturridge's real life profile, see his Wikipedia page here In the spring of 1998 Harchester's chances of holding on to their Premier League position were fading fast. With Karl Fletcher out due to drug addiction, Ian Coates saw the signing of a replacement striker in Dean Sturridge as his do-or-die calling on both the club's survival and his role as manager. With a fight on his hands against chairwoman Stephanie Jacobs, first to keep Dean Hocknell from being sold to Nottingham Forest, and then to raise £5M in his bid for Sturridge, Coates's mission went right to the hour on Transfer Deadline Day. Coates meets Sturridge and Derby County manager Jim Smith at Pride Park, where his offer of a £150K bonus if Harchester stays in the Premiership, plus a previous promise of wanting to build the team around him seals the deal for Sturridge. Scoring on his debut against Spurs, Dean has a successful stint with the Dragons. The final game of the season sees Harchester equalise with Chelsea, with their Premier League fate left to the result of Barnsley and their game with Blackburn. It thankfully ends 1-0, and Harchester are saved. Dean quietly departs over the summer. As his real life counterpart stayed on at Derby County until 2001 it seems likely this was his destination after his valued work with the Dragons.