Dean played 8 games for Exeter City Youth team as a goalkeeper in the Devon and Exeter Youth League. 

“It was a great shock for me personally, and all the staff at the training ground, when we heard of the death of Dean Sayer. Dean lost his life in the canoeing accident last week off the Dorset coast. Dean, a goalkeeper, had played eight matches this season for Exeter City youth team and was a great credit to himself, and his family. I offer my heartfelt condolences to Dean's family. It is a real tragedy, and words cannot express enough the loss that I and many others at the club feel over Dean's death” Mike Radford 


He was tragically killed in On 22 March 1993, when a group of eight schoolchildren and their teacher from Southway Community College, Plymouth, accompanied by two instructors from an outdoor centre on a kayak trip across Lyme Bay ran into difficulties.
The group was swept out to sea, where all their kayaks were quickly swamped. resulting in the tragic death of four teenagers. 
The subsequent investigation resulted in the prosecution of the parent company and the centre manager.