Paul Bodin
Encyclopedia
Paul John Bodin is a former Wales
international footballer. A left-back, Bodin's domestic career is probably best remembered for his two spells at Swindon Town
.
as a schoolboy, but then moved onto a brief spell with Newport County
after being released. He instead joined his home town club Cardiff City
and was handed his professional debut on the opening day of the 1982–83 season against Wrexham. He helped the side to promotion to Division Two
in his first year, finishing as runners-up to Portsmouth
. In total, he spent three seasons at Ninian Park
before being released and the Welshman fell into non-league with Bath City
, before returning to the Football League with Newport.
Bodin left Newport for Swindon Town
in March 1988 for a fee of £30,000 as cover for Phil King
- and his first few appearances for the club were terrible - leading Town fanzine Bring the Noise to describe him as being "no better than an average Conference player".
When King left for Sheffield Wednesday
in November the following year, Bodin became the club's first choice left back, and his performances began to improve - so much so that he became a regular choice for his country. He was almost ever-present in 1989/1990, a season which resulted in his first appearance for Swindon at Wembley, in the ill-fated Play-Off Final win over Sunderland.
After the illegal payments scandal, Swindon were forced to sell players, and shortly after Ossie Ardiles left the club, Bodin also left - Crystal Palace
paying over £½ million for his services. Bodin failed to settle in London, and after Ardiles took him to Newcastle United
for a short loan spell, he returned to the County Ground just ten months after he had left - Glenn Hoddle
paying half the fee that Palace had.
Hoddle played Bodin as a more attack-minded wing back, making better use of Bodin's crossing ability. He also installed Bodin as the club's penalty taker - moves which were to come to fruition the following season, when he scored a total of twelve goals from his new position. Five of these goals came from the penalty spot - the last of which was possibly the most pressurised kick ever to be taken by a Swindon player - the penalty which gave Swindon the lead in the dying minutes of the 1993 Play-Off Final win over Leicester City
at Wembley.
Bodin performed well again in the Premiership, scoring seven league goals, including penalty strikes against Manchester United
and Arsenal
. By now, he was a regular choice at international level - missing a crucial penalty for Wales in their World Cup
qualifier with Romania
- had he scored, Wales may well have qualified.
He remained as the Town's first choice left back for two more seasons, despite two successive relegations and the arrival of Jason Drysdale
- and he helped the club to the Second Division championship in 1996, before leaving the club at the end of that season.
After a spell with Reading
, he returned to Bath City to take up a position as player-manager. In 2001 his position was dropped to a part-time role due to financial troubles at the club and he subsequently resigned. Bodin is now a coach within Swindon Town's youth team set-up, where his son Billy
currently plays. In April 2011 he was appointed caretaker manager of Swindon Town following the departure of Paul Hart
.
Following the arrival of Paulo Di Canio, Bodin rebuffed advances from Torquay to become assistant manager under good friend Martin Ling
, and opted to sign a new long term deal with the club following the revelations he had been working without a contract for 3 and a half years.
and Mike Smith, attaining 23 caps. He was noted for missing a penalty in Wales' final and decisive 1994 World Cup qualifier at home to Romania, a game Wales needed to win in order to qualify but they subsequently lost 2-1.
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
international footballer. A left-back, Bodin's domestic career is probably best remembered for his two spells at Swindon Town
Swindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...
.
Career
Bodin began his career with ChelseaChelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
as a schoolboy, but then moved onto a brief spell with Newport County
Newport County A.F.C.
Newport County Association Football Club are a professional football club based in the city of Newport, south Wales, who currently play in the Conference National, the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
after being released. He instead joined his home town club Cardiff City
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
and was handed his professional debut on the opening day of the 1982–83 season against Wrexham. He helped the side to promotion to Division Two
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
in his first year, finishing as runners-up to Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
. In total, he spent three seasons at Ninian Park
Ninian Park
Ninian Park was a football stadium in Leckwith, Cardiff, Wales. Until 2009, it was the home ground of Cardiff City F.C., who compete in the English Football League Championship...
before being released and the Welshman fell into non-league with Bath City
Bath City F.C.
Bath City Football Club are a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset. They play in the Conference National league after gaining promotion from the Conference South via the play-offs in May 2010...
, before returning to the Football League with Newport.
Bodin left Newport for Swindon Town
Swindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...
in March 1988 for a fee of £30,000 as cover for Phil King
Phil King
Phil King is an English musician, best known for being the bass guitarist in Lush.-Music:He joined Lush in 1992 before their second album Split. In a 2008 interview with Von Pip Musical Express, King recalled how he joined Lush. "Miki called me up at work. I was a picture researcher at the NME at...
- and his first few appearances for the club were terrible - leading Town fanzine Bring the Noise to describe him as being "no better than an average Conference player".
When King left for Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
in November the following year, Bodin became the club's first choice left back, and his performances began to improve - so much so that he became a regular choice for his country. He was almost ever-present in 1989/1990, a season which resulted in his first appearance for Swindon at Wembley, in the ill-fated Play-Off Final win over Sunderland.
After the illegal payments scandal, Swindon were forced to sell players, and shortly after Ossie Ardiles left the club, Bodin also left - Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
paying over £½ million for his services. Bodin failed to settle in London, and after Ardiles took him to Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
for a short loan spell, he returned to the County Ground just ten months after he had left - Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle is an English former footballer and manager who played as an attacking midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, AS Monaco, Chelsea and Swindon Town and at international level for England....
paying half the fee that Palace had.
Hoddle played Bodin as a more attack-minded wing back, making better use of Bodin's crossing ability. He also installed Bodin as the club's penalty taker - moves which were to come to fruition the following season, when he scored a total of twelve goals from his new position. Five of these goals came from the penalty spot - the last of which was possibly the most pressurised kick ever to be taken by a Swindon player - the penalty which gave Swindon the lead in the dying minutes of the 1993 Play-Off Final win over Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
at Wembley.
Bodin performed well again in the Premiership, scoring seven league goals, including penalty strikes against Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
and Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
. By now, he was a regular choice at international level - missing a crucial penalty for Wales in their World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
qualifier with Romania
Romania national football team
The Romania national football team is the national football team of Romania and is controlled by the Romanian Football Federation.Romania is one of only four national teams, the other three being Brazil, France, and Belgium, that took part in the first three World Cups.However, after that...
- had he scored, Wales may well have qualified.
He remained as the Town's first choice left back for two more seasons, despite two successive relegations and the arrival of Jason Drysdale
Jason Drysdale
Jason Drysdale is an English former footballer.Drysale began his career with Watford FC where he made over 100 appearances in a six year period before joining Newcastle United...
- and he helped the club to the Second Division championship in 1996, before leaving the club at the end of that season.
After a spell with Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...
, he returned to Bath City to take up a position as player-manager. In 2001 his position was dropped to a part-time role due to financial troubles at the club and he subsequently resigned. Bodin is now a coach within Swindon Town's youth team set-up, where his son Billy
Billy Bodin
Billy Paul Bodin is a Welsh footballer who plays for Torquay United on loan from Swindon Town as a forward or as an attacking midfielder...
currently plays. In April 2011 he was appointed caretaker manager of Swindon Town following the departure of Paul Hart
Paul Hart
Paul Hart is an English football manager and former football defender, who is currently Academy Director at Charlton Athletic. The son of Johnny Hart, a football inside forward and manager, Hart had five-year spells with both Blackpool and Leeds United, while also playing for Nottingham Forest and...
.
Following the arrival of Paulo Di Canio, Bodin rebuffed advances from Torquay to become assistant manager under good friend Martin Ling
Martin Ling
Martin Ling is an English football manager and former player, who is currently manager of Torquay United in League Two. He played in over 100 Football League matches for Exeter City, Southend United, Swindon Town and Leyton Orient, before moving into management where he led Orient for over five...
, and opted to sign a new long term deal with the club following the revelations he had been working without a contract for 3 and a half years.
Wales career
For four years Bodin was a regular fixture for the Welsh national football team under the management of Terry YorathTerry Yorath
Terence Charles Yorath is a former footballer and has been a manager at both club and international level. He is also the father of television presenter Gabby Logan....
and Mike Smith, attaining 23 caps. He was noted for missing a penalty in Wales' final and decisive 1994 World Cup qualifier at home to Romania, a game Wales needed to win in order to qualify but they subsequently lost 2-1.
International goals
| Cap | Date | Venue | Opposition | Att. | Result | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20/05/1990 | Cardiff Cardiff Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for... |
Costa Rica Costa Rica national football team The Costa Rica national football team, nicknamed La Sele, is the national team of Costa Rica and is controlled by the Federación Costarricense de Fútbol. Costa Rica is the third most successful team in CONCACAF after Mexico and the United States... |
5,977 | (W) 1-0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 11/09/1990 | Copenhagen Copenhagen Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region... |
Denmark Denmark national football team The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU... |
8,700 | (L) 0-1 | 0 | |
| 3 | 17/10/1990 | Cardiff | Belgium | 13,000 | (W) 3-1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 14/11/1990 | Luxembourg Luxembourg Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south... |
Luxembourg Luxembourg national football team The Luxembourg national football team is the national football team of Luxembourg, and is controlled by the Luxembourg Football Federation. The team play most of their home matches at the Stade Josy Barthel, in Luxembourg.- History :... |
6,800 | (W) 1-0 | 0 | |
| 5 | 06/02/1991 | Wrexham Wrexham Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England... |
Ireland Republic of Ireland national football team The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010.... |
9,186 | (L) 0-3 | 0 | |
| 6 | 27/03/1991 | Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union... |
Belgium | 25,000 | (D) 1-1 | 0 | |
| 7 | 01/05/1991 | Cardiff | Iceland Iceland national football team The Iceland national football team is the national football team of Iceland and is controlled by the Football Association of Iceland. It has never advanced to the finals of any major international competition.... |
3,656 | (W) 1-0 | 1 | |
| 8 | 29/05/1991 | Radom Radom Radom is a city in central Poland with 223,397 inhabitants . It is located on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship , having previously been the capital of Radom Voivodeship ; 100 km south of Poland's capital, Warsaw.It is home to the biennial Radom Air Show, the largest and... |
Poland Poland national football team The Poland national football team represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland... |
12,000 | (0) 0-0 | 0 | |
| 9 | 05/06/1991 | Cardiff | Germany Germany national football team The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900.... |
38,000 | (W) 1-0 | 0 | |
| 10 | 11/09/1991 | Cardiff | Brazil Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the... |
20,000 | (W) 1-0 | 0 | |
| 11 | 16/10/1991 | Nuremberg Nuremberg Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664... |
Germany | 43,000 | (L) 1-4 | 1 | |
| 12 | 13/11/1991 | Cardiff | Luxembourg | 23,000 | (W) 1-0 | 1 | |
| 13 | 19/02/1992 | Dublin | Ireland | 15,100 | (W) 1-0 | 0 | |
| 14 | 29/04/1992 | Utrecht Utrecht (city) Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features... |
Holland | 18,000 | (L) 0-4 | 0 | |
| 15 | 03/06/1992 | Tokyo | Argentina Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in association football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association , the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentina's home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti and their head coach is Alejandro... |
31,000 | (L) 0-1 | 0 | |
| 16 | 17/02/1993 | Dublin | Ireland | 9,500 | (L) 1-2 | 0 | |
| 17 | 31/03/1993 | Cardiff | Belgium | 27,002 | (W) 2-0 | 0 | |
| 18 | 28/04/1993 | Ostrava Ostrava Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the second largest urban agglomeration after Prague. Located close to the Polish border, it is also the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region and of the Municipality with Extended Competence. Ostrava was candidate for the... |
Republic of Czechs & Slovaks | 16,000 | (D) 1-1 | 0 | |
| 19 | 06/06/1993 | Toftir Toftir Toftir is a village in Nes Municipality on the island of Eysturoy, in the Faroe Islands .Toftir is part of a chain of villages stretching over a distance of 10 kilometres on the east side of Skálafjørður on Eysturoy.... |
Faroe Islands Faroe Islands national football team The Faroe Islands national football team represents the Faroe Islands in association football and is controlled by the Faroe Islands Football Association, the governing body for football in the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands became a member of FIFA in 1988 and UEFA in 1990 and are the third... |
4,209 | (W) 3-0 | 0 | |
| 20 | 17/11/1993 | Cardiff | Romania | 40,000 | (L) 1-2 | 0 | |
| 21 | 20/04/1994 | Wrexham | Sweden Sweden national football team The Swedish national football team represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for Football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Råsunda Stadium in Stockholms län and their head coach is Erik Hamrén. Sweden made their first... |
4,694 | (L) 0-2 | 0 | |
| 22 | 23/05/1994 | Tallinn Tallinn Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list... |
Estonia Estonia national football team The Estonia national football team represents Estonia in international association football. Team members are selected by the head coach of Estonian Football Association . Estonia play their home matches at the A. Le Coq Arena in Tallinn, Estonia.... |
3,500 | (W) 2-1 | 0 | |
| 23 | 07/09/1994 | Cardiff | Albania Albania national football team The Albania national association football team is the national association football team of Albania and is controlled by the Football Association of Albania... |
15,791 | (W) 2-0 | 0 |