Paul Stephenson
Encyclopedia
Paul Stephenson is a former professional
footballer who played as a winger
/ central midfielder
for Newcastle United
, Millwall
, Gillingham
, Brentford
and York City
before he ended his career with Hartlepool United
. During his footballing career he made a combined total of over 500 appearances. He is now the First Team Coach at Football League One
side Huddersfield Town
.
. He started his career as an apprentice at Newcastle United
in the same youth team that brought through the likes of Paul Gascoigne
. Along with Gascoigne he represented England
at youth level. While at Newcastle he earned the reputation of being a fast and skilful winger. He made his debut at the age of 17 and went on to make 63 starts and 4 substitute appearances for the club. However, Stephenson was one of many highly regarded stars that were sold in the late 80s.
for a fee of around £300,000. He spent his first four seasons playing regularly for Milwall in the same team as the likes of Teddy Sheringham
and Tony Cascarino
. However after the arrival of new manager Mick McCarthy
, Stephenson’s first team opportunities were limited and found himself being loaned to Gillingham where he made 12 league starts and scored 2 goals. Stephenson returned to Millwall but he failed to force his way back into the first team. While at Millwall, Stephenson made a total of 98 league appearances and scored 6 goals.
for £30k. During his two and a half seasons at Brentford, Stephenson played regularly and made 70 appearances for the club. However, he decided to move back up north and joined York City
for £35k, which the then manager Alan Little has cited as a `bargain'. However Stephenson’s first season at the club was disrupted by two severe injuries, a broken arm and hairline fracture of the leg. During his 3 seasons at York, Stephenson established himself as York’s first choice right winger and he made just under 100 appearances for the club, scoring 5 times. However, Alan Little reluctantly placed him on the transfer list along with several other first team players in order to raise much needed funds before his contract ran out. Hartlepool along with his former club Brentford both made offers but Alan Little delayed the transfer in order to try and use the winger to help aid York’s play-off bid. However, York failed to make the play-offs and Stephenson took the opportunity to move closer to his Newcastle
roots and joined Hartlepool in March 1998.
in front of 2,817 fans. However, Stephenson found his first full season at the club difficult, which led to him being criticised by the fans for his lacklustre performances. After the dismissal of Mick Tait
and the arrival of a new manager in the form of Chris Turner, Stephenson’s future at the club looked uncertain and he was rumoured to be on his way out as he struggled to force his way into Chris Turner’s side and he handed in a transfer request. However during the last game of the season against Southend United
, Stephenson came off the bench and scored which demonstrated his ability to Turner. During Stephenson’s second season at the club, he was moved into the centre of midfield. This allowed him to become an important playmaker for the team and he created numerous goal scoring opportunities for his team mates. As a central midfielder he formed a strong partnership with the likes of Tommy Miller
and Mark Tinkler. His performances saw him near the top of the Opta Indexes for Division 3 and made him a fan favourite. After his performances during the 1999/2000 season earned, he was named Hartlepool Player of the Year. However as Stephenson got older he found himself being over taken in the pecking order by younger and quicker players and he made what was to be his final appearance for the club against Cheltenham Town in the play-off semi-final second leg, where he missed a penalty in the deciding penalty shootout. Stephenson failed to play a single game in the following season and on 25 March 2003, he announced his retirement.
where he guided the team to a goalless draw and in his second game he managed to guide the team to a 1–0 victory over Chesterfield
. He was undefeated in his first five games in charge. However, despite some improved performances Hartlepool slipped back into the relegation zone and were eventually relegated on the last day of the season. Stephenson stated that he did not want to take over as manager and wanted to remain a coach, and he has since returned to his job as youth team coach. However upon the arrival of new Norwich manager Glenn Roeder and his attempts to create his own backroom staff Stephenson was offered the job in early November. Nevertheless despite some trouble with the Hartlepool chairman regarding compensation, Glenn Roeder was ultimately successful with the appointment and Stephenson commenced work with the Canaries in December 2007.
side Huddersfield Town
. On the 11th of November 2010 it was officially announced he would be the first team coach at Huddersfield Town.
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
footballer who played as a winger
Winger (sport)
In certain sports, such as football, field hockey, ice hockey, handball, rugby union, lacrosse and rugby league, the term winger is the name of a position. It refers to positions on the extreme left and right sides of the pitch . In American football and Canadian football, the analogous position...
/ central midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
for 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...
, Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
, Gillingham
Gillingham F.C.
Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...
, Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....
and York City
York City F.C.
York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...
before he ended his career with Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United F.C.
Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...
. During his footballing career he made a combined total of over 500 appearances. He is now the First Team Coach at Football League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
side Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town F.C.
Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...
.
Newcastle United
Paul Stephenson was born in WallsendWallsend
Wallsend is an area in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. Wallsend derives its name as the location of the end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 42,842.-Romans:...
. He started his career as an apprentice at 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...
in the same youth team that brought through the likes of Paul Gascoigne
Paul Gascoigne
Paul John Gascoigne , commonly referred to as Gazza, is a retired English professional footballer.Playing in the position of midfield, Gascoigne's career included spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough, Everton and Gansu Tianma, where he scored at least a goal...
. Along with Gascoigne he represented England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
at youth level. While at Newcastle he earned the reputation of being a fast and skilful winger. He made his debut at the age of 17 and went on to make 63 starts and 4 substitute appearances for the club. However, Stephenson was one of many highly regarded stars that were sold in the late 80s.
Millwall
In 1988, Stephenson was sold to MillwallMillwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
for a fee of around £300,000. He spent his first four seasons playing regularly for Milwall in the same team as the likes of Teddy Sheringham
Teddy Sheringham
Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham MBE is a retired English footballer, and the father of footballer Charlie Sheringham. Sheringham played as a striker, and had a successful career at the club level, winning almost every domestic honour available with his clubs, most notably the Treble with Manchester...
and Tony Cascarino
Tony Cascarino
Anthony Guy 'Tony' Cascarino is an former association football player who played as a forward for various British and French clubs and internationally for the Republic of Ireland national team, with whom he competed in the 1988 European Football Championship and two World Cups in 1990 and...
. However after the arrival of new manager Mick McCarthy
Mick McCarthy
Michael Joseph "Mick" McCarthy is an English-born former Irish international footballer who is currently the manager of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he has been in charge since July 2006....
, Stephenson’s first team opportunities were limited and found himself being loaned to Gillingham where he made 12 league starts and scored 2 goals. Stephenson returned to Millwall but he failed to force his way back into the first team. While at Millwall, Stephenson made a total of 98 league appearances and scored 6 goals.
Brentford & York
Midway through the 1993/94 season, Stephenson was sold to BrentfordBrentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....
for £30k. During his two and a half seasons at Brentford, Stephenson played regularly and made 70 appearances for the club. However, he decided to move back up north and joined York City
York City F.C.
York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...
for £35k, which the then manager Alan Little has cited as a `bargain'. However Stephenson’s first season at the club was disrupted by two severe injuries, a broken arm and hairline fracture of the leg. During his 3 seasons at York, Stephenson established himself as York’s first choice right winger and he made just under 100 appearances for the club, scoring 5 times. However, Alan Little reluctantly placed him on the transfer list along with several other first team players in order to raise much needed funds before his contract ran out. Hartlepool along with his former club Brentford both made offers but Alan Little delayed the transfer in order to try and use the winger to help aid York’s play-off bid. However, York failed to make the play-offs and Stephenson took the opportunity to move closer to his Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
roots and joined Hartlepool in March 1998.
Hartlepool
He made his Hartlepool debut on 18 April against Mansfield TownMansfield Town F.C.
Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...
in front of 2,817 fans. However, Stephenson found his first full season at the club difficult, which led to him being criticised by the fans for his lacklustre performances. After the dismissal of Mick Tait
Mick Tait
Michael 'Mick' Tait was an English footballer and later a manager at the end of his playing career. His 760 league games puts him 13th in the list of English footballers. His clubs were Oxford United, Carlisle United, Hull City, Portsmouth, Reading, Darlington and Hartlepool United as well as...
and the arrival of a new manager in the form of Chris Turner, Stephenson’s future at the club looked uncertain and he was rumoured to be on his way out as he struggled to force his way into Chris Turner’s side and he handed in a transfer request. However during the last game of the season against Southend United
Southend United F.C.
Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...
, Stephenson came off the bench and scored which demonstrated his ability to Turner. During Stephenson’s second season at the club, he was moved into the centre of midfield. This allowed him to become an important playmaker for the team and he created numerous goal scoring opportunities for his team mates. As a central midfielder he formed a strong partnership with the likes of Tommy Miller
Tommy Miller
Thomas William "Tommy" Miller is an English footballer who currently plays for Huddersfield Town. Although born in England, he is eligible to represent Scotland in international football.-Hartlepool United:...
and Mark Tinkler. His performances saw him near the top of the Opta Indexes for Division 3 and made him a fan favourite. After his performances during the 1999/2000 season earned, he was named Hartlepool Player of the Year. However as Stephenson got older he found himself being over taken in the pecking order by younger and quicker players and he made what was to be his final appearance for the club against Cheltenham Town in the play-off semi-final second leg, where he missed a penalty in the deciding penalty shootout. Stephenson failed to play a single game in the following season and on 25 March 2003, he announced his retirement.
Hartlepool
After Stephenson’s retirement, he immediately joined the coaching staff at Hartlepool and became an assistant youth team coach. Following Martin Scott’s promotion to the assistant manager’s position, Stephenson was made the main Youth Team coach. While youth team coach, Stephenson guided the youth team to victory in the Under 19’s section of Dallas Cup. Towards the end of the 2005/6 season Stephenson was appointed as Hartlepool’s temporary manager due to the dismissal of Martin Scott from the club. His first game in charge was against RotherhamRotherham United F.C.
Rotherham United Football Club are an English professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who compete in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club's colours have traditionally been red and white, although these have evolved through history...
where he guided the team to a goalless draw and in his second game he managed to guide the team to a 1–0 victory over Chesterfield
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...
. He was undefeated in his first five games in charge. However, despite some improved performances Hartlepool slipped back into the relegation zone and were eventually relegated on the last day of the season. Stephenson stated that he did not want to take over as manager and wanted to remain a coach, and he has since returned to his job as youth team coach. However upon the arrival of new Norwich manager Glenn Roeder and his attempts to create his own backroom staff Stephenson was offered the job in early November. Nevertheless despite some trouble with the Hartlepool chairman regarding compensation, Glenn Roeder was ultimately successful with the appointment and Stephenson commenced work with the Canaries in December 2007.
Huddersfield Town
Following Roeder's departure in 2009, Stephenson left the club and joined Roeder's assistant Lee Clark as Development Coach at Football League OneFootball League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
side Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town F.C.
Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...
. On the 11th of November 2010 it was officially announced he would be the first team coach at Huddersfield Town.
Huddersfield Town F.C.
Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...