William Paul Paynter (born 13 July 1984) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and coach who is now head first team coach at club

Runcorn Linnets Runcorn Linnets F.C. are an English football club based in Runcorn, Cheshire. The club currently plays in the , and is a full member of the Cheshire County Football Association. The club is run by a trust which is a registered society under t ...

. In a 17-year professional career in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

he played as a striker and scored 131 goals in 529 league and cup appearances. Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, he started his career with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in 2000, and made over 150 appearances in his six years with the club, being voted

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. He was sold to

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

in January 2006, before moving on to

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

eight months later. His career stalled, and following a loan spell with

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

, he moved on to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

in August 2007. Averaging more than a goal every three games with the club, he transferred to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

in June 2010. He joined

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

on loan in October 2011, before taking a free transfer to

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

in August 2012. He helped Rovers to win the

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

title in 2012–13. He was loaned out to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

in January 2014. He signed with Carlisle United in June 2014, moving on to

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

twelve months later. He dropped into non-league football for a brief spell with Warrington Town in November 2017. He moved into coaching after retiring as a player and has coached at the academies at Everton,

RIASA The Richmond International Academic and Soccer Academy (RIASA) is an association football academy based in Leeds, England which was founded in 2010. History RIASA was founded in 2010 and is based at Leeds Beckett University's Headingley campus. It ...

, Port Vale and now head first team coach at Runcorn Linnets.

Career

Port Vale

He started his career at

after being scouted in his native

at the age of ten. He signed professional forms in 2000, and manager

Brian Horton Brian "Nobby" Horton (born 4 February 1949) is an English former footballer and manager. He spent 16 years as a professional player and 22 years as a manager, making 689 appearances and managing 1,098 matches. In addition to this he spent four ...

gave Paynter his debut against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

on 3 May 2001. At only 16 years and 294 days old, this made him the youngest Vale player for twenty years. Horton went on to give the young striker seven further

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

games in the 2001–02 season. He scored his first senior goal past

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

on 17 September 2002, making him the club's youngest goalscorer for 24 years. By the end of the season he had scored five goals in 34 appearances. Still a teenager during the 2003–04 season, he hit 14 goals in 48 games despite being played mostly on the right-wing, leaving him second in the club's scoring charts behind the prolific Stephen McPhee. He was rewarded with a long-term contract at the season's end. He opened the 2004–05 season by being sent off for over celebrating after scoring Vale's first goal in a 3–2 defeat at

on 7 August; he went on to criticize referee

Lee Probert Lee William Probert (born 13 August 1972)
(

for ruining the game with the red card decision. He went on to end the campaign as the club's top-scorer with thirteen goals in fifty games; this came despite criticism from some supporters for a mini-goal drought in mid-season. In March, manager

Martin Foyle Martin John Foyle (born 2 May 1963) is an English former professional footballer and manager who is the Head of Recruitment at club St Mirren. In his 20-year playing career he played 533 League games, scoring 155 goals. As a manager, he took ...

dismissed rumours of Paynter moving to nearby

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

. At the end of the season, fans voted Paynter as the club's

. He started the 2005–06 season with just two goals in sixteen

games, but had still done enough in his Port Vale career to justify a move into

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

football. The club reported

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him one ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

for an alleged illegal approach for the player, but accepted a bid from Hull City.

Hull City

In November 2005,

manager

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politic ...

signed Paynter on loan, then later negotiated a permanent transfer for an initial fee of £150,000 in the January transfer window. Teammate Sam Collins also moved to Hull at the same time. Again, Paynter mainly played as a striker, but also made some appearances as a right midfielder. He scored three times in his 23 appearances, before moving on again at the end of the season.

Southend

Paynter joined

on a three-year contract on 7 August 2006 for an undisclosed fee, although he actually joined the Shrimpers a few days earlier on loan, to enable him to play in their match against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. Paynter scored his first and what turned out to be only Southend goal in a 3–2

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

victory over

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, but lost his place in the first team due to a lack of goals. Paynter's stay at Southend was brief, interrupted by a hamstring injury, and on the last day of the January transfer window of the 2006–07 season he was loaned out to

for a month, having made just eleven appearances for Southend. Paynter made his debut for Bradford City against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

on 3 February 2007, scoring a last minute equaliser to earn the Bantams a 2–2 draw. He played fifteen times for Bradford, scoring four goals, after his loan was extended to the end of the season.

Swindon Town

In August 2007, Paynter signed for

on transfer deadline day on a three-year contract. He made his debut on 9 September, coming on as a substitute in a televised defeat against

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somer ...

. He hit a hat-trick against

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

on 22 September, his first game at the County Ground. He followed this up with a brace against Gillingham in a 5–0 win on 6 October, as a strong partnership with loan signing Simon Cox began to develop. Following

Paul Sturrock Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former association football, football coach and former player. As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances betwe ...

's departure, caretaker-managers

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

and

Maurice Malpas Maurice Daniel Robert Malpas (born 3 August 1962) is a Scottish former football player and coach. He signed for Dundee United in 1979 and spent his entire professional playing career with the club until his retirement in 2000. With him, United ...

dropped him over concerns that he had lost confidence following a run of one goal scored in nine games. He was soon returned to the starting line-up after

Bradley Orr Bradley James Orr (born 1 November 1982) is an English retired footballer. Career Newcastle United & loans Born in Liverpool, Merseyside, Bradley Orr started his senior career with Newcastle United, and was loaned out to Burnley due to lack o ...

picked up a suspension. In January, he scored a goal and an own goal in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

replay with

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

, before he was sent off in a League One game with Crewe Alexandara for an elbow on

Michael O'Connor Michael O'Connor may refer to: Politicians * Michael O'Connor (Australian politician) (1865–1940), Australian politician * Michael O'Connor (Wisconsin politician) (1856–1925), Wisconsin State Assemblyman * Michael J. O'Connor (politici ...

. He was sent off again in March for a deliberate handball against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

, and ended the 2007–08 season with ten goals in forty games. Paynter made 42 league starts in the following 2008–09 season for Swindon, scoring eleven goals and providing vital support for the league's joint top-scorer Simon Cox. His strong play was a good foil for the pace and intelligent running shown by Cox. However, another sending off against Crewe Alexandra tarnished his reputation for new manager Danny Wilson. He did though regain his first-team spot after Barry Corr picked up an injury in January. Cox was sold to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

in summer 2009, and Paynter was given a more prominent role in attack as a result of his departure. He netted fifteen goals in a seventeen match run from the end of November through to April. Paynter was named as the League One Player of the Month for January – an award he was also nominated for again in March – and at this point Paynter also entered negotiations over a new contract with Swindon. On 3 April 2010, Paynter scored a brace for Swindon in their 3–0 rout of

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

– the win gave Swindon some hope of achieving automatic promotion. He had also previously scored twice against Leeds that season in a 3–0 win at the County Ground. Swindon reached the League One play-offs, and won their play-off semi final after beating

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

on penalties – Paynter had missed the first leg through injury, but returned for the second leg which saw Swindon edge into

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

. He overcame a slight injury doubt and managed to play from the start in Swindon's 1–0 defeat to

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

, with Paynter being substituted late on in the second half. During the 2009–10 season, Paynter also managed to form a formidable strike partnership with fellow striker

Charlie Austin Charles Austin (born 5 July 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker. Released from his contract by Reading as a youth, Austin played non-league football up to May 2009, when he was signed by Swindon Town after a pro ...

, as the pair scored a total of 49 goals between them. In total Paynter scored 29 goals for Swindon during the 2009–10 season, representing his best goal scoring ratio in a single season.

Leeds United

In June 2010, after turning down a new deal at Swindon Town, Paynter accepted a three-year deal with newly promoted

. In late July however, it was reported that Paynter would be ruled out for two-months after suffering a stress fracture of the shin that he had picked up during Leeds' pre season schedule. The injury ruled him out of the rest of the pre-season, with manager

Simon Grayson Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Bengaluru. As a player, he was a right back, but he was also utilised in m ...

suggesting that the club could not provide and timescales on Paynter's recovery from injury. Paynter finally returned to training at the start of September, and played 90 minutes in a 'behind-closed-doors' friendly, however Paynter later suffered a reaction to his injury, keeping him out of action longer than had been expected. Having finally returned to fitness and having appeared for Leeds' reserve team, Paynter finally made his first-team debut on 10 October 2010, as a second-half substitute in a 4–1 defeat of

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

. Paynter eventually scored his first goal for Leeds in a 2–1 win at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

on 8 March. Paynter had a disappointing first season with Leeds, scoring just once in 23 games, and was linked with a move to

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

rivals Sheffield United during the following the summer. Having remained at Leeds despite interest from elsewhere, Paynter came on as a substitute for Leeds on the opening day of the 2011–12 season as they suffered a 3–1 defeat against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. Paynter was unable to establish himself in the Leeds first team however, as he picked up another injury, sidelining him for a further spell. At the end of August, Paynter was given permission to speak with

regarding a move to the club. However decided to stay at Leeds and fight for his place in the team. With

Luciano Becchio Luciano Héctor Becchio (born 28 December 1983) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the assistant manager of Segunda División B – Group 3 side CD Atlético Baleares.Mikael Forssell Mikael Kaj Forssell (born 15 March 1981) is a Finnish former football striker. Forssell began his professional career in 1997 for HJK, having progressed through the team's youth teams, but he only remained at the club for a single season, mak ...

, Paynter's playing opportunities diminished further, and manager

hinted that he would allow Paynter to go out on loan. Having not played since the opening day of the season for Leeds, in October 2011 reports circulated that several Championship clubs were interested in taking Paynter on loan. but Leeds insisted they would not loan him to a rival club in the same division, and were currently considering an offer from an unnamed League One side. On 27 October 2011, Paynter signed for

on loan until the start of January 2012. He made his debut for the club on 29 October, as a second-half substitute against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. He played a total of ten games for Brighton without scoring before he returned to

. Paynter finally made his first start of the season for Leeds, and his first start under new manager

Neil Warnock Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English former football manager and player. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed sixteen different clubs from the Premier League to ...

in mid April 2012, coming into the side against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

, scoring twice in a 4–1 home win. He was given a second consecutive start in the following game against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, however he picked up an Achilles injury in the game which ended his season prematurely. Neil Warnock subsequently placed Paynter on the transfer list at the end of the 2011–12 season.

boss

Dean Saunders Dean Nicholas Saunders (born 21 June 1964) is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a striker in a career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He played for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the 1990s, and s ...

was strongly linked with a move for the striker at the end of July. However Paynter instead joined

for a week-long trial. The trial was cut short after a few days, and he began training with Doncaster Rovers. When Leeds issued their squad numbers for the 2012–13 season on 3 August, it was revealed that Paynter, previously the club's number nine, had not been allocated a number.

Doncaster Rovers

Following a trial spell, Paynter completed a free transfer to League One side

on 13 August 2012, signing a two-year contract. Paynter scored 13 goals in 40 games during the 2012–13 campaign, and on the last day of the season he provided the pass to

James Coppinger James Coppinger (born 18 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He began his career at Newcastle United, making one appearance in the Premier League, and later spent two years at Exeter ...

which was converted for the late winning goal over

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

that won Doncaster promotion to the Championship as champions of League One. On 10 January 2014, Paynter signed for

on loan. He spent most of his time on the bench as

Nigel Clough Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was c ...

chose to use

Jose Baxter Jose Baxter (born 7 February 1992) is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Born in Bootle, Baxter began his career with his home town club of Everton, where in 2008 he became the Premier League's t ...

as a false number nine in a highly successful run that took the club up the table and into the semi-finals of the

. played 13 games for the "Blades" in the second half of the 2013–14 campaign, without scoring a goal. He was released by Doncaster manager

Paul Dickov Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

in May 2014.

Carlisle United

Paynter signed a two-year contract with newly relegated

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

in June 2014. It was reported that he decided to reject higher paid offers from clubs in higher divisions in join the "Cumbrians" after being convinced to come to

Brunton Park Brunton Park is a football stadium and the home of Carlisle United. It is situated in the city of Carlisle and has a certified capacity of 17,949. The ground opened in 1909. Brunton Park's grandstand burned down in 1953 and the stadium floode ...

by manager

Graham Kavanagh Graham Anthony Kavanagh (born 2 December 1973) is an Irish football manager and former professional player. Kavanagh had a 19-year-long career and played for Middlesbrough, Stoke City, Cardiff City, Wigan Athletic, Sunderland, Sheffield Wednes ...

. However Carlisle struggled during the 2014–15 season, and after being fined by new manager

Keith Curle Keith Curle (born 14 November 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, who is the current manager of League Two side Hartlepool United. He played as a centre back from 1981 to 2005, notably in the Premier League for ...

for refusing to take part in extra training sessions put on for players not in the first team, both Paynter and

Gary Dicker Gary Richard Perry Dicker (born 31 July 1986) is an Irish football coach and former professional player who is under-21's assistant manager at Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion. He started his career with League of Ireland club UCD a ...

took representation from the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional association footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sport trade union, and has over 5,000 members. The aims of ...

to dispute the legality of their fines. He was transfer listed by Curle in May 2015.

Hartlepool United

Paynter had his contract with Carlisle United cancelled by mutual consent and joined League Two rivals

on 27 June 2015. He was appointed as club captain by manager

Ronnie Moore Ronald David Moore (born 29 January 1953) is an English football manager and former player. He has taken charge of several clubs including Rotherham United, Tranmere Rovers and Hartlepool United. He played for many different clubs in a care ...

. He made his debut in the 2–0 win over

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

in the first game of the 2015–16 season, scoring the opening goal and providing an assist for

Rakish Bingham Rakish Phillip Bingham (born 25 October 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for National League side Ebbsfleet United. He has also previously played for Wigan Athletic, Falkirk, Mansfield Town, Hartlepool U ...

. Three days later, Paynter scored in his second game to help Hartlepool beat

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

1–0 in the first round of the League Cup. His total of 15 goals in 35 appearances in the 2015–16 season made him the club's top-scorer and caused new manager

Craig Hignett Craig Hignett (born 12 January 1970), is an English former professional footballer. He started his career as a striker but later moved into midfield. Playing career Born in Whiston and previously a trainee at Liverpool, Hignett began his se ...

to exercise a contract clause to keep Paynter at the club for another year. He was out injured in January with an Achilles problem, and underwent surgery to correct the issue two months later. Hartlepool were relegated into non-league at the end of the 2016–17 season, and Paynter admitted that he did not know what manager Dave Jones had been doing with his tactics. Paynter was one of three men – along with Stuart Parnaby and Ian Gallagher – tasked with assisting caretaker-manager Matthew Bates for the final two games of the season, which ended in a defeat and a victory, but ultimately relegation. Paynter was released in May 2017.

Warrington Town

On 26 November 2017, Paynter signed with

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Premier Division club Warrington Town. He had previously been training with

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wesh ...

and

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

. However he announced his retirement from football the following month.

International career

Paynter played for a Football League England U21 team (selected and managed by

) in a game against an Under-21 Italy squad containing players from

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

side's, a match which took place at the

KC Stadium The MKM Stadium (also known as the Hull City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull, England. The stadium was previously called the KC Stadium, but was renamed the KCOM Stadi ...

in February 2006. Paynter played as a right-midfielder.

Coaching career

Paynter was appointed as an academy football coach at Everton in February 2018 and also spent six months as a coach at

. He returned to former club Port Vale as the academy's professional development phase lead coach in October 2020. Interim manager

Danny Pugh Daniel Adam Pugh (born 19 October 1982) is an English professional football coach and former player. A versatile player, he could play in midfield or at left-back. He began his career with Manchester United, and made a handful of first team ...

had to start self-isolation after testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on 18 January 2021, leaving Paynter,

Frank Sinclair Frank Mohammed Sinclair (born 3 December 1971) is an English-born Jamaican former professional football player and manager and current coach at Doncaster Rovers. He made 756 league and cup appearances in a 25-year playing career, scoring 27 g ...

and Anthony Griffith to take over first-team duties in his absence. New manager

Darrell Clarke Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player who played in the English Football League. He is the manager of club Port Vale. A box-to-box midfielder, Clarke began his career with ...

kept Paynter on as an assistant in the first-team. He left the club in May 2022. He joined the coaching staff at Northern Premier League Division One West side

the following month.

Personal life

Paynter was born in the

Norris Green Norris Green is a suburb and ward of Liverpool, England, in the east of the city. At the 2001 Census it had a population of 17,784, which had fallen to 15,047 at the 2011 Census. History Historically a part of Lancashire, Norris Green's develop ...

area of

, moving to

Litherland Litherland is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside. It was an urban district, which included Seaforth and Ford. It neighbours Waterloo to the north, Seaforth to the west, and Bootle to the south and is approximately north ...

during his early childhood, and is a keen fan of

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

Career statistics

Honours

;Doncaster Rovers *

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

: 2012–13 ;Individual * Port Vale Player of the Year: 2004–05 *

Football League One Player of the Month The EFL League One Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in EFL League One, the third tier of English football. Originally named the Football League One Pla ...

: January 2010

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paynter, Billy 1984 births Living people People from Norris Green Footballers from Liverpool English footballers Association football forwards Southend United F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Warrington Town F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players Association football coaches Hartlepool United F.C. non-playing staff Everton F.C. non-playing staff Port Vale F.C. non-playing staff