Paul Malcolm Adcock (born 2 May 1972) 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 ...

who played as a forward.

Career

Adcock was born in

Ilminster Ilminster is a minster town and civil parish in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England, with a population of 5,808. Bypassed in 1988, the town now lies just east of the junction of the A303 (London to Exeter) and the A358 (Taunton to ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. He began as an apprentice with

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, ...

, turning professional on 7 August 1990. He made his league debut for the Pilgrims on 18 September 1990 in a 2–2 draw with

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.

. Paul was selected for England un19s for the world youth championships during this time. He had a severe back problem while establishing himself in the Plymouth side, making 21 league appearances and 48 in total in the following three years until his release by manager

Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. His 30-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the distinction of playing over 1,000 league games, including in ...

in the 1993 close season when he joined

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

. On his debut for Bath in August 1993, he scored three goals, with his form in the conference (averaging a goal every other game) leading to a second chance at league football when

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

signed him on 16 August 1996. However, hampered by a foot injury and 38-year-old Gary Nelson player-coach picking himself every week, Paul only played only once, as a second-half substitute for

Rodney Jack Rodney Jack (born 18 September 1972) is a former professional footballer from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. He is best known for his spells with Torquay United and Crewe Alexandra. He has also played internationally for Saint Vincent and the ...

in the 3–3

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 ...

draw at home to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

on 28 August, before being released and returning to non-league football. He initially returned to

before joining Gloucester City, managed by

Leroy Rosenior Leroy De Graft Rosenior (born 24 August 1964) is a football coach and pundit. He is a former footballer whose clubs included Fulham, Queens Park Rangers (for whom he appeared as a substitute in the 1986 League Cup Final), Bristol City and Wes ...

, in November 1996. Gloucester underwent many changes during the short period of time Adcock was at the club, mainly due to the serious financial difficulties the club was facing. Adcock subsequently joined Weymouth, originally on loan on 31 March 1998, and a Bosman free transfer in the 1998 close-season. He stayed with the Terras until the summer of 2000. When his contract ran out. He had spent much of the previous season out with a hernia groin injury and was unhappy about being released without the chance to prove his fitness. He subsequently joined Saltash United, playing alongside another former Torquay player,

Michael Preston Michael Preston (born Jack Davies; 14 May 1938) is an English international film and television actor, and singer, sometimes credited as Mike Preston. Life and career Preston was born in Hackney, London, England. He was a boxer and then beca ...

. Likewise, he later played for Devon non-league side

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13,028 ...

while working and owning a scaffolding business, receiving the chairman's player of the year award for the 2003–2004 season, and was still with the club in the 2005–06 season, scoring three league goals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adcock, Paul 1972 births Living people People from Ilminster English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Gloucester City A.F.C. players Saltash United F.C. players Tavistock A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Footballers from Somerset