Paul Robert Bernard (born 30 December 1972) is a Scottish 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 ...

, who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Barnsley, Plymouth Argyle, St Johnstone and

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

. Bernard represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

twice, with both appearances coming in 1995.

Career

He was born in Edinburgh but moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

as a small child in the mid-1970s, and grew up as a Hearts supporter. Bernard started his career with Oldham Athletic, and is remembered for scoring the equaliser in the famous 3–2 win over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

in only his second game for the club during the 1990–91 season when the Latics sealed the Second Division title and returned to the First Division after a 68-year exile. He was soon a regular player in the

Boundary Park Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively. Bound ...

midfield, helping them achieve survival in the First Division in 1991–92 and the new FA Premier League in

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

. He helped them reach the

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 ...

semi-finals in the 1993–94 campaign, and when the Latics took the lead over Manchester United with an extra time goal by

Neil Pointon Neil Geoffrey Pointon (born 28 November 1964) is an English former professional footballer. Pointon was a left-back who is perhaps best remembered for playing for Everton, Manchester City and Oldham Athletic. Career Pointon began his career a ...

, it looked as though Bernard and his teammates were on their way to the club's first ever FA Cup final. However, a late equaliser by United's

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City. During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, an ...

forced a replay, which the Latics lost 4–1 at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest a ...

. They were relegated on the final day of the season after only managing a 1–1 draw with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. He played a total of 112 league games for the Latics, scoring 18 goal

He was then transferred to Aberdeen for GBP, £1 M on 27 September 1995,Bernard set for debut at Aberdeen
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 30 September 1995. and he remains the only player that a Scottish club outside the

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

has spent £1 million on. Soon after joining Aberdeen, Bernard helped them to win the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

, but his career suffered after this point due to injuries and loss of form. As such Bernard has been associated with the misguided spending of Aberdeen in the 1990s, when relatively large amounts were spent without much success. Bernard was released by Aberdeen in 2001 after six seasons, 99 league games and six goals.Pittodrie pair can go

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

, 22 December 2000. His playing career finished in 2006 after a year-long spell in Ireland with Drogheda United. He was capped twice by the Scottish national team at senior level, with both of his appearances coming in 1995, following 16 under 21 and two "B" caps earlier in the decade.

Honours

** Winner (1):

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

(

) * FAI Cup ** Winner (1): 2005 (

)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Paul 1972 births Aberdeen F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Living people Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Footballers from Edinburgh Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Premier League players Scotland B international footballers Scotland international footballers Scottish Football League players Scottish footballers Scottish Premier League players St Johnstone F.C. players English Football League players Scotland under-21 international footballers Drogheda United F.C. players Association football midfielders