Paul Spencer Clayton (born 4 January 1965) is a 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 ...

. His sons Harry and

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

are currently professional footballers with Nantwich Town and

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 ...

respectively.

Playing career

Clayton began his career with Norwich City. He was a member of the club's youth team that won the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

in 1983 and scored twice in the final. However, he was unable to establish himself in the Norwich first team - making just 15 league appearances without scoring - and moved to

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

in 1988 for a fee of £25,000, a Darlington club record. After scoring three goals in 22 games he moved to Crewe Alexandra in 1989. After playing non-league football for

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

and

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

, Clayton left football and worked for the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

as a hospital theatre technician.

Personal life

Paul is married to Rowena Clayton and the couple have two sons who have both played for Crewe Alexandra, Harry and

Honours

;with Crewe Alexandra *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

third-place promotion winner: 1988–89 Norwich City *

winner 1983

References

External links

Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk

Sources

*''Canary Citizens'' by Mark Davage, John Eastwood, Kevin Platt, published by Jarrold Publishing, (2001), {{DEFAULTSORT:Clayton, Paul 1965 births Living people Norwich City F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players English Football League players People from Dunstable Association football forwards English footballers English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Sweden Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Footballers from Bedfordshire