Paul David Cunningham (born 18 June 1986) is a New Zealand former professional soccer player who plays for Kaitake FC as a defender.

Career

West Virginia Mountaineers

Cunningham earned a soccer scholarship to

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

, a Division I school in the Big East Conference, and played college soccer with the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Mou ...

, for 4 years.

Fisher Athletic

Following the completion of his studies, Cunningham played professionally in England for Fisher Athletic.

Sorrento

He later joined Australian side

Sorrento Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana ra ...

and played for 8 months.

Balestier Khalsa

He moved to

S.League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which re ...

club

Balestier Khalsa Balestier Khalsa Football Club is a Singaporean professional association football, football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League. Founded in 1898, the club is considered as the oldest Football in Singapore, football club in Singap ...

for the 2010 season. In 2011, Cunningham was named club captain of Balestier and led them to a record finish in the 2013 S.League season. Cunningham was 1 of 5 players shortlisted for Player of the Season in 2013 and eventually lost out to Korean Marquee signing Lee Kwan Woo. Cunningham was also approached by

Perth Glory FC Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 199 ...

to play for them that season but rejected after discussion with Balestier chairman, Thavaneson. Cunningham has stated that he wants to play for Singapore at international level. Following a contract dispute between Cunningham and Balestier at the end of the 2014 season, where Cunningham was only offered a 15-day extension to his contract allowing him to lead the Tigers out for the

Singapore Cup The Singapore Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Singaporean football. Established in 1998, it is the foremost football cup competition in the country. It is open to clubs in the Singapore Premier League. Since ...

final, the 5-year association between club and player ended on a sour note. Cunningham continued to train in the lead up to the final, which Balestier won, after he rejected the contract.

Team Taranaki

In 2015, Cunningham signed for Team Taranaki, an amateur association football club based in the Taranaki region, New Zealand. Despite interest from various overseas professional clubs, he and his wife Sarah made the decision to return to Taranaki as they look forward to settling back in New Zealand.

Later career

In September 2019 Cunningham was playing for Kaitake FC.

Honours

Balestier Khalsa *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

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 ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

References

1986 births Living people New Zealand association footballers Fisher Athletic F.C. players New Zealand expatriate association footballers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate soccer players in Australia Balestier Khalsa FC players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Singapore Expatriate footballers in Singapore Singapore Premier League players Association football defenders {{NewZealand-footy-bio-stub