Paul Curran (born 5 October 1966) is a football manager and former player. He was born in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, Northern Ireland. On 26 November 2006, Curran was appointed the manager of

Larne F.C. Larne Football Club is a professional Northern Irish football club based in Larne, County Antrim that play in the NIFL Premiership. History The club was founded in 1889 and plays its home matches at Inver Park. The club's colours are red and w ...

The

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

based former Larne captain had led the

Inver Park Inver Park is a football stadium in Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Larne F.C. The land was acquired by Larne in 1918 and has been in continuous use as a stadium ever since. In 2010 the official capacity was se ...

side to the 2005

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

final and Premier Division safety that season. During a distinguished playing career, Curran played for periods of time with Ards F.C., Finn Harps F.C. and

Derry City F.C. Derry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Derry, Northern Ireland. It plays in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top tier of league football in the Republic of Ireland, and is the League of Ireland ...

of the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

, where he was team captain and won the ''treble'' in 1988–1989, as well as playing for

Dundalk F.C. Dundalk Football Club ( ; ga, Cumann Peile Dhún Dealgan) is a professional association football club that competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top tier of football in the Republic of Ireland. The club is based in Dundalk ...

He holds the record for the second-highest number of appearances for Derry City ever, a total of 518 appearances. His 500th appearance came in January 1999. He made a total of 26 appearances for Finn Harps in the 1986–87 League of Ireland First Division season. Curran scored twice as the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

beat the

Welsh Football League The Welsh Football League (also known as the Nathaniel Car Sales Welsh Football League for sponsorship reasons) was a club football league in Wales. For its final season in 2019–20 season it operated at levels 3 and 4 of the Welsh football leagu ...

2–0 in

Porthmadog Porthmadog (; ), originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a Welsh coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies east of Criccieth, south-west of Blaenau Ffest ...

in October 1994. At Ards, he scored 12 goals in 122 total appearances making his Irish League debut at home to Larne on 12 November 1999. His last game was 29 October 2002 at Windsor Park in a

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Foo ...

game. He gained managerial experience with Dundalk, where he was assistant manager to

Trevor Anderson Trevor Anderson (born 3 March 1951) is a Northern Irish former footballer and manager. He played as a forward. Playing career Born in Belfast, Anderson began his playing career at Portadown before signing for Manchester United in October 1972. ...

for three years, and also had a short spell as caretaker manager. He won the

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 ...

Oriel Park Oriel Park is a UEFA Category 2 football stadium located on the Carrickmacross Road in Dundalk, Ireland. The stadium is the home ground of Dundalk Football Club and is owned and operated by the club on land that has been leased from the Casey F ...

in 2003. His son, Ryan, currently plays for

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

Honours

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...

: 2 **

1988–89, 1996–97 *

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

: 2 **

1989, 1995 *

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

: 4 **

1988/89, 1990/91, 1991/92, 1993/94

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curran, Paul Association football managers from Northern Ireland Men's association football defenders Finn Harps F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Ards F.C. players Larne F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Dundalk F.C. managers League of Ireland players League of Ireland managers NIFL Premiership players Association footballers from Derry (city) Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland League of Ireland XI players Living people 1966 births