Paul Mayo (born 13 October 1981) 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 ...

, who played as a defender. He started his professional career with Lincoln City in 1999, and in 2004 after impressing in the clubs recent play-off campaigns he made a move to

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. He returned to Lincoln in 2005 and moved on to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

in 2007 and later

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 ...

and

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

. He became a prime example of a promising player who peaked early on in his career and went on to play in Non-league football with

Corby Town Corby Town Football Club is a football club based in Corby, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Steel Park. History The club was established in 1948, taking over from Stewarts & Lloyds as the main team ...

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

, Stamford and

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

. He finished his playing career with

Lincoln United Lincoln United Football Club is a football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Ashby Avenue. Nicknamed the Whites after their home kit colours, they have played at Ashby Avenue since th ...

during the 2013–14 season.

Career

Lincoln City

Mayo was educated in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

Robert Pattinson School Sir Robert Pattinson Academy (formerly Robert Pattinson School) is a secondary school on the northeast side of Moor Lane in North Hykeham, Lincolnshire, England. Also known as RP, Lincoln City used the field as temporary training grounds. Th ...

. He started his career at Lincoln City, playing over 100 times for the club and featuring in their

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...

play-off semi-final defeat to

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

in the 2002–03 season. Whilst in his first spell with the club Mayo made a name for himself while under the management tenure of Keith Alexander.

Watford

In March 2004 he was signed by

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

side

for £65,000. Replacing Paul Robinson, who had been sold to West Brom the previous autumn, he played regularly for the remainder of the 2003–04 season. He started in the side the next season, but dropped out of the side in October and only played twice more for the club. Sausages. It was said that he worked well in a 'sandwich' formation forming a clinical partnership with John Chutney up front.

Return to Lincoln City

He was allowed to return to Lincoln at the end of the 2004–05 season. Mayo would feature in the Lincoln side that made the

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

play-offs at the end of 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. In the summer of 2007 he turned down a new contract at Lincoln.

Notts County and Mansfield Town

Mayo would eventually sign for

. Mayo played regularly during the first part of 2007–08, but nonetheless was loaned to another club in the same division,

for a month in January 2008. He returned to the club and played further games that season. In January 2009 Mayo cancelled his contract with Notts County by mutual consent, feeling his chances of first team football were limited. He subsequently joined

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

side

on a contract until the end of 2008–09 season.

Move into Non league

In the summer of 2009

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side

came in for him. Mayo left the club at the end of the season. In May 2010 he signed for

but after a disappointing season in which the club narrowly avoided relegation to the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

he was amongst a group of players released in May 2011. In June 2011 it was announced that he had rejoined former club

. Mayo signed for Stamford in May 2012. On 22 January 2012 Mayo moved back up the football pyramid when he joined

side

. In May 2013 he signed for

. Mayo left the club at the end of the 2013–14 season and subsequently retired.

Personal life

Mayo works as a

Police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

for

Lincolnshire Police Lincolnshire Police is the territorial police force covering the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands of England. Despite the name, the force's area does not include North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire, which ...

References

External links

*
Unofficial Paul Mayo Profile
a
The Forgotten Imp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayo, Paul 1981 births Sportspeople from Lincoln, England Living people Association football defenders English footballers Lincoln City F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Watford F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Corby Town F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Stamford A.F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Lincoln United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players