Paul Andrew McLaren (born 17 November 1976) 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 le ...

who last played for

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

in 2012. He was born in High Wycombe.

Career

He began his career as a trainee for Luton Town, playing over 160 games over eight seasons. He left Luton to step up a Division for

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 of ...

where he played 96 games and scored six goals. He turned down a contract offer, however, by Chris Turner after the club's relegation and subsequent failure to gain promotion to The Championship. He played for Rotherham United under

Ronnie Moore Ronald David Moore (born 29 January 1953) is an English football manager and former player. He has taken charge of several clubs including Rotherham United, Tranmere Rovers and Hartlepool United. He played for many different clubs in a care ...

and in the 2006–07 close season signed a two-year contract for Moore's new club Tranmere Rovers having left Rotherham. In his debut season at the centre of the Rovers midfield McLaren started 42 of Tranmere's 46 games in League One, and a further 43 the following season and being named Player of the year. McLaren is a central midfielder, with an excellent assist record—13 during the 2007–08 season—mainly due to his passing and set piece ability. He turned down a new contract offer from Tranmere and instead, on 1 July 2008, signed a two-year deal with

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 ...

club

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. He was one of four Bradford players to make his debut on the opening day of the 2008–09 season against Notts County, which Bradford won 2–1. His first goal for his new club came on 30 August 2008, with the opening goal in a 3–2 defeat to Aldershot Town. He was a regular in the Bradford side but missed a month of the season during February and March because of a calf injury, before leaving at the end of the season. On 10 July 2009 McLaren rejoined Tranmere on a two-year contract. He scored his first Tranmere goal upon his return when he scored at home to Grimsby in a first-round League Cup tie on 11 August 2009. On 26 November 2010, McLaren decided to leave Tranmere Rovers as he wasn't enjoying the type of football they were playing. A little over a month later, on 31 December 2010, he joined

until the end of the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season. In May 2012, McLaren left the club and rejoined his family in Cheshire.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLaren, Paul 1976 births Footballers from High Wycombe Living people Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers Luton Town F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players English Football League players