Paul Henry Mortimer (born 8 May 1968) is an English former

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 ...

Playing career

Mortimer played mainly in

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

, though he did play in

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

at times. He started his career at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

, before signing for non-league side

Farnborough Town Farnborough Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1967 as Farnborough Town, they are currently members of the , the sixth tier of English football and play at Cherrywood Road. H ...

in 1986. A year later, he joined First Division side

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

. He became a regular first teamer with Charlton, but after they were relegated in 1990 he moved onto

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

the following year. After failing to establish himself at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

under

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939), commonly known as "Big Ron" or "Mr. Bojangles", is an English former football player and manager. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits. Nick ...

, Mortimer returned to

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

with

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

. A number of injury problems, mainly

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

, meant he did not play many games for Crystal Palace. After less than three years he was transferred back to Charlton Athletic, alongside David Whyte in exchange for

Darren Pitcher Darren Edward James Pitcher (12 October 1969 – 25 November 2018) was an English professional association football, footballer who played as a defender (association football), defender and a midfielder. He notably played in the Premier League ...

. Under the management of former teammate

Alan Curbishley Llewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley (born 8 November 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a midfielder for West Ham United, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion and has worke ...

, Mortimer often played well in the early part of the season but then suffered hamstring or back injuries. At the start of the successful promotion winning 1997–98 season, against

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 scored a spectacular goal where he turned his full back inside out before a shot to the bottom right of the goal. In this game Charlton won 4–1, and it was a performance that hailed of things to come that season. After helping the club into the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

in 1998, he again played in the country's top-flight missing a crucial penalty against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

towards the end of the season. He left the following year, moving to lower league side

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

where he ended his career in 2001. At Bristol City, he scored once; his goal coming in a

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 ...

tie against

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

Coaching career

After his playing career, Mortimer held coaching roles with

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

, the latter two appointments being as first team coach under

Leroy Rosenior Leroy De Graft Rosenior (born 24 August 1964) is a football coach and pundit. He is a former footballer whose clubs included Fulham, Queens Park Rangers (for whom he appeared as a substitute in the 1986 League Cup Final), Bristol City and Wes ...

, with whom he played at Fulham and Bristol City. He served as coach of the

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

national team for two matches in 2007, again under Rosenior. Later in 2007, Mortimer returned to Charlton Athletic to coach the club's Charlton Athletic L.F.C., women's team.

Activism

Mortimer became active in Show Racism the Red Card, a UK anti-racism educational charity, near the end of his playing career and since 2009 has been working for the campaign in schools in the South East and East of England as a coach and education worker. He entered the campaign's Hall of Fame in September 2011.

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mortimer, Paul 1968 births Living people Footballers from Kensington English footballers England under-21 international footballers Association football midfielders Farnborough F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Wimbledon F.C. non-playing staff Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff Torquay United F.C. non-playing staff Brentford F.C. non-playing staff Charlton Athletic F.C. non-playing staff