Paul Eric Sansome (born 6 October 1961) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He made more than 150 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

and more than 300 for

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

Football career

Sansome was born in

New Addington New Addington is a town in South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon, south of Addington Village and north of Biggin Hill. History Until the 1930s, the area now known as New Addingt ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. His football career began at local club

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 ...

, from where he moved to

on a free transfer in April 1980 aged 18. He made his first-team debut in March 1982 and went on to make nearly 200 appearances for the club in all competitions. During his time at Millwall he was on the winning side in the

Football League Group Cup The Football League Group Cup was a short-lived football competition which first took place during the 1981–82 season. For English clubs it was a replacement for the Anglo-Scottish Cup, which had been discontinued due to the withdrawal of Scot ...

final in 1982–83, and won the club's Player of the Year award while helping them to promotion from the Third Division in 1984–85. He joined

for a fee of £40,000 in March 1988 and went on to make more than 350 appearances for the club, including helping them to successive promotions, from the Fourth Division in 1989–90 and from the Third Division as runners-up the following season. He moved to First Division side

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

during the 1995–96 season, when both Ian Bennett and Bart Griemink were unavailable, making one appearance in the

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 ...

and one in the league. Later that year he was loaned to Gravesend & Northfleet, then playing in the Southern League. He made a comeback with Southend in the 2001–02 season, joining his former club on a non-contract basis as goalkeeping cover, and was named among the substitutes for the game against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

, for which

Darryl Flahavan Darryl James Flahavan la-hay-van(born 28 November 1978) is an English football coach and former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the goalkeeper coach at EFL League One club Wigan Athletic. He has spent most of his career ...

was suspended.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sansome, Paul 1961 births Living people Footballers from Croydon English footballers Association football goalkeepers Crystal Palace F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players English Football League players