Paul Stephenson (born 2 January 1968) 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
winger or a
central midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
,
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 ...
,
Gillingham,
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 ...
and
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...
before he ended his career with
Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
They were founded i ...
. During his footballing career he made a combined total of over 500 appearances.
He is currently assistant manager at
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
.
Playing career
Newcastle United
Paul Stephenson was born in
Wallsend
Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne.
History Roman Wallsend
In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fo ...
. He started his career as an apprentice at
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
in the same youth team that brought through the likes of
Paul Gascoigne
Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally talente ...
. He was by
capped
In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...
by
England at youth level in 1986.
He made his debut at the age of 17 and went on to make 63 starts and four substitute appearances for the club.
Millwall
In 1988, Stephenson was sold to
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 ...
for a fee of around £300,000. He spent his first four seasons playing regularly for ''the Lions'' in the same team as the likes of
Teddy Sheringham
Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham, MBE (born 2 April 1966) is an English football manager and former player. He played as a forward, mostly as a second striker, in a 24-year professional career.
Sheringham began his career at Millwall, where ...
and
Tony Cascarino
Anthony Guy Cascarino (born 1 September 1962) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), striker for various British and French clubs and internationally for the Republic of Ireland ...
. However, after the arrival of new manager
Mick McCarthy
Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional football manager, pundit, and former player. He was last in charge of EFL Championship club Cardiff City.
McCarthy began his playing career at Barnsley in 1977, and he later had ...
, Stephenson's first-team opportunities were limited and he found himself being loaned to Gillingham, for whom he made 12 league starts and scored two goals. Stephenson returned to Millwall but he failed to force his way back into the first team. While at Millwall, Stephenson made a total of 98 league appearances and scored sixgoals.
Brentford & York
Midway through the 1993–94 season, Stephenson was sold to
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 ...
for £30,000. During his two-and-a-half seasons at
Griffin Park, Stephenson played regularly and made 70 appearances for the club. However, he decided to move back up north and joined
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...
for £35,000, which the then-York manager
Alan Little has cited as a 'bargain'. Stephenson's first season at the club was disrupted by two severe injuries – a broken arm and hairline fracture of the leg. During his three seasons at
Bootham Crescent
Bootham Crescent in York, England, was the home of York City football club and York City Knights rugby league club. With a capacity of 8,256, it is near the city centre, just over a mile from York railway station.
York City leased land at B ...
, Stephenson established himself as York's first choice right winger and he made just under 100 appearances for the club, scoring five times. Little reluctantly placed him on the transfer list along with several other first-team players in order to raise much-needed funds before his contract ran out. Hartlepool, along with his former club Brentford, both made offers, but Little delayed the transfer in order to try and use the winger to help aid York's play-off bid. York failed to make the play-offs, however, and Stephenson took the opportunity to move closer to his
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
roots and joined Hartlepool in March 1998.
Hartlepool
He made his Hartlepool debut on 18 April against
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 ...
. After the dismissal of
Mick Tait and the arrival of a new manager in the form of
Chris Turner, Stephenson's future at the club looked uncertain and he was rumoured to be on his way out as he struggled to force his way into Turner's side and he handed in a transfer request. During the final game of the season, against
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 ...
, Stephenson came off the bench and scored. During Stephenson's second season at the club, he was moved into the centre of midfield. After his performances during the 1999–2000 season, he was named Hartlepool Player of the Year.
He made his final appearance for ''Pools'' against Cheltenham Town in the play-off semi-final second leg, in which he missed a penalty in the deciding shootout. Stephenson failed to play a single game in the following season and, on 25 March 2003, he announced his retirement.
Coaching career
Hartlepool and Norwich
After Stephenson's retirement, he immediately joined the coaching staff at Hartlepool and became an assistant youth-team coach. Following
Martin Scott's promotion to the assistant manager's position, Stephenson was made the main youth team coach. Stephenson guided the youth team to victory in the Under 19s section of the
Dallas Cup. Towards the end of the 2005–06 season, Stephenson was appointed as Hartlepool's caretaker manager after the dismissal of Scott. His first game in charge was a goalless draw against
Rotherham
Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...
. In his second game he managed to guide the team to a single-goal victory over
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
. He was undefeated in his first five games in charge. However, Hartlepool slipped back into the relegation zone and were eventually relegated on the last day of the season. Stephenson stated that he did not want to take over as manager and wanted to remain a coach, and he returned to his job as youth team coach. Upon the arrival of new manager
Glenn Roeder
Glenn Victor Roeder (13 December 1955 – 28 February 2021) was an English professional football player and manager.
As a player, Roeder played as a defender for Arsenal, Leyton Orient, Queens Park Rangers, Notts County, Newcastle United, Watfo ...
at
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
, and his decision to build his own backroom staff, Stephenson was offered the job of first-team coach in early November 2007. Despite some trouble with the Hartlepool chairman regarding compensation, Roeder was ultimately successful with the appointment, and Stephenson commenced work with ''the Canaries'' two months later.
Huddersfield Town
Following Roeder's departure in 2009, Stephenson left the club and joined Roeder's assistant,
Lee Clark, as Development Coach at
Football League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
side
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...
. On 11 November 2010 it was officially announced he would be the first-team coach at ''the Terriers''. He left the club in the wake of the sacking of Clark in February 2012.
Blackpool
Stephenson was reunited with Lee Clark in December 2014 when he became First-Team Coach at
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
.
Kilmarnock
On 8 February 2021 he was appointed assistant manager of
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...
club
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
, working with manager
Tommy Wright.
References
"Stephenson repays boss Turner's faith" The Northern Echo, 26 April 2000
*
ttp://www.hartlepool.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=9460 ProudtobeaPoolie.com: Stevo Rules Himself Out
External links
*
*
Poolstats: Paul Stephenson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Paul
Living people
1968 births
Sportspeople from Wallsend
English footballers
Footballers from Tyne and Wear
Association football wingers
England youth international footballers
English Football League players
Wallsend Boys Club players
Newcastle United F.C. players
Millwall F.C. players
Gillingham F.C. players
Brentford F.C. players
York City F.C. players
Hartlepool United F.C. players
English football managers
Hartlepool United F.C. managers
Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff
English Football League managers
Accrington Stanley F.C. managers
Blackpool F.C. non-playing staff
Hartlepool United F.C. non-playing staff
Kilmarnock F.C. non-playing staff