Paul Steven Wanless (born 14 December 1973) 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 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 ...

as a

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

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 t ...

, Lincoln City and

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 Ne ...

Playing career

Wanless was born in

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshir ...

. He began his career as a trainee at

, coming through the ranks to make a handful of first team appearances before moving to Lincoln City in 1995 on a free transfer. His chances with Lincoln were limited and he spent some time out on loan at

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

side Woking. Wanless then left Lincoln and moved to

, where he made nearly 350 appearances in all competitions over a seven-year period and became club captain. A return to his first club, Oxford United, in 2003 saw him make more than 60 appearances in his last spell in

. In 2005 Wanless then moved to Conference National side

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

where he was a pivotal part of Rovers' successful

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

battle, finishing the season as top scorer despite playing in midfield. As a result, he was voted supporters' player of the year. Wanless joined

Southern Football League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

side

Oxford City Oxford City Football Club is a semi-professional English association football club based in Marston, Oxford. They currently compete in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, and play their home matches at Marsh Lane. ...

as a player coach in June 2010.

Managerial career

Wanless had a short spell as caretaker manager of Forest Green in 2007 when

Gary Owers Gary Owers (born 3 October 1968) is an English former professional footballer, and football manager. He most recently managed Torquay United. He was previously manager of Bath City and Forest Green Rovers as well as the assistant manager at Al ...

left the club, during which he took control of two matches, both drawn. After spending a season as assistant to the new manager, Jim Harvey, he left Forest Green in May 2007 and moved to the Welsh Premier League as

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

Llanelli Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...

. He was then made assistant manager, and coached the side in the Uefa Champions League in a qualifying match against the Latvian champions,

FK Ventspils FK Ventspils is a Latvian football club, based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils city and is one of the most popular football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virsliga since 1997. It was abolished in 2020, but has ...

, but left the club after two years when manager Andy Legg appointed Steve Jenkins as his assistant.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wanless, Paul 1973 births Living people English men's footballers Sportspeople from Banbury Oxford United F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Woking F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Llanelli Town A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Cymru Premier players English football managers Forest Green Rovers F.C. managers Oxford City F.C. players Men's association football midfielders