Paul Rideout (born 14 August 1964) 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 ...

and youth team coach of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

. As a player, he was a striker from 1980 until 2002, notably in 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 ...

with Everton where he scored the winning goal in the 1995

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

final against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. He also played in his native land for

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

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 ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

and

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

. During his career he also spent time in Italy, Scotland, China and the United States with

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

, Rangers, Qianwei Huandao, Chongqing Huandao,

Shenzhen Jianlibao Shenzhen Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club that competes in the Chinese Super League. The team is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong and their home stadium is the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre that has a seating capacity of ...

and

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse and ...

. He was capped 6 times by

England U21 The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team. This team is for England players aged under 21 at the start of the calen ...

, scoring one goal. He later moved into coaching and worked back with the

across their youth academy.

Club career

Swindon Town

Rideout's career began as a 15-year-old at

as their youngest ever first team player, and he finished the 1980–81 season with four goals from 16 Third Division games. He established himself as a first team player in 1981–82 by playing 35 games and scoring 14 goals, though it was not enough to save Swindon from relegation to the Fourth Division he initially decided to remain at the County Ground to help them win promotion. After they failed to win promotion in 1982–83, despite Rideout's 20 goals in 44 games, he was transferred to First Division club Aston Villa for £200,000 by manager Tony Barton.

Aston Villa

He scored five goals in 25 league games during his first season as a First Division player 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 ...

, and also helped them reach the

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

semi finals, though they could only manage a 10th-place finish in the league. He remained a first team player the following season under new manager

Graham Turner Graham John Turner (born 5 October 1947) is an English former footballer who became a manager. His son Mark was also a professional footballer. He is third behind only Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger in terms of most games managed. After a ...

, scoring 14 goals in 29 games though Villa finished mid table once again.

Bari & Southampton

Then came a transfer to Italian team Bari, where Rideout spent three years before returning to England in a £430,000 move to Southampton on 5 July 1988. Rideout was initially a regular first team player at The Dell, but the arrival of

Iain Dowie Iain Dowie (born 9 January 1965) is a football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit. He played as a striker from 1983 until 2001, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham Unit ...

in March 1991 cost him his place in the side after 71 league games and 19 goals, and he then dropped down a division with a nine-game loan spell at Swindon Town, where he scored once, before returning to Southampton for the 1991–92 season.

Notts County

He made four more appearances for The Saints, failing to score a goal, before he was sold to

for £250,000 on 16 September 1991, just after they began their first top division season since 1984. However, they were already struggling to avoid relegation from the First Division and manager

Neil Warnock Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English former football manager and player. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed sixteen different clubs from the Premier League to ...

saw Rideout as the man to help County preserve their top flight status and gain a place in the new

FA 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 ...

which would begin the following season. However, he lasted barely four months at

Meadow Lane Meadow Lane Stadium is a football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the home ground of Notts County, who have played there since it opened in 1910. The stadium was also home to Notts County Ladies F.C. from 2014 until 2017. It currently h ...

, scoring three goals in 11 league games (his performances failed to improve County's league form and they ended the season relegated).

Rangers

He joined Rangers for £500,000 on 10 January 1992. He scored once in 11 games, providing adequate backup for the strike partnership of

Mark Hateley Mark Wayne Hateley (born 7 November 1961) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He started his career with Coventry City F.C. in the First Division of English football. A spell followed at English Second Divisi ...

and

Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist, (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone before moving to English side Sunderland i ...

, as Rangers won the double of the

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) Th ...

and SFA Cup, and played one game in the 1992–93 Scottish league season.

Everton

He returned to England in a £500,000 move to Everton on 14 August 1992 – the day before their first game in the new Premier League. Among his fellow strikers was

Mo Johnston Maurice John Giblin Johnston (born 13 April 1963) is a Scottish football player and coach. Johnston, who played as a forward, started his senior football career with Partick Thistle in 1981. He moved to Watford in 1983, where he scored 23 leag ...

– the player whose gap he had effectively filled at Rangers just months earlier. Rideout's first season at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...

was something of a disappointment, as he managed just three goals in 24 games and was unable to break up the strike partnership of

Peter Beardsley Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE (born 18 January 1961) is an English football coach and former footballer who played as a forward or midfielder between 1979 and 1999. In 1987, he set a record transfer fee in the English game and represented his coun ...

and

Tony Cottee Antony Richard Cottee (born 11 July 1965) is an English former professional footballer and manager who now works as a television football commentator. As a player, he was a striker from 1982 until 2001, notably playing in the top flight of En ...

, and it was a similar story the following season (despite Beardsley's departure to

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 ...

) as he managed just 24 league appearances once again, though he did improve his goals tally to six for the 1993–94 season. It was not a good time for Everton, either, as their Premier League debut had brought them a 13th-place finish, and after going top of the Premier League by winning their first three games of the 1993–94 season, their form slumped dramatically (failing to improve after Mike Walker succeeded

Howard Kendall Howard Kendall (22 May 1946 – 17 October 2015) was an English footballer and manager. Kendall joined Preston North End as an apprentice and stayed with the club when he turned professional. He was a runner-up in the 1964 FA Cup with Preston, ...

as manager in mid season) and they only narrowly avoided relegation. The 1994–95 season was arguably the finest of Rideout's career. He scored 14 goals from 29 Premier League games as Everton overcame a 12-match winless league start to finish in a secure 15th place following Walker's dismissal in favour of

Joe Royle Joseph Royle (born 8 April 1949) is an English football manager and former footballer. In his playing career as a striker, he debuted for Everton at the age of 16 and went on to play for Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the ...

, and scored the only goal of the

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

as Everton won their first major trophy since 1987 and condemned Manchester United to their first trophyless season since 1989. With Beardsley, Cottee and Johnston now gone, Rideout now had an effective strike partner in the shape of Duncan Ferguson and a capable deputy in

Daniel Amokachi Daniel Owefin Amokachi (born 30 December 1972) is a Nigerian football manager and former professional footballer and a member of the dubious goals panel for the Premier League. As a player he was a forward who notably played in the Premier Lea ...

. The 1994–95 campaign was as good as it got for Rideout in his time at Everton, though he did score six goals in 25 league games to help them finish sixth in 1995–96. The following season saw him restricted to a mere 10 league appearances, during which he failed to score, and at the end of the campaign he left the club.

Later career

He transferred to Qianwei Huandao in China, where he was voted 'Best Overseas player' in the Chinese League. He then moved to the United States of America in 1998 to play for the

from 1998–1999 before returning to the Chinese league until 2000, playing for

. Rideout's last club was

, where he played until May 2002, before being appointed to the club's coaching staff as an assistant with Tranmere Rovers Youth Academy. His time at Tranmere Rovers is most memorable for the

match against former club

, in which he scored three of four second half goals to win the game after his team had been 3–0 down at half-time, Stuart Barlow scoring the other. However, on the league scene it was not a successful time for player and club. They were relegated in bottom place at the end of his first season after a decade of second tier football, which had seen manager

John Aldridge John William Aldridge (born 18 September 1958) is a former football player and manager. He was a prolific, record-breaking striker best known for his time with English club Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in M ...

forced out of his job after five years at the helm. Rideout's former Everton teammate

Dave Watson David Watson (born 20 November 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a defender from 1980 to 2001. He played his entire career for Norwich City and Everton. With the Toffees he played in ...

was then appointed manager at

Prenton Park Prenton Park is a large outdoor seated association football stadium in Birkenhead, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers, as well as Liverpool's women and reserves teams. The ground has had several rebuilds, with the most recent o ...

, but was unable to restore Tranmere to Division One in Rideout's final season before retiring as a player.

International career

Although he did not represent the

England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Engl ...

at full-level, he played several times for England at schoolboy, under-18 and under-21 level. At international level he scored over thirty goals, including a hat-trick for England schoolboys in a match lost 5-4 to Scotland at

Coaching career

Following his spell coaching at the club's academy, Rideout then returned to the United States and began coaching with the

, managing all three of the club's youth squads. Rideout also coaches a U17 girl's teams and a U16 boys team.

Career statistics

Honours

Everton *

: 1994–95 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 1982–83 Fourth Division *Swindon Town Player of the Season: 1982–83

References

External links

*
Biography at Kansas City Wizards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rideout, Paul 1964 births Living people Footballers from Bournemouth English footballers England under-21 international footballers Everton F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Sporting Kansas City players Premier League players Major League Soccer players Serie A players Serie B players Scottish Football League players Rangers F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players S.S.C. Bari players Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C. players English expatriate footballers British expatriates in China Expatriate footballers in China Shenzhen F.C. players English expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate soccer players in the United States Sporting Kansas City non-playing staff Notts County F.C. players Association football forwards English expatriate sportspeople in the United States FA Cup Final players