Paul Simpson (footballer)

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Paul Simpson

Simpson with Newcastle United in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Paul David Simpson[1]
Date of birth	(1966-07-26) 26 July 1966 (age 55)[1]
Place of birth	Carlisle, England[1]
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s)	Winger
Club information
Current team	Bristol City (caretaker)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1983–1988	Manchester City	121	(18)
1984–1985	→ Finn Harps (loan)	6	(3)
1988–1992	Oxford United	144	(43)
1992–1997	Derby County	186	(48)
1996	→ Sheffield United (loan)	6	(0)
1997–2000	Wolverhampton Wanderers	52	(6)
1998	→ Walsall (loan)	10	(0)
2000–2002	Blackpool	76	(13)
2002–2003	Rochdale	42	(15)
2003–2006	Carlisle United	36	(6)
Total		679	(150)
National team
1986–1987	England U21	5	(1)
Teams managed
2002–2003	Rochdale (player-manager)
2003–2006	Carlisle United (player-manager)
2006–2007	Preston North End
2008–2010	Shrewsbury Town
2010–2011	Stockport County
2012	Northwich Victoria
2017–2020	England U20
2021	Bristol City (caretaker)
show Honours Men's football Representing  England (as manager) FIFA U-20 World Cup Winner 2017 South Korea
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Paul David Simpson (born 26 July 1966) is an English former professional footballer. He has been a coach and manager at several English clubs and was manager of the England team that won the FIFA Under-20s World Cup in South Korea in 2017. He is currently assistant head coach at Bristol City, alongside Keith Downing. His son Jake Simpson is also a former professional, now Head of Fitness at Football League side Hartlepool United.

Playing career[]

Manchester City[]

Simpson began his playing career as a schoolboy at Manchester City in the early 1980s.^{[citation needed]} He made his senior debut aged 16, on 2 October 1982 in a 3–2 win against Coventry City.^{[citation needed]} However, after the club were relegated and new manager Billy McNeill arrived, Simpson, along with John Beresford, was briefly loaned out to Irish club Finn Harps to gain more experience.^[2] He scored 3 goals in 9 total appearances at Finn Park.^{[citation needed]}

He returned during the final stages of 1984–85 campaign and enjoyed a run of games as he scored 6 times in just 10 appearances as City won promotion from the Second Division.^{[citation needed]} He was a regular member of the first team in the 1985-86 season and scored nine First Division goals as City survived their first season back in the top flight, although they were relegated a year later.^{[citation needed]}

He won five caps for the England under-21 team during his spell at Maine Road, adding to three caps at under-18 level.^{[citation needed]} His U21 debut came on 26 March 1986 as a substitute against Denmark on his home ground.^{[citation needed]} He also played in the 1987 Toulon Tournament, during which he scored.^{[citation needed]}

Oxford United[]

He left City, now back in the Second Division, for Oxford United in October 1988 in a £200,000 deal, after making 155 appearances for them in total.^{[citation needed]} He remained at Oxford for over four years – all spent in the second tier – before signing for Derby County in February 1992 for £500,000.^{[citation needed]}

Derby County[]

The winger joined Derby in the midst of a promotion challenge but, despite finishing 3rd, they lost in the play-offs to 6th-placed Blackburn Rovers.^{[citation needed]} The club had three more successive failed promotion attempts (including losing the 1994 play-off final to rivals Leicester City) before they won automatic promotion in 1995–96.^{[citation needed]} He was a first choice player throughout this period, and twice reached double figures in his goal return.^{[citation needed]}

The influx of new players that followed the Rams' promotion to the Premier League saw his place under fire for the first time since he had joined.^{[citation needed]} He managed 19 appearances (scoring twice, including Derby's first game back at the top level) during their return to the top flight, but also found himself out on loan at second tier club Sheffield United to gain more playing time.^{[citation needed]}

Wolverhampton Wanderers[]

After failing to feature in the opening months of the Rams' 1997–98 season, he dropped down a division to join Wolverhampton Wanderers initially on a month's loan in October 1997.^{[citation needed]} After impressing with 2 goals in 8 starts, he signed a permanent deal for £75,000.^{[citation needed]} His first season with the club also saw him almost appear in an FA Cup Final, but they lost to eventual winners Arsenal in the semi-final.^{[citation needed]}

His second season at Molineux was less successful as he found himself out of the starting line-up in the opening games.^{[citation needed]} He went on loan to nearby Walsall of the Second Division for four months, but returned to Wolves first team when this loan expired.^{[citation needed]} He scored Wolves' final goal of the season in a 3–2 defeat to Bradford City that meant they missed out on the play-offs.^{[citation needed]}

Blackpool[]

After a second successive 7th-place finish in a season that saw Simpson feature only sparingly, he signed for Blackpool on a free transfer in August 2000.^[3] Here, he helped the club win promotion from the Third Division via the play-offs in his first season but he left during his second, to join Rochdale in March 2002.^[4] Just before leaving the club he helped them win the 2001–02 Football League Trophy, playing as a substitute in the final.^[5]

Rochdale[]

He made nine appearances in the final games of the 2001–02 season for Dale, scoring 6 times.^{[citation needed]} This goal rush helped push the club into the play-offs, where they lost to Rushden & Diamonds (despite another goal from Simpson).^{[citation needed]}

Managerial career[]

Rochdale[]

After manager John Hollins departed from Rochdale in 2002, Simpson stepped in as player-manager.^{[citation needed]} He began the season in equally bright goal-scoring form, but as the pressure of management took its toll and he enjoyed a largely unsuccessful season.^{[citation needed]} Simpson left Rochdale after only season in charge where they reached the FA Cup 5th round, an equal club record, but finished 19th after a late turnaround by Macclesfield saw them drop from 13th in the final 10minutes of the season.^{[citation needed]}

Carlisle United[]

Following his departure from Rochdale, Simpson moved back to his home town, where he became the manager of Carlisle United.^{[citation needed]} He also played for the club.^{[citation needed]} Carlisle were relegated to the Conference in his first year at Brunton Park, at a time when the club was struggling financially.^{[citation needed]} A transfer embargo prevented new players being brought in and by December Carlisle were 15 points adrift, and despite an improved latter half of the season, the club were eventually relegated.^{[citation needed]} However, he immediately led Carlisle back to League Two in 2004–05 as Conference National Playoff winners.^{[citation needed]} Following this, Simpson enjoyed perhaps his best season as a manager, leading Carlisle to double – promotion, winning promotion to League One as League Two champions.^{[citation needed]} He was also named as the League Two Manager of the Year and in the League Managers Association statistics was the best manager in the country on points per game above Rafael Benítez.^{[citation needed]}

Simpson played his final game as a professional player on 6 May 2006 at Edgeley Park against Stockport County, the club he later managed, on a day where the 2 teams drew 0 – 0, meaning that Carlisle were promoted as champions, and Stockport survived relegation from the Football League.^{[citation needed]} This marked the end of his playing career after 24 years.^{[citation needed]}

Preston North End[]

In June 2006, following his success at Carlisle, Simpson left the club to replace Billy Davies as manager of Preston North End, where he led the Lancashire side to the top of the Championship by December, their highest league placing for 55 years.^{[citation needed]} However, after only being able to bring 3 free transfers in January they were unable to maintain this position and missed out on the play-offs by goal difference despite beating already promoted Birmingham on the last day.^{[citation needed]} After losing key player David Nugent, the team made a bad start to the 2007–08 season (including just three victories) resulting in Simpson being sacked on 13 November 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Shrewsbury Town[]

On 12 March 2008, he was appointed manager of League Two club Shrewsbury Town, replacing Gary Peters who had left the club by mutual consent after a poor run of results.^[6] After helping them avoid relegation in his first season, Simpson then took them to the Play-off Final where they lost to a last minute Gillingham goal.^[7] In the following campaign after an overall decent first half of the season, Shrewsbury were dealt six straight defeats in March and April, ultimately costing them a place in the play-offs.^{[citation needed]} He was dismissed as manager on 30 April 2010.^[8]

Stockport County[]

Simpson was confirmed as the new manager of Stockport County on 12 July 2010 following a takeover by The 2015 Group.^[9] He replaced former manager Gary Ablett, who was sacked by the club's new owners after the club spent the entire season in administration – the worst season in the club's history, with County gaining just 25 points from 46 games.^{[citation needed]}

Simpson was charged with the task of staying in the division and rebuilding a squad which has been ravaged by administration, and ensuring the survival of the club in League Two in the coming season.^{[citation needed]} He was instructed to work with Peter Ward as his assistant manager, and former youth team manager Alan Lord was put in charge of Youth Development.^{[citation needed]} Both Ward and Lord were returning to County having previously worked there under former manager Jim Gannon between 2005 and 2009.^{[citation needed]} Ward was also a former Stockport captain, playing for the club in the 1990s.^{[citation needed]} Simpson also employed former coach Stuart Delaney as Youth Team Manager.^{[citation needed]}

Simpson made his first new signing as County boss on 14 July 2010, bringing former Hull City right-back Mark Lynch from Rotherham United on a free transfer.^{[citation needed]}

Simpson was sacked on 4 January 2011 after a run of just three wins in 19 games.^{[citation needed]}

Northwich Victoria[]

Simpson was appointed manager of Northern Premier League Premier Division side Northwich Victoria on 1 February 2012, with Alan Wright as his assistant.^[10] However, he departed after only a month^[11] as he had been due to take up a role in Portugal at the end of the season.^{[citation needed]} This was, however, brought forward to March, meaning Simpson left following the club's FA Trophy Quarter-final match on Saturday 25 February.^{[citation needed]} His assistant, Alan Wright, oversaw a match with Rushall Olympic during Simpson's absence.^{[citation needed]}

Newcastle United[]

On 3 July 2015, Simpson was appointed as one of Steve McClaren's assistant coaches along with Ian Cathro, after leaving Derby County.^{[citation needed]}

England U20[]

Simpson took charge of the England Under 20 Squad in 2017 and won the U20 World Cup in Suwon, South Korea on 11 June 2017, beating Venezuela by the only goal of the game.^[12][13] Simpson left his post on the 10th August 2020, to become assistant head coach to Dean Holden at Bristol City.

Personal life[]

Simpson temporarily stepped down from his coaching role at Bristol City in July 2021 while receiving treatment for kidney cancer.^[14]

References[]

External links[]

• Paul Simpson at Soccerbase
• Paul Simpson management career statistics at Soccerbase