Paul Warhurst
Encyclopedia
Paul Warhurst is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 former football player. He was primarily as a defender
Defender (football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

, but has also played in midfield
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

 or as a striker at various points in his career. Warhurst notably played for Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

 and Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...

, having also featured as a professional for Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

, Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic A.F.C.
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is an English association football club based at Boundary Park, on Sheepfoot Lane in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in the Football League One, the third tier of the English league...

, Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

, Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

, Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

, Chesterfield
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...

, Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...

, Carlisle United
Carlisle United F.C.
Carlisle United F.C. is an English football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they play at Brunton Park. Formed in 1904, the club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system....

, Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...

, Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

, Forest Green Rovers
Forest Green Rovers F.C.
Forest Green Rovers Football Club is an English football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, currently the longest-serving members of the Conference National. The club is affiliated to the Gloucestershire County FA.-Early years:...

, Wrexham
Wrexham A.F.C.
Wrexham Football Club are a professional football team based in Wrexham, north-east Wales, who play in the English football pyramid.Founded in 1872, they are one of the oldest surviving football clubs in Britain and the oldest professional club in Wales...

 and Barnet
Barnet F.C.
Barnet Football Club is an English football team from High Barnet, London, England, currently playing in Football League Two. The ground is in the town of Barnet within the London Borough of Barnet....

 before finishing his career with a brief stint at Northwich Victoria
Northwich Victoria F.C.
Northwich Victoria Football Club are an English football club who play at the Victoria Stadium in Wincham, Northwich, Cheshire in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of the English football league system.Northwich are an old club, founded in 1874 and named in honour of...

. Having played for 16 different clubs through his career, Warhurst is regarded as one of the quintessential journeymen of English football. He now lives with his wife Jane and daughters, Leah, Jade, Ellie and Paige.

Manchester City

Warhurst began his career as a trainee at Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

 in 1988, he was added to the clubs first team squad at the beginning of the 1988/89 season, but by October he found himself frozen out of the squad and he was sold.

Oldham Athletic

He joined Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic A.F.C.
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is an English association football club based at Boundary Park, on Sheepfoot Lane in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in the Football League One, the third tier of the English league...

 for a fee of £10,000 There he became a first team regular, featuring in the team's memorable run to the semi-finals of the 1990 FA Cup. After 86 appearances (scoring twice), he began to capture the eye of bigger clubs and the 1990/91 season was his final season for the club.

Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...

 came in for Warhurst in the summer of 1991, for £750,000. He began his career at the club as a solid defender, but midway through his second season, injuries to David Hirst
David Hirst (footballer)
David Eric Hirst is an English former professional footballer, an exciting but injury prone striker who played for Sheffield Wednesday for much of his career.-Playing career:...

 and Mark Bright
Mark Bright
Mark Abraham Bright is a former English footballer who is now a sports pundit and BBC London's sport presenter, as well as a coach at Crystal Palace....

 saw Warhurst employed as an emergency striker. In a phenomenal sequence, he scored 12 goals in as many games, and after four years as a defender, was called up to the England national team
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 as a striker. Warhurst was injured, however, and missed an opportunity to win his first cap. His scoring ratio inevitably slowed down, and when Hirst returned to action, Warhurst fell out with manager Trevor Francis
Trevor Francis
Trevor John Francis , is a former footballer who won the European Cup with Nottingham Forest and played for England 52 times. He was England's first £1 million player...

, who wanted the player to return to defensive duties. In the summer of 1993, Warhurst was transfer-listed and left the club, having scored 18 goals in 88 games for Wednesday.

Blackburn Rovers

Following his departure from Sheffield, Paul signed for Blackburn
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

 for £2.7 million. Ironically, he played primarily as a defender for Blackburn, but injuries ruined his spell there. He did, however, play occasionally as a forward. While at Ewood Park
Ewood Park
Ewood Park is a football stadium in the English town of Blackburn, Lancashire, and is the home of Blackburn Rovers Football Club — one of the founder members of the Football League and Premier League. Rovers have played there since they moved from Leamington Street in the summer of 1890. The...

, Warhurst was part of arguably the most successful squad in the clubs history. He played amongst the likes of Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...

, Chris Sutton
Chris Sutton
Christopher Roy "Chris" Sutton is an English football manager and former player.In his career, Sutton played for Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Celtic, Birmingham City and Aston Villa. Sutton scored over 150 career goals in over 400 league appearances spanning 16 years in the English...

, Tim Flowers
Tim Flowers
Timothy David "Tim" Flowers is an English former football goalkeeper and the former manager of Conference North team Stafford Rangers.-Club career:...

, Colin Hendry
Colin Hendry
Edward Colin Hendry is a retired Scottish footballer and manager, who played as a defender. Hendry started his career with Dundee in 1983 and spent spells at Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Rangers, Coventry City, Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool...

, Henning Berg
Henning Berg
Henning Stille Berg is a Norwegian former football player. He played as a central defender or right-back.He is one of only three players to have won the Premier League with two different clubs, the others being Ashley Cole and Nicolas Anelka .-Club career:Born in Eidsvoll, Berg played for...

 and Graeme Le Saux
Graeme Le Saux
Graeme Pierre Le Saux is a retired English footballer of French ancestry who played for the Premier League clubs Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers and Southampton, and for the England national football team. Primarily a left back, he was sometimes also played in midfield or on the left wing.After...

 and he picked up a Premier League winners' medal in the 1994/95
1994-95 in English football
-Premiership:Blackburn Rovers ended their 81-year wait for the league title thanks to the strike partnership of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton which scored a total of more than 50 league goals. Manchester United would have made it three league titles in a row if they had been able to turn a 1-1 draw...

 season, as Rovers edged rivals Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 to the title. The following season, Rovers struggled to retain their title as Manchester United won back the honours, finishing ahead of Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

. Blackburn could only manage to finish in 7th place. The following season saw the club finish in the bottom half of the league down in 13th, as the club initially seemed to struggle following the loss of Shearer to Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

. In the summer of 1997, after 74 games for Blackburn (yielding 4 goals), Warhurst left Blackburn.

Crystal Palace

Paul made a switch to Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

 for the 1997/98
1997-98 in English football
The 1997-1998 season was the 118th season of competitive football in England.-Premier League:Arsenal overhauled Manchester United's lead during the final weeks of the season to win the Premiership title...

 season, as the club had recently earned promotion back to the top flight. Palace suffered relegation, though, in their first season back since 1995, but Paul remained with the club despite losing their status as a Premier League club. He made 30 appearances, scoring four times, before being loaned to Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

 in November 1998.

Bolton Wanderers

Following a successful spell at Bolton, this led to the Lancashire team signing him permanently for £800,000 in January 1999. Warhurst became an integral part of The Trotters midfield, and In 2000/01
2000-01 in English football
The 2000–01 season was the 121st season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Manchester United secured their 3rd Premiership title in succession and their 7th title in just nine seasons...

 he helped Bolton gain promotion to the Premier League under Sam Allardyce
Sam Allardyce
Samuel "Sam" Allardyce , nicknamed "Big Sam", is an English football manager and former professional player. In June 2011 he was appointed as manager of West Ham United....

. Despite this Warhurst kept his place in the team, despite injuries starting to mount, other players such as Youri Djorkaeff
Youri Djorkaeff
Youri Raffi Djorkaeff is a former French international footballer who played as a forward or as an attacking midfielder. With the French national team, Djorkaeff won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000...

 were brought in and in the end, even if Paul was fit he struggled to break into the first team. Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

 signed Warhurst on loan from Bolton for two months in the close of the 2002/03 season, where he scored once against Rotherham United. At the end of the season Warhurst was released by Sam Allardyce after 100 club appearances.

Chesterfield

In October 2003, Warhurst signed a short term deal for Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 side Chesterfield
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...

 and made his debut in a 3-0 home victory over Swindon Town
Swindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...

. However after only playing 6 times and scoring one goal against Lincoln City in the League Trophy
Football League Trophy
The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...

 he was released from his monthly rolling contract after only playing for the club for 4 weeks.

Barnsley

His next port of call was to link up with fellow Second Division side Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...

. He made his club debut in the Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

 derby against his former club Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...

. In a 1-1 draw, Warhurst was sent off against the club where he arguably made a name for himself. Following the completion of three other league games, Barnsley also opted to release the veteran player from his contract.

Carlisle United

In February 2004 Warhurst joined Division Three relegation strugglers Carlisle United
Carlisle United F.C.
Carlisle United F.C. is an English football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they play at Brunton Park. Formed in 1904, the club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system....

 on non contract terms. He played in the clubs 1-1 away draw with Macclesfield Town
Macclesfield Town F.C.
Macclesfield Town Football Club is an English football team. The club was formed in 1874 and is based in the town of Macclesfield in Cheshire. The team play its home games at the 6,355 capacity Moss Rose stadium...

 and after the game he left the club.

Grimsby Town

In March 2004, he was signed by new Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...

 manager Nicky Law, as well as a wave of new players brought to the club to stave off the threat of relegation. In his debut after playing well all game, he headed into his own net to give Bournemouth
A.F.C. Bournemouth
A.F.C. Bournemouth is an English football club currently playing in Football League One. The club plays at Dean Court in Kings Park, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset and have been in existence since 1899....

 a 1-1 draw at Blundell Park
Blundell Park
Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1898, but only one of the original stands remain. The current capacity of the ground is 9546, though with the introduction of all seating in the late...

. Paul was used as a forward, midfielder and a centre back for The Mariners, who eventually released him a the end of the season after playing in 7 games.

Blackpool

Following his release from Grimsby in the summer, Warhurst struggled to find himself a new club, until landing a short term deal with Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

 following a successful trial. Warhurst managed to stay with the club for 3 months, playing 6 times in that period until he was released yet again.

Forest Green Rovers

In April 2005 he moved to have his first taste of Non League football
Non-league football
Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...

, having signed a one month contract with Conference club Forest Green Rovers
Forest Green Rovers F.C.
Forest Green Rovers Football Club is an English football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, currently the longest-serving members of the Conference National. The club is affiliated to the Gloucestershire County FA.-Early years:...

. He played in the clubs final 6 games of the season before leaving the club at the close of the 2004/05 season.

Wrexham

In August 2005 he moved back into The Football League and signed for Welsh side Wrexham, where he added experience to their otherwise young side. He managed to play in 13 games for the club, scoring once against Barnet, before being released in March 2006.

Barnet

Upon his release from Wrexham, Paul signed a short term deal with fellow League Two side Barnet
Barnet F.C.
Barnet Football Club is an English football team from High Barnet, London, England, currently playing in Football League Two. The ground is in the town of Barnet within the London Borough of Barnet....

 as well adding much needed experience to his new club, who were managed by Paul Fairclough
Paul Fairclough
Paul Fairclough is the current manager of the England C national football team, formerly known as the National Game XI, England non-League team or the England semi-pro team, and in charge of youth development at Barnet having been caretaker for two months in 2011.As a player he made five...

. Warhurst played out the remainder of the 2005/06 season for the club, and was given a one year deal for the following season. Paul managed to chalk up 23 games in all competitions during the 2006/07 season and completed his first full season for one club only since playing for Bolton Wanderers in the 2001/02 season, this had ended a spell of moving from club to club ever since his release by The Trotters in the summer of 2003.

Northwich Victoria

Warhurst was released by Barnet following the conclusion of the 2006/07 season and in September 2007 he joined Northwich Victoria
Northwich Victoria F.C.
Northwich Victoria Football Club are an English football club who play at the Victoria Stadium in Wincham, Northwich, Cheshire in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of the English football league system.Northwich are an old club, founded in 1874 and named in honour of...

 and on 17 September took over as caretaker manager following Neil Redfearn
Neil Redfearn
Neil David Redfearn is an English former footballer and manager who is currently under-18s coach and reserve team manager at Leeds United....

's resignation. Despite initially being favourite to be permanent manager, he left the club before the appointment was decided. Warhurst has since retired from football.

Oldham Athletic

  • League Cup
    Football League Cup
    The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

    • Runner-up: 1990
      1990 Football League Cup Final
      The 1990 Littlewoods Cup Final took place at Wembley Stadium on 29 April 1990, and was contested between Nottingham Forest and Oldham Athletic. A single Nigel Jemson goal gave Forest the cup, equalling Liverpool's then-record of four wins....

  • Football League Second Division
    Football League Second Division
    From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

    • Champion: 1990-91

Sheffield Wednesday

  • FA Cup
    FA Cup
    The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

    • Runner-up: 1993
      1993 FA Cup Final
      The 1993 FA Cup Final was contested by Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley. The original match, played on 15 May 1993 finished 1–1, with Arsenal winning the replay on 20 May; 2–1 after extra-time....

  • League Cup
    Football League Cup
    The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

    • Runner-up: 1993
      1993 Football League Cup Final
      The 1993 Coca Cola Cup Final took place on 18 April 1993 at Wembley Stadium, and was played between Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday. Arsenal won 2–1 in normal time, in what was the first of three Wembley finals between the two sides that season; Arsenal and Wednesday also met in the FA Cup...


Blackburn Rovers

  • Premier League
    • Champion: 1994-95
    • Runner-up: 1993-94

Bolton Wanderers

  • Football League Division One
    Football League First Division
    The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

    • Play-Off Winner: 2001
      2001 Football League First Division play-off Final
      The 2001 Football League First Division play-off Final was contested by Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End. Bolton won the match 3–0, taking them back to the Premier League. Bolton have stayed in the top flight since.- Details :...


External links

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