Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Paul David Simpson | ||
Date of birth | 26 July 1966 | ||
Place of birth | Carlisle, England | ||
Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||
Playing position | Winger | ||
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 | |||
2012 | Northwich Victoria | ||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Paul David Simpson (born 26 July 1966) is an English football manager. His son Jake Simpson is also a professional footballer.
Simpson began his playing career as a schoolboy at Manchester City in the early 1980s. He made his senior debut aged 16, on 2 October 1982 in a 3–2 win against Coventry City. 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. He scored 3 goals in 9 total appearances at Finn Park.
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. 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.
He won five caps for the England under-21 team during his spell at Maine Road, adding to three caps at under-18 level. His U21 debut came on 26 March 1986 as a substitute against Denmark on his home ground. He also played in the 1987 Toulon Tournament, during which he scored.
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. 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.
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. 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. He was a first choice player throughout this period, and twice reached double figures in his goal return.