Full name Paul Wilkinson 1982–1985 Grimsby Town Position Forward Years Team Height 1.85 m | Playing position Role Football player Place of birth Louth, England Name Paul Wilkinson | |
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Date of birth (1964-10-30) 30 October 1964 (age 51) | ||
Paul wilkinson
Paul Wilkinson (born 30 October 1964 in Louth, Lincolnshire) is a retired footballer who is the assistant manager of Grimsby Town
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he was appointed assistant manager on Northampton Town in June, 2016. He had already boasted a wealth of experience having worked in coaching roles with Leeds United, Grimsby Town, Cardiff City, Sheffield Wednesday (where he was assistant manager to Dave Jones) and Norwich City since retiring as a player (after a brief spell at Sixfields) in 2000. That ended an 18-year playing career that saw Wilkinson make over 650 senior appearances, scoring more than 150 goals.
Career
He started his career with Grimsby Town before moving to Everton in March 1985. During the 1986–87 season he made 32 appearances and scored 12 goals for Everton, as they won the Football League First Division championship. After a short spell at Nottingham Forest he went on to play over 150 league games for both Watford and Middlesbrough.
He played more than 200 times for Middlesbrough between 1991 and 1996, his most successful season being his first, in which he scored 24 goals - the last coming in the final minutes of the last league game of the season at Wolverhampton Wanderers, in which he scored a last minute winner to secure Middlesbrough's automatic promotion to the new FA Premier League. He was also the scorer of the club's first Premier League goal, scoring a 63rd minute consolation goal in a 2-1 defeat at Coventry City on the opening day of the season.
Middlesbrough spent just one season back among the elite, and by the time they won promotion again two years later, Wilkinson was no longer a regular player.
During the early stages of his career he also played for the England U21 team. In 1997, partnering former Middlesbrough teammate John Hendrie in attach, he helped Barnsley reach the Premier League, scoring one of the goals in the game against Bradford City at Oakwell that sealed their automatic promotion.
After retiring from playing he moved into coaching by taking over as the reserve team manager at Leeds United before moving on to the same role at Grimsby Town and then Cardiff City in October 2003, being brought in by manager Lennie Lawrence. He took a position as a coach at the Norwich City Academy in October 2014.