Paul Simpson

Paul David Simpson (born 26 July 1966) is an English former professional footballer who is currently manager of Carlisle United.

He made his senior debut aged 16, on 2 October 1982 in a 3–2 win against Coventry City, making three senior appearance in total in the 1982/83 season.

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 third, they lost in the play-offs to sixth-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.

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.

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.

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.

After impressing with 2 goals in 8 starts, he signed a permanent deal for £75,000.

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.

His second season at Molineux was less successful as he found himself out of the starting line-up in the opening games.

He went on loan to nearby Walsall of the Second Division for four months, but returned to Wolves first team when this loan expired.

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.

After a second successive seventh-place finish in a season that saw Simpson feature only sparingly, he signed for Blackpool on a free transfer in August 2000.

Just before leaving the club he helped them win the 2001–02 Football League Trophy, playing as a substitute in the final.

He made nine appearances in the final games of the 2001–02 season for Dale, scoring 6 times.

This goal rush helped push the club into the play-offs, where they lost to Rushden & Diamonds (despite another goal from Simpson).

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.

After manager John Hollins departed from Rochdale in 2002, Simpson stepped in as player-manager.

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.

However, he immediately led Carlisle back to League Two in 2004–05 as Conference National play-off winners.

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.

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.

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 two teams drew 0–0, meaning that Carlisle were promoted as champions.

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.

At the age of 15, Simpson moved from Carlisle to Manchester in order to begin his playing career as a schoolboy at Manchester City.

Simpson left Rochdale after only season in charge where they reached the FA Cup fifth 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.

Following his departure from Rochdale, Simpson moved back to his home town, where he became the manager of Carlisle United.

He also played for the club.

Carlisle were relegated to the Conference in his first year at Brunton Park, at a time when the club was struggling financially.

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.