Paul Gerrard

Paul William Gerrard (born 22 January 1973) is an English football goalkeeping coach and retired player. He is currently employed by Football League One side Doncaster Rovers, having previously been employed as a player-goalkeeping coach at Oldham Athletic.

For the British artist, see Paul Gerrard (artist).

Paul Gerrard
Personal information
Full name Paul William Gerrard
Date of birth (1973-01-22) 22 January 1973[1]
Place of birth Heywood, England[1]
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Doncaster Rovers (goalkeeper coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1996 Oldham Athletic 119 (0)
1996–2004 Everton 90 (0)
1998–1999 → Oxford United (loan) 16 (0)
2002 → Ipswich Town (loan) 5 (0)
2003 → Sheffield United (loan) 16 (0)
2004 → Nottingham Forest (loan) 8 (0)
2004–2006 Nottingham Forest 64 (0)
2006–2008 Sheffield United 2 (0)
2008 → Blackpool (loan) 0 (0)
2009–2010 Stockport County 0 (0)
2010–2013 Oldham Athletic 1 (0)
Total 321 (0)
National team
1993–1996 England U21 18 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Gerrard started his career in the Premier League with Oldham Athletic as a goalkeeper, and his 22-year playing career saw him play for Oldham, Everton, Oxford United, Ipswich Town, Sheffield United, Nottingham Forest, Blackpool and Stockport County, before he finished his playing career in a second spell at Oldham. Towards the end of his playing career, he was employed as a part-time goalkeeping coach by Oldham and Shrewsbury Town, before signing on as a full-time player/coach with Oldham at the start of the 2011–12 season. Gerrard is also a former England Under 21 international, having made 18 appearances between 1993 and 1996, but he never made an appearance for the full national side.

Playing career

Oldham Athletic

Born in Heywood, Lancashire, Gerrard started his career as a goalkeeping apprentice at Oldham Athletic. He made his Premiership debut at the age of 19 on 5 December 1992 in a 3–2 defeat at Queens Park Rangers. In all, he made 118 League appearances for The Latics in his first spell.

Everton

Nearly two years after Joe Royle had left Oldham for Everton, he returned to buy Gerrard for £1.5 million in July 1996.[2] He made his debut for Everton as a half-time substitute for Neville Southall in a 7–1 win at home to Southampton on 16 November 1996.[1]

When Royle left Everton, Southall returned as first choice goalkeeper for Everton, and Gerrard decided to go on loan to Oxford United in 1997 for regular first team action. However, soon afterwards Howard Kendall took over for his second spell as team manager at Goodison Park and recalled Gerrard from Oxford.

In December 2000, he suffered a knee injury in a Premier League match against West Ham United, and sparked a surprise reaction from West Ham striker Paolo Di Canio who spurned the opportunity to score the winning goal in order to attend to the injured Gerrard.[3] This act of sportsmanship saw Di Canio awarded with the FIFA fair play award the following year.[3]

Royle, now at Ipswich Town, signed Gerrard on a month-long loan in November 2002,[4] although Gerrard returned to Everton early after suffering from a dislocated kneecap, having made five appearances for Ipswich.[5] During the 2003–04 season, he was signed on loan by Sheffield United covering for injured goalkeeper Paddy Kenny, and he spent three months at the club.[6] He played a total of 16 games for the Blades, before joining Nottingham Forest on loan in March 2004 for the final two months of the season.

Nottingham Forest

In the summer of 2004, Gerrard signed permanently for Nottingham Forest.[7] At the end of his first season the club was relegated to League One.

Despite ending the 2004–05 season as first-choice goalkeeper and Player of the Year at Forest, Gerrard found himself as second choice goalkeeper behind new signing Rune Pedersen, having sustained a knee injury during a pre-season tour to Denmark.[8] Although he handed in a transfer request, Gerrard returned to first team action at the end of August in a 3–1 win against Gillingham. Gerrard was again dropped from the first team when manager Gary Megson signed Russell Hoult on loan from West Bromwich Albion. However, Hoult was recalled by West Brom in October, and Gerrard once again became the preferred goalkeeper.[9]

On 15 February 2006, Gerrard limped off in a 3–0 defeat against former club Oldham Athletic, having sustained a knee injury that later required surgery.[10] He played only one game under Ian McParland and Frank Barlow due to a knee injury. Gerrard was released from Forest at the end of the 2005–06 season, following the club's failure to secure promotion to the Championship.[11]

Sheffield United

On 27 September 2006, he signed a four-month contract with the Blades to add depth to the goalkeeping department. The 33-year-old, who had a loan spell at Bramall Lane in 2003, was signed to provide cover for Paddy Kenny and Ian Bennett. On 1 January 2007, Gerrard made his Premiership debut for Sheffield United against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. He made two further appearances for the Blades, but was released at the end of the 2006–07 season.

On 6 August 2007, he was re-signed on a 12-month deal by new Sheffield United manager Bryan Robson for the upcoming Championship campaign.[12] On 24 January 2008, he signed on loan for Blackpool until the end of the 2007–08 season.[13] On 3 March it was revealed that Gerrard had undergone a knee operation which ended his season prematurely.[14] He was subsequently released by the Blades when his contract expired at the end of the season.[15]

Stockport County

After leaving Bramall Lane, he joined Stockport County, but failed to make a competitive appearance for the club.[16]

Return to Oldham Athletic

On 5 November 2011, while working as goalkeeping coach at Oldham, he was brought on as a substitute for Alex Cisak, who had been sent off.[17] Gerrard's first contribution in a competitive match for over two years, and first for Oldham for fifteen years, was to save a penalty.[17] He made his first start in his second spell at the club in the 3–1 victory over Crewe Alexandra, on 8 November 2011.[18]

International career

Gerrard never played for England at full international level, but he was capped 18 times by the under-21 side between 1993 and 1996.

Coaching career

Oldham Athletic

He was confirmed Oldham Athletic's goalkeeping coach on a part-time basis on 30 June 2010. On 20 August he signed a pay as you play contract to provide cover for number one keeper Dean Brill. In July 2011 he was given a full-time permanent contract as goalkeeping coach.[19] He left Oldham on 21 June 2013, with his former club claiming that he was moving to Doncaster Rovers, following former Oldham boss Paul Dickov.[20]

Shrewsbury Town

In July 2010, he was confirmed Shrewsbury Town goalkeeping coach on a part-time basis.[21] This ended in July 2011, when his contract at Oldham was made full-time, with Gavin Ward replacing him in the post.[22]

Doncaster Rovers

On 24 June 2013, he was confirmed as the new goalkeeping coach at Doncaster Rovers.[23]

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References
  1. "Paul Gerrard". Everton FC. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  2. McLean, Rob (7 August 1996). "Taylor threatens strike action". The Independent. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  3. Rich, Tim (19 May 2009). "The heavenly virtues: 10 kind footballers". The Guardian. London.
  4. "Royle reunion for Gerrard". BBC Sport. 16 November 2002. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  5. "Gerrard suffers injury blow". BBC Sport. 13 December 2002. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  6. "Gerrard joins Blades". BBC Sport. 29 August 2003. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  7. "Gerrard signs for Forest". BBC Sport. 2 July 2004. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  8. "Forest keeper faces scan on knee". BBC Sport. 15 July 2005. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  9. "Baggies recall Hoult from Forest". BBC Sport. 27 October 2005. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  10. "Gerrard set to have knee surgery". BBC Sport. 24 February 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  11. "Five players released by Forest". BBC Sport. 9 May 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  12. "United re-sign Gerrard". Archived from the original on 5 February 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
  13. "Transfer latest". Blackpool F.C. 24 January 2008. Archived from the original on 27 January 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
  14. "Fitness test for Dickov". Blackpool Gazette. 3 March 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2008.
  15. "Just two seniors released". Sheffield United F.C. 9 May 2008. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
  16. "Another Addition - Paul Gerrard". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  17. "Oldham 0 - 2 Bury". Football365. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  18. Oldham Athletic 3 - 1 Crewe AlexandraBBC Sport 8 November 2011
  19. "Oldham appoint former goalkeeper Paul Gerrard as coach". 12 July 2011.
  20. "League One - Gerrard expected to join Doncaster Rovers". Yahoo! Eurosport UK. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  21. "Shrewsbury Town add goalkeeping coach Paul Gerrard". BBC Sport. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  22. "Town job bringing career full circle for nomadic goalkeeper". Shrewsbury Chronicle. 23 February 2012. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  23. "Doncaster sign ex-Real Madrid man". BBC News. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
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