Paul Gerrard

Paul Gerrard

Personal information
Full name	Paul William Gerrard
Date of birth	(1973-01-22) 22 January 1973
Place of birth	Heywood, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Oldham Athletic (Player-Goalkeeping Coach)
Number	28
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-	Oldham Athletic	1	(0)
International career‡
1993–1996	England U21	18	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:10, 5 November 2011 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2006-09-28

Paul William Gerrard (born 22 January 1973), is an English football goalkeeper and coach who is currently player-goalkeeping coach at Oldham Athletic. He is also a former England Under 21 international.

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.

Nottingham Forest

In the summer of 2004, Gerrard signed permanently for Nottingham Forest despite Ipswich Town and Leeds being interested. His first season was a disaster with the club being relegated to League One although Gerrard was not blamed in any way.

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. 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 returned as number one.

By February 2006, Forest were a few points adrift of the play-offs, but on 15 February Gerrard limped off in a 3-0 defeat against former club Oldham Athletic, and a day later Megson resigned as manager of Nottingham Forest. 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 to free up some money on the wage bill.

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. On 24 January 2008, he signed on loan for Blackpool until the end of the 2007-08 season. On 3 March it was revealed that Gerrard had undergone a knee operation which ended his season prematurely. He was subsequently released by the Blades when his contract expired at the end of the season.

Stockport County

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

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. Gerrard's first competitive first-team touch for over two years, and first for Oldham for fifteen years, was to save a penalty. He made his first start in his second spell at the club in the 3-1 victory over Crewe Alexandra, on 8 November 2011.

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. On 5 November 2011, when goalkeeper Alex Cisak was dismissed after bringing down a Bury player, Paul Gerrard was called upon to return to league play for the club after an absence of 15 years. Although he saved the ensuing penalty the team still lost 2-0.

Shrewsbury Town

In July 2010 he was confirmed Shrewsbury Town goalkeeping coach on a part-time basis. This ended in July 2011, when his contract at Oldham was made full-time.

External links

• Paul Gerrard at Soccerbase

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