Paul Hart (soccer player)

Paul Hart
Paul Hart (2002)
Personnel
Surname	Paul Anthony Hart
birthday	May 4th 1953
place of birth	Golborne ,  England
position	defender
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1970-1973	Stockport County	87 0(5)
1973-1978	Blackpool FC	143 (15)
1978-1983	Leeds United	191 (16)
1983-1985	Nottingham Forest	70 0(1)
1985-1986	Sheffield Wednesday	52 0(2)
1986-1987	Birmingham City	1 0(0)
1987-1988	Notts County	23 0(0)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1988-1991	Chesterfield FC
2001-2004	Nottingham Forest
2004-2005	Barnsley FC
2006	Rushden & Diamonds
2009	Portsmouth FC
2009-2010	Queens Park Rangers
2010	Crystal Palace
1 Only league games are given.

Paul Anthony Hart (born May 4, 1953 in Golborne , England ) is a former English football player and most recently coach of Crystal Palace .

Player career

Hart played the first three years of his playing career at Stockport County before moving to English second division club Blackpool in 1973 . After five years in the Football League Second Division , he moved to Leeds United for £ 300,000 after his team was relegated in the 1977/78 season . Leeds was playing in the Football League First Division at this time . After five years in Leeds and the temporary relegation to the second division, Hart decided in 1983 to move to Nottingham Forest .

Forest had competed very successfully in previous years, but coach Brian Clough was now forced to rebuild the team. Hart got along well in his new team and earned a regular place. The high point of his time in Nottingham was reaching the semi-finals of the 1983/84 UEFA Cup against RSC Anderlecht , in which Hart and his team won 2-0 at home and lost the second leg 3-0 under dubious circumstances. Paul Hart had scored a regular goal shortly before the end, but it was not given by the Spanish referee. Later it became known that the referee had received a higher sum of money from the president of RSC Anderlecht.

After 1½ years at Sheffield Wednesday , he moved to Birmingham City in 1986 , but broke his leg in the only game for his new club and spent his last season as player-coach with Notts County .

Coaching career

After the end of his playing career at Notts County, Paul Hart started his coaching career at Chesterfield FC , which was playing in the third division at the time. Even after relegation to the fourth division, he remained in office before he was dismissed in 1991.

Hart first moved to the youth department of Nottingham Forest before he worked as a youth coach at Leeds United . In 1993 and 1997 he won the FA Youth Cup with his team and saw that several of his youth players made the leap into the professional squad of Leeds.

However, after disagreements with the coach of the professional team, George Graham , he moved back to Nottingham Forest as a youth coach. There he and his team surprisingly succeeded in winning the English youth championship in the 1999/2000 season. Paul Hart trained players like Andy Reid , Jermaine Jenas , Michael Dawson and Eugen Bopp during this time .

Due to its success with the youth team, the board of Forest fell back on Hart when the previous coach David Platt left the club. Nottingham Forest was in considerable financial difficulties during this time and Hart got the opportunity to incorporate many of the youth players he had previously trained in the professional squad. In the 2002/03 season he reached the play-off round with his team, but lost in the first round with 1: 1 and 3: 4 against Sheffield United . The 2003/04 season was disappointing due to player sales and injuries and Paul Hart was released in early February 2004 lying on a relegation zone.

After only one month he took over the coaching position at the third division club FC Barnsley , but was fired again after a year.

Hart decided to take a break from the football business for the time being, but switched to the coaching business again in May 2006 with the fourth division club Rushden & Diamonds . There, too, he was granted little success and his activity was limited to a few months.

In March 2007 he returned to the youth sector, where he had been much more successful. This time his path led him to Portsmouth FC . After the coach of the professional team Tony Adams was dismissed in February 2009, Paul Hart took over this position temporarily. After his work was surprisingly successful, the board decided to keep him in office. Portsmouth managed to stay in the Premier League in 2008/09 this season and Hart was given a two-year contract.

In the Premier League 2009/10 Portsmouth started badly with seven defeats in the first seven games. At the end of November 2009, Paul Hart was released after only two wins after the 13th matchday. In mid-December 2009, he took over the coaching post of the Queens Park Rangers , but left his new club after just one month and five games.

In March 2010, Hart took over his last coaching post at Crystal Palace and managed with his new team on the last day of the Football League Championship in a direct duel at Sheffield Wednesday with a 2-2 relegation. Paul Hart then left the club.

Web links

• Paul Hart in the database of soccerbase.com (English)
• Hart's profile on Neil Brown's statistics page