Paul Power

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Paul Power
Personnel
Surname Paul Power
birthday October 30, 1953
place of birth ManchesterEngland
size 180 cm
position Full-back , midfield (left)
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1973-1986 Manchester City 365 (26)
1986-1988 Everton FC 54 0(6)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1981 England B 1 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

Paul Power (born October 30, 1953 in Manchester ) is a retired English football player . The left full-back and midfielder , who had his strengths in tackling and in the flanks as well as in long throw-ins, was active for 13 years for Manchester City and won the English championship with Everton in 1987 .

Athletic career

Manchester City (1973–1986)

Power was a Manchester City fanatic from childhood and joined the club in August 1973 at a time when he was still studying law at Leeds Metropolitan University . Before he finished his training there, he was initially only connected to the "Citizens" on an amateur basis, but after signing the first professional contract in July 1975, he immediately pushed into the first division team coached by Tony Book . On August 27, 1975 he made his debut on the occasion of a 0-1 away defeat against Aston Villa and another 18 league appearances followed in the 1975/76 season as well as the first goal in the 4-3 home win against Derby County . In the final victory in the League Cup against Newcastle United (2-1), however, he was still considered, although he had previously had a modest share of the overall success in the first rounds against Mansfield Town and Middlesbrough FC . In the following season 1976/77 Power then established himself in the starting line-up and in addition to an initial series of six games without defeat, he sniffed the first round of the 1-0 first leg in the UEFA Cup against Juventus Turin in the first round - the second leg ended 0-2. With just one point behind the new title holder, Liverpool , Power finally won the English runner-up .

The renewed qualification for the UEFA Cup resulted in a first round defeat for Power - in this case against the Polish representative Widzew Łódź . This caused a noticeable loss of form and in the end the club found themselves with twelve points behind the new champions Nottingham Forest in fourth place . Power mostly operated in the left midfield and with his interpretation of playing the position of full-back, he gave a foretaste of what later became known as "wing-back". The next highlight for Power in a season 1978/79, which brought another fall into midfield in the league, was reaching the quarter-finals in the UEFA Cup , after he achieved the interim 2: 2 in the last 16 match at AC Milan . 0 scored and thus laid the foundation for progress (3-0 in the second leg). After changing coach to Malcolm Allison , Power took over the captaincy following a 1-0 league cup defeat by Sunderland AFC and in a turbulent time when the Citizens faced a possible relegation after 17 games without a win, the team came under Power's leadership - and with seven own league goals only one less than the yield of the top scorer Michael Robinson - in the end with three wins from the last four games to keep the league .

While his status also solidified in the 1980/81 season, the team remained far behind expectations with only four of 30 possible league points, which again resulted in Allsion's dismissal. This was compared to the final in the FA Cup . In the previous rounds, Power had scored against Crystal Palace (4: 0) and Norwich City (6: 0) each and in the "showdown" against Tottenham Hotspur , which ended with a 2: 3 defeat in the replay, he finished Position in the left midfield. Under Allison's successor, John Bond , performance in the league had stabilized and by Christmas 1981 the Citizens were at the top of the table. At that time, however, Power was suffering from an injury that put him out of action for almost three months and in the end his club slipped to tenth place .

Recovered from his wounds, Power went expectantly into the 1982/83 season, which started positively with a goal of his own to the 2-1 away win at Norwich City and the meanwhile second place in early November 1982. But then Power and his men took a “nosedive” and together the season ended in a relegation zone - even a coach change to Bond's former assistant John Benson could not change that. Shortly after the turn of the year, Power had been absent for seven games due to injury and during this time the Citizens had no win. Even in the first attempt at promotion under Benson's successor Billy McNeill , an injury to Power and his absence throughout April 1984 was partly responsible for the fact that in the end only fourth place was achieved and thus the goal of the season was missed.

The second attempt in the following year succeeded after an initially sluggish start. After Power had scored in a 4-0 home win against Shrewsbury Town in March 1985 and led the team to the top of the table, the performances in the decisive phase declined and only a 5-1 on the last day of the game against Charlton Athletic ensured the return to English House of Lords over third place in the second division. Power's contribution to this was valued so highly that after 1981 he received the club's award for the best player for the second time. Back in the first division, Power made another 36 league appearances and the season's goal of relegation was secured in 15th place after a turbulent year . In addition, he reached the final of the newly created Full Members Cup , which was then lost 4-5 to Chelsea . His appearance against Newcastle United on April 26, 1986 was Powers last competitive game for Manchester City. For a transfer fee of 65,000 pounds, he moved to Everton FC in June 1986 .

Everton FC (1986–1988)

In the team of coach Howard Kendall Power was immediately a regular player, who came to 52 competitive games in the 1986/87 season. His commitment had the background that an urgent need for action had arisen due to an injury misery in the club, from which the now 32-year-old benefited. In his first year for the "Toffees" he immediately won the English championship and served the team in other roles in addition to first missions in the left-back position. However, it stayed with this short excursion into the regular formation of a top team, because in the following year, which also marked his last active professional year, he was under Kendall's successor Colin Harvey only twelve times in the championship games in the starting line-up.

After retiring, he continued to coach the club before losing his job after Kendall's return in 1990. Seven more years later he returned to Manchester City, where he again accepted a job in youth work.

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "England - International Results B-Team - Details" (RSSSF)
  2. "Paul Power: Manchester City FC, Biography (Part 1) 1975 / 76-1977 / 78" (Sporting Heroes)
  3. "Paul Power: Manchester City FC, Biography (Part 2) 1978 / 79-1979 / 80" (Sporting Heroes)
  4. "Paul Power: Manchester City FC, Biography (Part 3) 1980 / 81-1981 / 82" (Sporting Heroes)
  5. "Paul Power: Manchester City FC, Biography (Part 4) 1982 / 83-1983 / 84" (Sporting Heroes)
  6. "Paul Power: Manchester City FC, Biography (Part 5) 1984 / 85-1985 / 86" (Sporting Heroes)