Paul Groves
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| Paul Groves | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Paul Groves | |
| Date of birth | February 28, 1966 (age 41) | |
| Place of birth | Derby, England | |
| Height | 5' 11" (1.80m) | |
| Playing position | Central Midfielder (retired) | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Portsmouth (coach) | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 19??-19?? 1987-1988 1988-1990 1989 1990-1992 1992-1996 1996-1997 1997-2004 2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 |
Belper Town Burton Albion Leicester City → Lincoln City (loan) Blackpool Grimsby Town West Brom Grimsby Town Scunthorpe United York City Stafford Rangers |
? (?) ? (?) 16 (1) 8 (1) 107 (21) 184 (38) 29 (4) 270 (33) 13 (3) 42 (3) ? (?) |
| Teams managed | ||
| 2001-2004 | Grimsby Town | |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Paul Groves (born 28 February 1966 in Derby) is a former English footballer and current reserve-team coach at Portsmouth.
Contents |
[edit] The Grimsby years
[edit] As player
Groves spent two spells as a player at Grimsby, and was very consistent, regularly scoring goals from midfield, in addition to being a good tackler. Indeed, he was top scorer in his first season at the club 1992/93, with 12 goals in 46 matches. He also topped the club's scoring chart in 1995/96 with 10 goals in 46 matches and in 1998/99 with 14 goals in 46 matches. He also played every league game in his first (four-season) spell and in his first three seasons after returning from West Brom. He also spent several seasons as captain.
During his time at Grimsby, the club spent all but the 1997/98 season in the second tier of the football league, with only one season outside of it. This was the successful play-off promotion and Auto Windscreens Shield-winning season, in which Groves captained Grimsby to two Wembley wins (the third of his career) in the space of three weeks and started all 68 games that season. In addition to league success, there were several cup runs in which Grimsby beat Premier League opposition including West Ham, Leicester City, Sheffield Wednesday and Liverpool.
Groves first joined Grimsby from Blackpool for £150,000 in 1992. He joined West Brom for £600,000 in 1996 but returned just over a year later for £250,000.
He brought his 19-year playing career to a close in May 2005/06 with Stafford Rangers after helping them to promotion to the Conference National. In July 2006, he joined the coaching staff at Portsmouth.[1]
[edit] As manager
Groves became player-manager of Grimsby in December 2001 with the club in danger of being relegated from Division One. With several good loan signings, including Andy Todd, he managed to steer the club to safety. The 2002/03 season was not as successful: the club was relegated. A poor 2003/04 season saw Groves sacked as manager in February, but remarkably kept on as a player.
This spell as manager, as well as his eventual transfer to rivals Scunthorpe and perceived lack of charisma, has tarnished his reputation with Grimsby Town fans and he is not as highly regarded as someone with his playing and goal scoring record should have been.
| Preceded by Lennie Lawrence |
Grimsby Town Manager 2001 - 2004 |
Succeeded by Graham Rodger (caretaker) |
[edit] Honours
[edit] Blackpool
- Fourth Division playoff winners: 1991/92
[edit] Grimsby Town
- Grimsby Town Supporters Player of the Year: 1995/96, 1998/99
- Auto Windscreens Shield winner: 1997/98
- Second Division playoff winner: 1997/98
[edit] Leicester Masters
- Central Masters Player of the Tournament: 2005
- Masters Cup winner: 2005
[edit] External links
- electronicfishcake.com Player Profile
- Masters Cup 2005 results
- Paul Groves career stats at Soccerbase
- Paul Groves management career stats at Soccerbase
- Paul Groves on the Sporting Heroes database
Categories: 1966 births | Living people | English footballers | Grimsby Town F.C. players | Grimsby Town F.C. managers | West Bromwich Albion F.C. players | York City F.C. players | Lincoln City F.C. players | Scunthorpe United F.C. players | Leicester City F.C. players | Blackpool F.C. players | Stafford Rangers F.C. players
