Paul Huntington

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Personal information
Paul Huntington
Full name	Paul Huntington
Date of birth	September 17, 1987 (age 19)
Place of birth	Carlisle, England
Height	6 ft 3 in
Nickname	Hunty
Position	Centre Back
Club information
Current club	Newcastle United
Number	32
Youth clubs
2004	Newcastle United
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
2005–present	Newcastle United	2 (0)
National team**
2004	England U18	? (?)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:13, 15 December 2006 (UTC). ** National team caps and goals correct as of 01:13, 15 December 2006 (UTC).

Paul Huntington (born September 17, 1987 in Carlisle) is an English footballer, currently playing for Premiership club Newcastle United. His position is defender.

Huntington joined the Newcastle United School of Excellence on July 1, 2004 from Trinity School in Cumbria. As a schoolboy he played at Wembley Stadium and also won the England Under 18 National Cup for his school in 2004.

After impressing in the youth teams he was promoted to the reserve squad in late 2004 to play tougher opposition and gain experience. He made his reserve debut for the club on December 7, 2004 in a 3-0 home win over rivals Middlesbrough and made his official England Under 18 debut against Scotland fifteen days later in a 1-0 win. He signed his first professional contract at the club in July 2005. After being given the contract he said "It's great news, I'm absolutely delighted. Hopefully I will follow in the footsteps of some of the other players who have gone on to play for the first team at St James' Park."

His first involvement in the first team at Newcastle was when he appeared on the bench for the club's Intertoto Cup games against ZTS Dubnic and Deportivo La Coruña in July 2005. In the summer of 2005 he was awarded the prestigious 'Wor Jackie Milburn' trophy, which was given to the rising star of north-east football.

He was also named in the first team squad at Newcastle for the FA Cup third-round tie against Mansfield Town (remembered by Geordies for being the game in which Alan Shearer scored his 200th goal for the club). He came close to making a first team appearance on 23rd of November 2006 when a defensive crisis left the club with only three fit senior defenders. Huntington and fellow youth defender David Edgar made the substitites bench for a UEFA Cup match against Celta Vigo.

The 6 ft 3 in centre half believes that youth coach Kenny Wharton has had the biggest influence on his career, and his favourite players in the game are fellow commanding defenders Sol Campbell and Gareth Southgate.

On 9 December 2006 he made his first Newcastle appearance as a late substitute against Blackburn Rovers. Although he played in the unfarmiliar role of right-back, he performed reasonably well and looked comfortable when in possession of the ball. Newcastle won the match 3-1. After the match, Paul was praised on BBC1 television programme Match of the Day by none other than Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer for a defensive header made in the dying stages of the game.

After the match, Huntington remarked: "It was pleasing to get on but more importantly we got a good result. Obviously I am delighted to get my debut. It went well.

"I have been waiting in the last six or seven games dying to get on, it's good to get a result but from a personal note I am pleased too.

He added: "Playing in the Premiership is a lot different to the reserves. But I think the lads worked so hard at Blackburn it was all hands to the pump and then we broke away and scored the third. All the lads are really pleased 10 men usually seem to do OK against 11 but we did get off to a bad start in the second half but after that we showed determination."

"I texted my family on the bus on the way back and then celebrated with them in Carlisle after making my debut."

The following match, on 14th December 2006 Paul started his first ever game for Newcastle United, again appearing at right back in the midst of an injury crisis engulfing the club. He completed the whole 90 minutes against champions Chelsea in what was a 1-0 defeat for United at Stamford Bridge. Again he performed admirably, and after the game drew praise from Manager Glenn Roeder and fellow academy graduate Steven Taylor