Paul Huntington

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Personal information
Paul Huntington
Date of birth	September 17, 1987 (age 19)
Place of birth	Carlisle, England
Height	6 ft 3 in
Nickname	Hunty
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Newcastle United
Number	32
Youth clubs
2004	Newcastle United
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2005-present	Newcastle United	11 (1)
National team²
2004	England U18	02 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:03, 25 February 2007 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 12:00, 15 December 2006 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

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, given each year to the rising star of north-east football.

At the beginning of the 2005-06 season, Paul was named by then-Academy director Glenn Roeder as the captain of the Newcastle United under-18 team. However, due to frequent reserve team call-ups, Paul did not play every youth team game that season.

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 substitutes 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.

[edit] First Team Debut

On 9 December 2006 he made his first Newcastle appearance as a late substitute against Blackburn Rovers. Although he played in the unfamiliar 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.

"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 14 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. Paul then made his home debut the following match against Premiership strugglers Watford F.C., a game which United won 2-1. This was another solid performance from Paul, who showed some excellent touches in an unfamiliar position.

Paul made his League Cup debut the following game at St. James' Park against Chelsea. Once again manager Glenn Roeder was forced to play Paul out of position, this time at left-back. And once again, Paul excelled and although Newcastle went on to lose, Paul won plaudits after the match for his no-nonsense style along the left hand side of the field.

His run in the first team continued in the next home game against Tottenham Hotspur. Considered by many fans to be Newcastle's finest performance of the season (they won 3-1), it was perhaps ironic that this was possibly Paul's poorest performance in the first team. Although in context, Paul did not play too badly, he struggled to perform to the high standards he had set himself.

The following match, away to Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium, Hunty appeared in what was possibly the youngest ever defence ever fielded by Newcastle United. Continuing in the left-back slot, fellow nineteen year-old academy graduate David Edgar made his debut at right-back, with ex-academy 'local lads' Peter Ramage and Steven Taylor completing the back four, aged 23 and 20 respectively. With an average age of just 20.25, the inexperience told as Newcastle went on to lose, however Paul again came out with credit despite being booked for the first time in his professional career.

The following game, with the club gripped by injuries, Paul struggled against Everton, perhaps being at fault for two of Everton's three goals in a 0-3 away defeat for Newcastle. However the following game, in Newcastle's first game of 2007 against league leaders Manchester United, Huntington got the chance to play in his preferred position of centre-back for the first time in his Newcastle career. He performed admirably as Newcastle gained a hard earned point.

Huntington marked his first ever goal for Newcastle United on January 14, 2007 when he scored the first equaliser for them in Newcastle's 3-2 win over Tottenham.