Paul Musselwhite

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Paul Musselwhite
Personal information
Full name	Paul Musselwhite
Date of birth	December 22, 1968 (age 38)
Place of birth	Portsmouth, England
Height	6'2" (188cm)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Port Vale
Number	40
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1986-1988 1988-1992 1992-2000 2000-2004 2004-2006 2006 2006-2007 2007-	Portsmouth Scunthorpe United Port Vale Hull City Scunthorpe United Eastleigh Kettering Town Port Vale	0 (0) 132 (0) 312 (0) 95 (0) 74 (0) ? (?) ? (?) 0 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of January 14, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Paul Musselwhite (born December 22, 1968) is a footballer, currently playing for Port Vale.

Paul Stephen Musselwhite is a goalkeeper who started his career at his home town club, Portsmouth, without ever making an appearance in the first team. In 1988 he moved to Scunthorpe United on a free transfer, making 160 appearances for the 'Iron'.

In the summer of 1992 he signed for Port Vale for a fee of £17,500 to replace the outgoing goalkeeper Mark Grew. However, Musselwhite started the 1992/93 season as second choice behind Trevor Wood, until an incident in a match away at Swansea on September 5, 1992. Wood conceded a penalty in an 'off the ball' incident with a Swansea player and was subsequently dropped by manager John Rudge.

Musselwhite made his Vale debut in the next match, a 2-2 draw against Exeter City on September 12, 1992 and despite a nervy performance, he remained an ever present in the Vale side for almost three years, not missing a game until Vale played away at Charlton Athletic on April 29, 1995, when he was rested to allow his understudy, Arjan van Heusden, to gain some first-team experience in an end of season fixture. This unbroken run in the first team included being part of the side which won the Football League Trophy in 1992/93, and automatic promotion from Division Two in 1993/94.

Standing at 6'2", Paul was renowned amongst Vale fans as an excellent shot stopper, capable of making world class reaction saves, but who is equally susceptible to the occasional lapse of concentration. One example of this is when he dropped a routine catch at the feet of the Everton striker Duncan Ferguson in an FA Cup game in 1996.

Musselwhite was given a free transfer at the end of the 1999/2000 season, when Vale were relegated and subsequently had to cut their wage bill. He spent the next four seasons at Hull City before returning to Scunthorpe in the summer of 2004. In May 2005 he signed for non-league Eastleigh, but left shortly after as he was unable to sell his house in Scunthorpe.

In the 2006/07 season he has played for Kettering Town but was a free agent when he received a phone call from his former team mate, the Port Vale manager Martin Foyle inviting him back to the club as cover for long term injury victim Mark Goodlad.

[edit] External links

• Paul Musselwhite career stats at Soccerbase

Port Vale F.C. - Current Squad
1 Goodlad | 2 Pilkington | 3 Talbot | 4 Sonner | 5 Walsh | 6 Walker | 7 Moore | 8 Harsley | 9 Lowndes | 10 Constantine | 12 Anyon | 14 Whitaker | 15 Abbey | 16 McGregor | 17 Husbands | 18 Miles | 19 Cardle | 20 Sodje | 22 Soboljew | 23 Prosser | 24 Weston | 25 Smith | 26 Martin | 27 Gardner | 28 Glover | 40 Musselwhite | Manager: Foyle