Paul Thirlwell

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Paul Thirlwell
Personal information
Full name	Paul Thirlwell
Date of birth	February 13, 1979 (age 28)
Place of birth	Springwell Village, England
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Carlisle United
Number	11
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1997-2004 1999 2004-2005 2005-2007 2006 2007-	Sunderland → Swindon Town (loan) Sheffield United Derby County → Carlisle United (loan) Carlisle United	77 (0) 12 (0) 30 (1) 21 (0) 14 (0) 04 (0)
National team2
2001	England U21	01 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:06, 1 February 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 12:13, 4 January 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Paul Thirlwell (born February 13, 1979 in Springwell Village, Washington, Tyne and Wear, England) is an English footballer who has played for four English clubs. He currently plays for Carlisle United in Football League One

Thirlwell, who is a midfielder, is a former England Under 21 footballer who has often been compared to former Sunderland and Everton star Paul Bracewell.

[edit] Biography

Paul Thirlwell began his career in Sunderland in August 1997 and his first league game for Sunderland was against Tranmere Rovers on August 22, 1998. His first goal for the club from Tyne and Wear came against Luton Town on September 19, 2000 when Sunderland won 3-0 in the English League Cup. Thirlwell was on loan to Swindon Town from September 1999 to November 1999 and in those months he played 12 league games for the club from Wiltshire.

With Sunderland flying high in the Premiership, Thirlwell often found himself on the fringes of the first team, unable to break into the side ahead of established stars such as Don Hutchison and Stefan Schwarz. However, following the clubs relegation from the top flight in 2003, Thirlwell went on to establish himself in the heart of Sunderland's midfield, making 33 league and cup appearances for the first team. Thirlwell even had a stint as captain after skipper Jason McAteer picked up an injury.

Despite a regular starting place during the first half of the season, injuries meant that Thirlwell missed a large chunk of the latter half of the campaign. Thirlwell also suffered a fractured skull during a reserve team match in April 2004, bring a premature end to Thirlwell's Sunderland career.

With Thirlwell's contract up for renewel at the end of the season, manager Mick McCarthy decided not to retain him, and Thirlwell signed for Sheffield United on a free transfer in July 2004.

His first appearance for this club came against Reading on August 14, 2004 and in a league game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on November 27, 2004 he scored his first goal for the club from South Yorkshire. Despite featuring 30 times for the club, Thirlwell played only one season for Sheffield United and on August 5, 2005 he signed for Derby County. He made his debut for Derby on August 6, 2005 in a league game against Brighton & Hove Albion. Unfortunately he failed to impress in any of his appearances for the Rams and is widely regarded amongst supporters as one of the worst signings of recent years.

On September 8, 2006 Thirlwell joined Carlisle United on a 3-month loan from Derby County [1] after a lack of first team opportunities at Pride Park and his début for the Brunton Park team was on September 9, 2006 in a 1-1 draw against Northampton Town as a 54th minute sub. On January 4, 2007 Thirlwell re-joined Carlisle United on a permanent 2½ year deal for a undisclosed fee.

[edit] Career as player

Club	Club connection	Club matches	League matches	Club goals	League goals	Period
Sunderland	Contract	5	2	0	0	08/1997 - 09/1999
Swindon Town	Loan	12	12	0	0	09/1999 - 11/1999
Sunderland	Contract	88	75	1	0	11/1999 - 07/2004
Sheffield United	Contract	36	30	1	0	07/2004 - 08/2005
Derby County	Contract	23	21	0	0	08/2005 - 09/2006
Carlisle United	Loan	17	14	0	0	09/2006 - 12/2006
Derby County	Contract	0	0	0	0	12/2006 - 01/2007
Carlisle United	Contract	4	0	0	0	01/2007 -

[edit] External links

• Paul Thirlwell's career stats at Soccerbase

Carlisle United F.C. - Current Squad
2 Raven | 3 Murphy | 5 Livesey | 6 Gray | 7 Murray | 8 Lumsdon | 9 Holmes | 10 Hawley | 11 Thirlwell | 12 Joyce | 13 Bradley | 14 Garner | 15 Arnison | 16 Jeff Smith | 17 McDermott | 18 Hackney | 19 Johann Smith | 20 Westwood | 21 Aranalde | 23 Kirkup | 24 Vipond | 25 Gall | 27 Atkin | 28 Hindmarch | 29 Krause | 31 Graham | 32 Howarth | Manager: McDonald