Paul Canoville

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Paul Canoville
Personal information
Date of birth	4 March 1962 (1962-03-04) (age 46)
Place of birth	Hillingdon, England
Playing position	Winger
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
0000–1981 1981–1986 1986–1987 1988–1989 1990–1991	Hillingdon Borough Chelsea Reading Enfield Maidenhead United	79 (11) 16 0(4) 09 0(2) 17 0(3)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Paul Canoville (born 4 March 1962 in Hillingdon) is an English former footballer, most notable for being the first black player to play for Chelsea.

Starting out playing for non-league Hillingdon Borough, he signed for Chelsea in December 1981. At the time, Chelsea, along with various other English clubs, had among their support a minority of hardcore members of the far-right, for whom Canoville became an immediate and regular target for racist abuse, which in turn provoked a public show of support from then-club chairman Ken Bates and several team mates, most notably Pat Nevin. He was also nicknamed The King by Chelsea fans, because he used to run as if wearing a crown.

Canoville was a talented, though inconsistent, left-sided player who joined Chelsea at a time when the club seemed to be imploding, both on and off the pitch. He made his debut on 12 April 1982 against Crystal Palace. His first full season with the club was one of the worst in its history, as the team avoided relegation to the Third Division on the final day of the season. Canoville nevertheless made an invaluable contribution to the cause with an equaliser against Fulham and a brace in a 4-2 win over Carlisle United.

The following year at Chelsea proved more successful, as a side rejuvenated by a series of John Neal signings were promoted as Second Division champions. He again played an important part by scoring seven goals, including a hat-trick against Swansea City - his only treble for the club. However, the high point in his Chelsea career was his role in a Milk Cup quarter-final win over Sheffield Wednesday in 1985. Chelsea trailed 3-0, and Canoville came on as a half-time substitute; he scored within 11 seconds of the restart, sparking a Chelsea comeback, which he capped by putting Chelsea 4-3 ahead, though a late penalty conceded by Doug Rougvie denied the side a win. But his performances continued to be inconsistent (he missed an open goal in the return game against Wednesday) and thereafter lost his place in the side to Nevin and Mickey Thomas, and was mainly used as a substitute. Canoville was sold to Reading in August 1986 for £50,000.

He had a bright start to his time at Reading, scoring and creating several goals, but suffered a dislocated knee, a torn cartilage and a rupture to his cruciate ligament in a tackle by Sunderland's Dave Swindlehurst on 21 October 1986, three months into his debut season. This effectively ended his professional career at the age of 24. After a failed comeback, he moved down to non-league football, making appearances for Enfield, Maidenhead United and Burnham, before retiring.

Shortly after retiring he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer which attacks the immune system. He underwent a course of chemotherapy for the illness and made a full recovery.^[1]

He is the father of 10 children and the second cousin of current Notts County defender, Lee Canoville.

[edit] References

Persondata
NAME	Canoville, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH	4 March 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hillingdon, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH