Paul Huntington

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Paul Huntington
Personal information
Full namePaul David Huntington [1]
Date of birth (1987-09-17) 17 September 1987
Place of birthCarlisle, England
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing positionCentre back
Club information
Current clubPreston North End
Number4
Youth career
2004–2006Newcastle United
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2006–2007Newcastle United11(1)
2007–2009Leeds United21(2)
2009→ Stockport County (loan)9(0)
2009–2010Stockport County17(0)
2010–2012Yeovil Town77(6)
2012–Preston North End59(5)
National team‡
2004–2005England U182(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:33, 6 May 2013 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12:57, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Paul David Huntington (born 17 September 1987 in Carlisle) is an English professional footballer who is a centre back for Preston North End.

Club career

Newcastle United

He joined Newcastle United Academy on 1 July 2004.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 7 December 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 partnering David Wheater at centre back and got his 2nd cap on 10 June 2005 v Norway at Vale Park in a 0–0 draw. He signed his first professional contract at the club in July 2005.

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 Jackie Milburn trophy, given each year 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 for being the game in which Alan Shearer scored his 200th goal for the club. Huntington made the substitutes bench for a UEFA Cup match against Celta Vigo.

On 9 December he made his first Newcastle appearance as a late substitute against Blackburn Rovers in the unfamiliar role of right-back and duly received praise from Newcastle legend Alan Shearer on BBC programme Match Of The Day. The following match, on 14 December Huntington started his first ever game for Newcastle, again appearing at right back away at Chelsea in the Premier League and received Man Of The Match for keeping the likes of Arjen Robben at bay. He marked his first ever goal for Newcastle on 14 January 2007 when he scored the first equaliser in Newcastle's 3–2 win over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.[2] He also played in a Uefa Cup last-16 match against AZ Alkmaar losing on away goals over the two legs.He went on to make 16 appearances for the first team whilst making the bench for most of the 2006/07 season.

Leeds United

On 31 August 2007 he transferred to Leeds United for an undiclosed fee believed to be £500,000.[3] The move was seen as a coup by Leeds as Huntington had played in the Premier League. He made his home debut for the club as a substitute in the 2–0 victory on 8 September at home to Hartlepool United.

On 9 October 2007 Huntington opened his Leeds account by scoring against Darlington in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Second Round on his full debut to help Leeds through to the next stage. He scored his first league goal against Luton Town on 26 January 2008. He also scored against Leyton Orient on 5 April. There were controversies surrounding whether it was he or Bradley Johnson who scored the goal, but in the end it was officially given to Huntington.[4]

Huntington established himself as Leeds' first-choice centre-back. He was on good form during the run-in to the end of the 2007–08 season and manager Gary McAllister said Huntington has a bright future ahead of him. He played at Wembley on 25 May 2008 in the League One Play Off Final v Doncaster, losing 1–0 but playing well. He was handed the captain's armband during the 2008–09 pre season tour of Ireland in the game against Shelbourne. He started the season as a first choice centre back, although he was then ruled out for most of the season with hernia and groin operations and during this time Gary McAllister was sacked and replaced by Simon Grayson.

Huntington returned to training for Leeds for the 2009/10 season. Huntington made his first competitive appearance for Leeds for several months in the League Cup game against Darlington winning 1–0.

On 10 September 2009, Huntington joined League One rivals Stockport County on a month's loan.Huntington made his Stockport debut in the 2–2 draw against Yeovil Town, and then subsequently made the League 1 team of the week after a fine performance against Huddersfield.After 9 appearances for Stockport, his two month loan spell came to an end. Stockport County wanted to extend the loan for a third and final month but Huntington was told to return by Leeds United.

On transfer deadline day, 1 February 2010, Leeds United agreed to Huntingtons' request that his contract be paid up after lack of opportunities. This allowed him to seek another club to maximise his appearances this season and be in the shop window of other clubs for the summer when he was out of contract.

Stockport County

After leaving Leeds, he signed for Stockport County on a short term contract until the end of the season, and Huntington went on to make 26 appearances for Stockport.

Yeovil Town

On 16 July 2010 Huntington signed for Yeovil Town on a two year contract,[5] he scored his first goal for Yeovil and their 3rd in a 3–1 win over Tranmere Rovers on 11 September and made the League One Team Of The Week and repeated this achievement on 9 October after a 1–0 win at Rochdale. On 3 January 2011 Huntington scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against Milton Keynes Dons at home, also receiving man of the match.[6] Huntington won the League One Player of the Month for January, beating off competition from Brighton's Elliott Bennett, Craig Dawson from Rochdale and Bournemouth's Liam Feeney to win the coveted award which was presented to him his manager Terry Skiverton. During the month he scored three times against Sheffield Wednesday, Milton Keynes Dons and Brentford as well as being part of a defence that kept three clean sheets.[7] Huntington was appointed captain of the club as Yeovil finished in 14th place,their second highest ever finish. Huntington was runner up in both the Green and White Player of the Season Award and the Western Gazette Player of the Season Award.[8]

Huntington scored his first goal of the 2011/12 season in the 3–2 home defeat against Charlton Athletic on Boxing Day, and followed this up with a goal in the New Year's Eve defeat against Bournemouth]. On 22 May 2012, the club announced that Huntington had rejected a new deal citing that he wanted to move to a club closer to his hometown.[9]

Preston North End

Following Huntington's rejection of a new contract with Yeovil Town, Huntington joined fellow League One side Preston North End.[10] He scored his first goal for Preston against Crawley In a 2–1 loss.He then scored in the JPT 2nd round in a 4–2 win at Morecambe, On Tuesday 9 October 2012.Huntington then scored his 3rd goal of the season away at Tranmere Rovers in a 1–1 draw, on Saturday 27 October 2012.Saturday 8 December came his 4th goal in a loss to Crewe Alexandra.On Thursday 11 April 2013 Huntington was nominated for Npower League One Player Of The Month for March with a number of impressive displays and 3 clean sheets.

His first goal of the 2013/14 season came on 14 September against Stevenage F.C. in a 3–0 win.[11] On 17 December 2013, Huntington extended his contract with Preston,thus keeping him at the club until the summer of 2015.[12] He scored his second goal of the season in a 2-2 draw at Crawley Town on 14 December.

Career statistics

Season Club Division League FA Cup League Cup FL Trophy Play-Offs Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
2006–07 Newcastle United Premier League 11 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 16 1
2007–08 Leeds United League One 17 2 2 0 0 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 24 3
2008–09 4 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
2009–10 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2009–10 Stockport County 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 26 0
2010–11 Yeovil Town 40 4 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 43 4
2011–12 37 2 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 42 2
2012–13 Preston North End 37 3 3 0 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 44 4
2013–14 Preston North End 22 2 4 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 29 2
Total 194 13 14 0 12 0 7 1 3 0 2 0 232 16

References

  1. ↑ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Mainstream Publishing. p. 206. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0. 
  2. ↑ "Tottenham 2–3 Newcastle". BBC Sport. 14 January 2007. 
  3. ↑ "Leeds recruit Martin & Huntington". BBC Sport. 1 September 2007. 
  4. ↑ "Leyton Orient 0–2 Leeds". Leeds United FC. 5 April 2008. 
  5. ↑ "Yeovil Town sign Jean-Paul Kalala and Paul Huntington". BBC Sport. 16 July 2010. 
  6. ↑ "Yeovil 1–0 MK Dons". BBC Sport. 3 Jan 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2010. 
  7. ↑ "Huntington named Player of the Month". The Football League. 10 February 2011. 
  8. ↑ "Yeovil Town -Player of the Season". Yeovil Town FC. 1 May 2011. 
  9. ↑ "Yeovil Town's Paul Huntington turns down new contract". BBC Sport. 22 May 2012. 
  10. ↑ "Yeovil Town's Paul Huntington to join Preston North End". BBC Sport. 22 May 2012. 
  11. ↑ "Preston 3-0 Stevenage". BBC Sport. 14 September 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2013. 
  12. ↑ "PNE Extend Nine Players’ Contracts". Preston North End Official Website. 7 December 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2013. 

External links

Preston North End F.C. – current squad
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