Graham Charles Paddon (24 August 1950 – 19 November 2007) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a midfielder for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, ea ...

, Norwich City and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium ...

Playing career

Paddon was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and began his career as an apprentice with

under

Noel Cantwell Noel Euchuria Cornelius Cantwell (28 February 1932 – 8 September 2005) was an Irish footballer player and sometime cricketer. Club career Cantwell was born in Cork, Ireland, and was educated at the Roman Catholic Presentation Brothers Colleg ...

. He made his senior debut in February 1969, coming on as a substitute in a 3–1 victory over

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus ...

. He made five First Division appearances for the Midlands club, scoring one goal, before signing for Norwich City, then of the Second Division, in October 1969 for £25,000. He played in the Canaries'

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

-winning team of 1971–72, his eight goals helping the team to the league title. The following season, he helped the club to reach the 1973 League Cup Final. He scored all three goals in the quarter-final against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and saw victory in the two-legged semi-final against Chelsea, but was not able to stop

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

winning the Final by a single goal. After 198 appearances and 28 goals for the Canaries, Paddon joined

, also of the First Division, for £170,000 in December 1973 in a deal which saw

Ted MacDougall Edward John MacDougall (born 8 January 1947 in Inverness) is a Scottish former footballer. MacDougall was a prolific goalscorer who played for eight teams, scoring 256 goals in 535 League appearances and winning seven full international caps f ...

move the other way. The deal saw Paddon become West Ham's most expensive player. Joining a team that included

Billy Bonds William Arthur Bonds (born 17 September 1946) is a former professional footballer and manager, who is most often associated with West Ham United with whom he spent 27 years as player and manager. He played 799 first-team games for West Ham i ...

and

Trevor Brooking Sir Trevor David Brooking, (born 2 October 1948) is a former England international footballer, manager, pundit and football administrator; he now works as director of football development in England. He spent almost his entire career at West ...

and was managed by

Ron Greenwood Ronald Greenwood CBE (11 November 1921 – 9 February 2006) was an English football player and manager, best known for being manager of the English national football team from 1977 until 1982, as well as being manager of West Ham United for ...

, he made 26 appearances for the east London club during the 1973–74 season. Paddon's first full season at West Ham, by that point managed by

John Lyall John Angus Lyall (24 February 1940 – 18 April 2006) was an English footballer and manager primarily known for his 34 years at West Ham United. He played for the club as a youth, then as a first-team player before injury cut short his career. ...

, saw 54 appearances and 4 goals. He featured all of the games in the successful 1974–75 FA Cup run, with the second goal of the 2–0 victory in the

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

scored by Alan Taylor after 'keeper

Peter Mellor Peter Mellor (born 20 November 1947) is an American former professional footballer whose playing career as a goalkeeper spanned three decades. He played 17 years in the top three tiers of English professional football with Burnley, Fulham, Here ...

failed to deal with a shot by Paddon. The season also featured what Paddon described afterwards as "the best goal I've ever scored", a 40-yarder against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Ro ...

that found the net with some help from the wind. He managed 5 goals in 57 appearances during the 1975–76 season, including every game of the European Cup Winners' Cup campaign. He scored from 30 yards in the first leg of the semi-final against

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

, but the team were only able to pick up a runners-up medal in the

against

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as th ...

. He made a total of 152 appearances, scoring 15 goals, in his three years at West Ham. His exploits that season resulted in him being voted runner-up for Hammer of the Year, behind Brooking. On 23 March 1976, Paddon made his only international appearance when he played for the England under-23 team as a permitted over-age player in a game against Hungary. He scored the final goal of a 3–1 victory. Paddon rejoined Norwich, who by that point had returned to the top tier, for £110,000 in November 1976, but suffered a broken leg in only his third game back with the Norfolk club. It would be a full year before his return to first-team football. He went on to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

the club, who remained in the First Division until the 1980–81 season. He spent time in the United States with the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tier ...

in 1978, and scored a goal against Norwich in an indoor friendly between the two sides on 3 May 1978 in St. Petersburg, Florida. In all, Paddon made 290 League appearances and 25 scored goals over his two spells at Norwich. He spent some time on loan at

during the 1981–82 season, where he made five League appearances and scored one goal. He finished his career in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

with

Eastern AA Eastern Athletic Association Football Team Limited, also known as Eastern Sports Club (), is a Hong Kong professional sports club whose football section competes in the Hong Kong Premier League, the top flight of Hong Kong football. The f ...

and then with Northern Counties East club Alfreton Town, where he made 29 appearances.

Style of play

Paddon was known for his creativity on the left side of midfield, with surging runs and using his powerful left foot to cross the ball into the strikers or shoot from long range. His captain at Norwich, Duncan Forbes, later remarked "He had the most fantastic left-foot. He didn't need to get very far over the halfway line before he looked up and unleashed a shot at goal. It was superb". West Ham goalkeeper

Mervyn Day Mervyn Richard Day (born 26 June 1955) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League as a goalkeeper for West Ham United, Orient, Aston Villa, Leeds United, Luton Town, Sheffield United and Carlisle United. He l ...

noted after his death that "I'll remember his dynamism, the balance he brought to the side but, above all else, the ferocity of his left foot in shooting practice". He was also skilled at the long

throw-in A throw-in is a method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball has exited the side of the field of play. It is governed by Law 15 of The Laws of the Game. Award When the ball goes out of play past the touch-line t ...

, Forbes commenting "he had a huge long throw. We used to practise moves at the old training pitch at

Trowse Trowse (pronounced by those from Norwich and by elderly residents of the village), also called Trowse with Newton, is a village in South Norfolk which lies about south-east of Norwich city centre on the banks of the River Yare. It covers an ...

. He would take the throw, I would flick it back with my head and there'd be someone coming in behind to score".

Coaching career

In August 1985, Paddon joined the coaching staff at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

, working under Alan Ball. He moved to

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...

to become Ball's assistant in October 1989. After Ball had been sacked in February 1991 Paddon was given the role as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

up until the end of the 1990–91 season. Stoke finished in 14th place in the Third Division which was unfortunately for Paddon Stoke's worst ever league finish. He returned to Portsmouth to work as Jim Smith's number two in the spring of 1991. In March 1995, the pair were sacked and Paddon later worked as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement * Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

, again under Jim Smith, as well as at

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

. In 2003, Paddon joined

DPMM FC Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Football Club (His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Brunei Football Club in English, commonly known as DPMM FC) is a professional football club based in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. The club played in the Brunei ...

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

, taking charge of the team that competed in the 2005–06 Brunei Premier League.

Death

Paddon died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

at his home in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

on 19 November 2007.

Career statistics

As a player

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup ( it, Coppa Anglo-Italiana, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) is a defunct European football c ...

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier L ...

, Football League Group Cup,

Texaco Cup The Texaco Cup, officially known as the International League Board Competition, was an association football competition started in 1970, involving sides from England, Scotland, and Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions. It wa ...

and

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

As a manager

Honours

Norwich City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...

champions: 1971–72 *

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by th ...

runner-up:

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

West Ham United *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

winner:

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

runner-up:

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...

References

External links

Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paddon, Graham 1950 births 2007 deaths Footballers from Manchester English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Coventry City F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players Millwall F.C. players Eastern Sports Club footballers Alfreton Town F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Stoke City F.C. managers English expatriate men's footballers English Football League managers England men's under-23 international footballers Portsmouth F.C. non-playing staff Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff Derby County F.C. non-playing staff Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff Leicester City F.C. non-playing staff English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States DPMM FC managers English football managers