Paul Beesley (born 21 July 1965) is an English former

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 primarily as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He began his career at

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

in September 1984, before he was sold on to Leyton Orient for £175,000 in October 1989. He joined

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games a ...

for £300,000 in July 1990, and was voted Player of the Year at the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club in 1993. He was sold to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

in August 1995 for a £250,000 fee, before moving on to

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The two ...

in February 1997 for £500,000. He had brief loan spells at

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley of ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...

, before he was allowed to join Port Vale permanently in July 1999. He joined Chester City in the

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main ...

in July 2000, and was voted the club's Player of the Season, before he signed with Stalybridge Celtic in October 2001. He later finished his career in Northern Ireland with Ballymena United. He later coached at

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

and Leeds United.

Career

Wigan Athletic and Leyton Orient

Beesley joined

in September 1984, where he would spend five seasons playing in the then Third Division. He played 185 games in all competitions in five years at Springfield Park, before joining Leyton Orient for £175,000 in October 1989. A first team regular Beesley played 35 league and cup games at

Brisbane Road Brisbane Road, originally known as Osborne Road, is a football stadium in Brisbane Road, Leyton, East London, England. It has been the home ground of Leyton Orient since 1937, before which it was the home of amateur football team Leyton F.C., ...

in 1989–90, helping Orient to finish comfortably in mid-table in the Third Division under Frank Clark.

Sheffield United

Beesley was sold to

for £300,000 in July 1990, at the time the highest fee paid for a player by the Blades. A regular in the first team he was instrumental in keeping United in the First Division in 1990–91 after their promotion from the Second Division the previous year. He played 49 times in

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

as the club finished 14th in the inaugural season of

football and reached the semi-finals of the

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 ...

. A dependable player he was popular with the fans and was voted Player of the Year in 1993. Now no longer an automatic choice at

he was instead often asked to fill in at

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

as the Blades struggled unsuccessfully against relegation the following season, and failed to make an immediate return in 1994–95. He eventually left

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall family of file and graver manufacturers. ...

having made a total of 195 league and cup appearances in five seasons.

Leeds United

It came as some surprise when Beesley was sold to

in August 1995 for a £250,000 fee. He was used mainly as a back-up player by manager

Howard Wilkinson Howard Wilkinson (born 13 November 1943) is an English former footballer and manager. Despite having a low-profile playing career, Wilkinson embarked on a successful managerial career. He won the First Division championship in 1992 with Leeds ...

during his time at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Premier League club Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the ...

, starting just 19 top-flight games in close to two seasons at the club. Unable to dislodge either

Lucas Radebe Lucas Valeriu Ntuba Radebe OIS (born 12 April 1969) is a South African former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He began playing in South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs, before transferring to Leeds United, where he played 256 ma ...

or David Wetherall, new boss George Graham looked to offloaded Beesley in 1996–97.

Manchester City

Beesley's next move was to

in February 1997 for £500,000, rejoining his former boss at

Orient The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of '' Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...

, Frank Clark. He played six First Division games for the Sky Blues in 1996–97 but quickly fell out of favour at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup Semi-finals, FA Cup semi-finals, the FA Community Shield, Charity Shield, a 1984 Football League Cup ...

after

Joe Royle Joseph Royle (born 8 April 1949) is an English football manager and former footballer. In his playing career as a striker, he debuted for Everton at the age of 16 and went on to play for Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the ...

succeeded Clark as manager. Beesley spent December of the 1997–98 season on loan at

where he made five appearances before returning to Manchester, and ended the campaign on loan at

, playing eight First Division games for the Baggies.

Port Vale and Blackpool

Released by City Beesley was allowed to join

on a free transfer in August 1998 where he was disciplined by

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world ...

after he picked up 12 yellow cards in 36 games during 1998–99. He left

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

after new manager Brian Horton took charge, and signed with

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

in July 1999. Beesley's best days were now behind him however and he made only 18 appearances as the Tangerines were relegated into the Third Division at the end of the 1999–2000 campaign.

Chester City

Beesley signed with Chester City in July 2000 with then manager Graham Barrow describing him as "an outstanding professional". Playing more regularly than he had done at his previous club he was voted Player of the Season for 2000–01 by the Seals fans after his organizational skills helped Chester to boast the lowest goals conceded tally in the

. Despite this owner Terry Smith criticised Beesley for his positional play in an

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

semi-final clash with

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ( ...

and banished him to

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 ...

ing duties – a decision Beesley described as "unexplainable".

Staylybridge Celtic and Ballymena United

Beesley moved on to Stalybridge Celtic in October 2001 where he played 26 times and was described as "magnificent all season" by manager

Paul Futcher Paul Futcher (25 September 1956 – 23 November 2016) was an English professional footballer who had a distinguished career as a defender in the English Football League, for England under 21s and as manager of several non-league clubs. He is ...

. However the club failed to avoid relegation out of the Conference in 2001–02, and Beesley left, finishing his career in Northern Ireland with Ballymena United.

Later life

Beesley worked as a youth team coach at

, before he was appointed under-18 coach at

for a brief spell in 2007. In 2012 he was appointed as the kit man at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

by manager

Paul Jewell Paul Jewell (born 28 September 1964) is an English football manager and former player, who was most recently director of football at Swindon Town. Jewell began his playing career with Liverpool, continued at Wigan Athletic and concluded in a t ...

, before departing the role in July 2015.

Personal life

Beesley's son, Jake, is also a footballer, and turned professional at Chesterfield in April 2015.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Individual * Sheffield United F.C. Player of the Year:

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

* Chester City F.C. Player of the Season: 2000–01

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beesley, Paul 1965 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool English footballers England semi-pro international footballers Association football central defenders Association football fullbacks Marine F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Association football scouts Chester City F.C. non-playing staff Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Ballymena United F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players NIFL Premiership players Association football coaches Notts County F.C. non-playing staff Leeds United F.C. non-playing staff Ipswich Town F.C. non-playing staff