Paul Comstive (25 November 1961 – 29 December 2013) was an English professional

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 lea ...

who mainly played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for seven different clubs and also played

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

Playing career

Born in

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

, Comstive was to spend the vast majority of his career in the north-west of England, beginning as an apprentice at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

in October 1979. He went on to make six league appearances for Rovers, with two loan spells with

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

following before a move to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

in August 1983. After a three-year stint with

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

from 1984 to 1987, Comstive made an £8,000 switch to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. This spell saw him play at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

in the 1988 Associate Members' Cup Final against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. Comstive moved on again in 1989 to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

for £37,000, with his two seasons at

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of England, English association football, football club Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers, who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup final replay, in 1946 it was the sc ...

ending in losses in the Third Division play–offs. Two of the three goals he scored for Bolton came direct from corner kicks in the 4–1 home win against Bournemouth in January 1991. Later that year he was to help Wanderers towards the divisional Play-offs where they eventually lost out to

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

at Wembley Stadium. In November 1991 Comstive moved to Chester City for £10,000. He scored in the first

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

match at the

Deva Stadium Deva Stadium is an association football stadium which is the home of Chester F.C., the effective successor club to the liquidated Chester City. The stadium straddles the England–Wales border at Sealand, on the outskirts of Chester. The ...

between Chester and

on 5 September 1992 but was released at the end of the 1992–93 season. Many of his appearances for Chester came at full-back. This marked the end of Comstive's professional career. He joined hometown club

and went on to play for fellow non-league clubs

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

and

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

. Comstive had a short spell on the coaching staff at

and also worked for

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. The town is located approximately north-northeast of Liverpool and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Its north ...

. He later worked at Fleetwood Hesketh FC and at

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

as a

postman A mail carrier, also referred to as a mailman, mailwoman, mailperson, postal carrier, postman, postwoman, postperson, person of post, letter carrier (in American English), or colloquially postie (in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Unite ...

. On 29 December 2013, he died suddenly following a heart attack.

References

External links

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Bolton Wanderers career detailsBurnley career details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comstive, Paul 1961 births 2013 deaths English men's footballers Footballers from Southport English Football League players National League (English football) players Men's association football midfielders Men's association football fullbacks Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Southport F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Chorley F.C. players 20th-century English sportsmen