Paul John Reece (born 16 July 1968) is an English former 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 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

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. He is a goalkeeping coach for Select Soccer Center in Pennsylvania.

Career

Reece was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

and started his footballing career at

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

side

. He played just twice for Stoke both came towards the end of the 1986–87 where he deputised for the injured Peter Fox. He conceded six goals in his two matches 4–1 to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

and 2–1 to

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

and was released at the end of the season. He joined Kettering Town for one season and won Player of the Year Award before signing for

for £10,000, where he played regular football. He left for

in 1992 and made just one appearance for Doncaster. He joined

and later played for

, Ilkeston Town and Northern Irish club

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

. Reece arrived at

Solitude Solitude, also known as social withdrawal, is a state of seclusion or isolation, meaning lack of socialisation. Effects can be either positive or negative, depending on the situation. Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may wo ...

on a free transfer after being recommended to the club by former player Keith Alexander, who had been his manager at Ilkeston and former teammate at Grimsby. He made his debut for the

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

club in the final of the 1996–97

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster F ...

and he saved a penalty in the penalty shootout, ensuring Cliftonville won the trophy for the first time since 1979. He subsequently wore the number one shirt during the club's Irish League title winning season the following year and became established as a club legend in the eyes of the supporters. Reece would also appear for the Reds in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

qualifier against

MFK Košice MFK or mfk may refer to: * Movement for the Future of Curaçao, a political party in the island of Curaçao * Beigan Airport, an airport in Beigan, Taiwan, by IATA code * North Mofu language, a language spoken in northern Cameroon, by ISO 639 code ...

the following season. Reece subsequently returned to Ilkeston Town, remaining on the club's books until his retirement from playing in 2003. He worked as a goalkeeping coach for

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

and the

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

youth team before fulfilling the same role at football training camps.Reece, Paul
/ref>

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reece, Paul English men's footballers Stoke City F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Notts County F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Cliftonville F.C. players English Football League players 1968 births Living people Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers from Nottingham NIFL Premiership players