Paul Eric Sansome (born 6 October 1961) 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 as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He made more than 150 appearances 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

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 Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

and more than 300 for

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

Football career

Sansome was born in

New Addington New Addington is an area of South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon and is adjacent to the Greater London boundary with Surrey. History Until the 1930s, the area now known as New ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. His football career began at local club

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

, from where he moved to

on a free transfer in April 1980 aged 18. He made his first-team debut in March 1982 and went on to make nearly 200 appearances for the club in all competitions. During his time at Millwall he was on the winning side in the

Football League Group Cup The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier League ...

final in 1982–83, and won the club's Player of the Year award while helping them to promotion from the Third Division in 1984–85. He joined

for a fee of £40,000 in March 1988 and went on to make more than 350 appearances for the club, including helping them to successive promotions, from the Fourth Division in 1989–90 and from the Third Division as runners-up the following season. He moved to

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

side

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

during the 1995–96 season, when both Ian Bennett and Bart Griemink were unavailable, making one appearance in the League Cup and one in the league. Later that year he was loaned to Gravesend & Northfleet, then playing in the Southern League. He made a comeback with Southend in the 2001–02 season, joining his former club on a non-contract basis as goalkeeping cover, and was named among the substitutes for the game against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

, for which Darryl Flahavan was suspended.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sansome, Paul 1961 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Croydon People from Croydon English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Crystal Palace F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players English Football League players