Paul Thomas Smalley (born 17 November 1966) 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 lea ...

and coach. He is currently the technical director of

Football Association of Maldives The Football Association of Maldives (FAM), founded in 1982, is the governing body of football (soccer), football in the Maldives. The association under the guidance of the Government of the Maldives, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empo ...

Club career

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 ...

, Smalley began his career in the academy of hometown club

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 ...

. Over the course of four years, Smalley made 118

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 ...

appearances for the club, before leaving to sign for

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

in 1988, scoring one goal in 86 league games. In 1990, Smalley signed for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, however failed to make an appearance for the club, signing 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 ...

in 1991, making 14 league appearances. Following his time at Doncaster, Smalley dropped into

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 for Sutton Town,

Hucknall Town Hucknall Town Football Club is a football club based in the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England. The club is a member of the and plays at the RM Stadium. History Hucknall Town were renamed from Hucknall Colliery Welfare in 1987 and for ...

and Shepshed Dynamo.

Coaching career

Following his retirement, Smalley entered coaching, becoming a coach and regional director for

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

. In 2002, Smalley was appointed technical director for

New Zealand Football New Zealand Football () is the governing body for the sport of association football in New Zealand. It oversees the seven New Zealand Football federations, as well as the New Zealand men's national football team (nicknamed the "All Whites"), th ...

. In 2008, after a stint in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Smalley was named director of youth at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. Following his spell at Portsmouth, Smalley took up roles in

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

, working with clubs

Northern Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from th ...

and

Waitakere United Waitakere United was a football club based in Waitakere City, New Zealand. They were one of the franchises in the ISPS Handa Premiership. They played their home games at Fred Taylor Park in Kumeū and The Trusts Arena. History Waitakere Uni ...

, as well as working with the

Football Federation Victoria Football Victoria is the state governing body for association football, soccer in Victoria, Australia. It is affiliated with Football Australia, the sport's national governing body. History Football Victoria began operation in 1884 under the n ...

and

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only establ ...

. In 2016, he was appointed technical and strategic director of the

Bangladesh Football Federation Bangladesh Football Federation (, ''Bānglādesh fūṭbôl fēḍārēshôn'') is the governing body that administers the sport of association football in Bangladesh. It is in charge of running the country's men's and women's national teams, ...

. In November 2019, Smalley was appointed manager of

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

. He left his post by mutual consent in May 2020. In July 2020 he was reappointed as the technical director of the

. Smalley was given the duty of guiding the

Bangladesh national under-20 football team The Bangladesh national under-20 football team represents Bangladesh in international youth football competitions in SAFF U-20 Championship, AFC U-20 Asian Cup and FIFA U-20 World Cup, as well as any other under-20, under-19 & under-18 internatio ...

during the

2022 SAFF U-20 Championship The 2022 SAFF U-20 Championship was the 4th edition of the SAFF U-20 Championship, an international football competition for men's under-18 national teams organized by South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). India was the hosts of the tournament ...

, while still being the technical director of BFF. In July 2023, he was appointed as the technical director of

, following his departure from Bangladesh.

References

1966 births Living people Footballers from Nottingham English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Notts County F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Sutton Town A.F.C. players Hucknall Town F.C. players Shepshed Dynamo F.C. players English Football League players Brunei national football team managers Expatriate football managers in Brunei English football managers English expatriate football managers English expatriate sportspeople in Australia English expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand English expatriate sportspeople in Bangladesh English expatriate sportspeople in Brunei Northern Counties East Football League players English football coaches {{Brunei-footy-bio-stub