Paul Furlong

Paul Furlong

Personal information
Full name	Paul Anthony Furlong
Date of birth	1 October 1968 (1968-10-01)
Place of birth	Wood Green, London, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	St Albans City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1986–1991	Enfield	?	(?)
1991–1992	Coventry City	37	(4)
1992–1994	Watford	79	(37)
1994–1996	Chelsea	65	(13)
1996–2002	Birmingham City	131	(50)
2000	→ Queens Park Rangers (loan)	3	(1)
2002	→ Sheffield United (loan)	4	(2)
2002	→ Queens Park Rangers (loan)	6	(2)
2002–2007	Queens Park Rangers	162	(54)
2007–2008	Luton Town	32	(8)
2008–2009	Southend United	3	(0)
2009	→ Barnet (loan)	21	(9)
2009–2010	Barnet	38	(5)
2010–2011	Kettering Town	27	(5)
2011–	St Albans City	17	(6)
National team
1990–1991	England Semi-Pro	6	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:18, 20 December 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Paul Furlong (born 1 October 1968) is an English professional footballer, currently playing for St Albans City in a player/coach role.

Career

He began his career at non-League level with Conference side Enfield in 1986, remaining there until July 1991 when he signed for Football League First Division side Coventry City. He was brought to Highfield Road by the club's player-manager and former England defender Terry Butcher, and when Butcher was sacked in January he remained in favour under new manager Don Howe. Furlong only managed four goals from 37 league games all season, however, and after the season ended he was transferred to Watford.

Furlong was much more successful at Watford in Division One (the new name for the original Second Division after the creation of the Premier League), and was voted Watford Player of the Season in 1993. Although he failed to inspire Watford to a promotion challenge, he established himself as one of the finest strikers in the division at this time, alongside the likes of Steve Bull and Stan Collymore. At the end of the 1993–94 season, he became Chelsea's record signing in a £2.3million deal, and that season he helped them reach the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals (losing to Real Zaragoza by a single goal) as well as finish 11th in the Premier League. However, the arrival of Ruud Gullit and Mark Hughes during the 1995 close season reduced his first team opportunities, and following the arrival of Gianluca Vialli a year later he opted to become Birmingham City's record signing in a £1.5million deal. Although it meant dropping down a division, Furlong knew he would have more chances of first team action in the Midlands, and was part of an ambitious side managed by Trevor Francis and containing fellow big names including Steve Bruce, Mike Newell and Gary Ablett. He remained at St Andrew's for six years, scoring 50 goals in 130 Division One games, and having loan spells at Queen's Park Rangers (twice) and Sheffield United. He finally left the Blues in the summer of 2002, the year they reached the Premier League after 16 years outside the top flight, and signed a contract with Queen's Park Rangers in Division Two.

Furlong continued to do well at Loftus Road, helping them win promotion in 2004, and by the time he left in 2007, he had played 162 league games and scored 54 goals.

On leaving QPR, the 38-year-old Furlong signed for Luton Town who had just been relegated from the Football League Championship. He scored eight goals in 32 games but was unable to prevent the financially troubled side from suffering a second successive relegation.

He then signed for League One side Southend United, but made just 3 appearances during the first half of the season and was loaned out to Barnet in January 2009. After two goals in January the loan spell was extended until the end of the season. His goal in Barnet's 1–0 win against AFC Bournemouth was his 200th senior goal, and he marked the occasion by laying down his shirt and saluting it. He was released by Southend at the end of the 2008–09 season, and joined Barnet on a one year deal after an excellent pre-season This was subsequently extended until the end of the 2009–10 season. On 2 June 2010, Furlong was released by Barnet.

A few weeks later, he joined Conference National club Kettering Town as player-coach. During the 2010-11 season with Kettering, Furlong scored 5 times in 27 appearances for the club - including a brace in a match against Eastbourne Borough on January 22, 2011 - as they finished 15th in the Conference Premier.

On 10 August, Furlong was confirmed as player/coach at Southern Premier League side St Albans City. He scored on his debut for St Albans in a Southern League Premier Division game against Cirencester Town.

When at Enfield he was given 6 caps by the England semi-pro team, scoring once.

References

Infobox statistics

• From Coventry City to Kettering Town: "Paul Furlong". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=2694. Retrieved 15 November 2011. 
• St Albans City: "Squad Stats". St Albans City F.C. http://www.sacfc.co.uk/index.php/the-teams/first-team-gg/squad.html. Retrieved 15 November 2011. 

General

External links

• Barnet FC Profile
• Luton Town profile
• Southend United profile