Paul Furlong

Paul Furlong

Personal information
Full name	Paul Anthony Furlong
Date of birth	(1968-10-01) 1 October 1968
Place of birth	Wood Green, London, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	St Albans City (player-coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1986–1991	Enfield	101	(34)
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	22	(6)
International career
1990–1991	England Semi-Pro	6	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 June 2012

Paul Anthony Furlong (born 1 October 1968) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Conference South club St Albans City, where he is also a coach.

Furlong has played in the Premier League for Chelsea and in the Football League for Coventry City, Watford, Birmingham City, Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield United, Luton Town, Southend United and Barnet. He has also played non-League football for Enfield and Kettering Town. At representative level, he has six caps for the England semi-professional team.

Playing career

Coventry City

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.

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.

Chelsea

At the end of the 1993–94 season, he became Chelsea's record signing in a £203million 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 move on. During his time at Chelsea he scored a 18 goals in 85 matches in all competitions. slightly better than that of £50 million signing Fernando Torres, who so far has 18 in 86.

Birmingham City

He became 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.

Queens Park Rangers

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.

Luton Town

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.

Southend United

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.

Barnet

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.

Kettering Town

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.

St Albans City

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.

International career

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

References

Infobox statistics

• Enfield in the Conference, excluding the 1990–91 Isthmian League season: Harman, John, ed. (2005). Alliance to Conference 1979–2004: The first 25 years. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 231, 235. ISBN 978-1-869833-52-7.</ref>
• From Coventry City to Kettering Town: "Paul Furlong". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
• St Albans City: "Squad Stats". St Albans City F.C. Retrieved 6 June 2012.

General

External links

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