Warhurst Paul life and biography

Paul Warhurst is an English football player (born 26 September 1969, Stockport) who currently plays for Barnet F.C.. He plays primarily as a defender, but has also played as a striker at various points in his career.

He began his career as a trainee at Manchester City in 1988, before signing professional terms with Oldham. There he would become a first team regular, featuring in the team’s memorable run to the semi-finals of the 1990 FA Cup. After 86 appearances (scoring twice), he was signed by Sheffield Wednesday in the summer of 1991, for Pound 750,000. He began his career at the club as a solid defender, but midway through his first season, injuries to David Hirst and Mark Bright saw Warhurst employed as an emergency striker.

In a phenomenal sequence, he scored 12 goals in as many games, and after four years as a defender, was called up to the England national side as a striker. Warhurst was unluckily injured, however, and missed an opportunity to win his first cap. His scoring ratio inevitably slowed down, and when Hirst returned to action, Warhurst fell out with manager Trevor Francis, who wanted the player to return to defensive duties. In the summer of 1993, Warhurst was transfer-listed, and signed for Blackburn for Pound 2.7 million, having scored 18 goals in 88 games for Wednesday.

Ironically, it was as a defender he would primarily play for Blackburn, but injuries ruined his spell there. He would, however, play occasionally as a forward, and pick up a FA Premier League winners’ medal in the 1994-95 season. In the summer of 1997, after 74 games for Blackburn (yielding 4 goals, Warhurst switched to Crystal Palace for the 1997-98 season. He would make 30 appearances, scoring four times, before being loaned to Bolton in November 1998. A successful spell there led to the Lancashire team signing him permanently for Pound 800,000 in January 1999. In 2000-01 he would help Bolton gain promotion to the Premier League, but injuries were now mounting.

In August 2003 he left Bolton after 100 appearances, and has since moved between a number of clubs – Chesterfield (6 games, 1 goal), Barnsley (4 games), Carlisle (1 game), Grimsby (7 games), Blackpool (6 games) and non-league Forest Green Rovers (6 games, two goals).

In August 2005, he signed for Wrexham, and has since added experience to their side.

After being released by Wrexham, Warhurst has since joined struggling Barnet in a bid to help them fight off relegation from the league.

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