Paul Hurst

This article is about the English footballer and manager. For the actor, see Paul Hurst (actor). For the Australian rules footballer, see Paul Hurst (Australian footballer).
Paul Hurst
Personal information
Full name Paul Michael Hurst
Date of birth (1974-09-25) 25 September 1974
Place of birth Sheffield, England
Height 5 ft 4.5 in (1.64 m)
Playing position Left back
Club information
Current team
 Shrewsbury Town (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–2008 Rotherham United 438 (13)
2008 → Burton Albion (loan) 17 (0)
Teams managed
2008–2009 Ilkeston Town (Joint with Rob Scott)
2009–2011 Boston United (Joint with Rob Scott)
2011–2013 Grimsby Town (Joint with Rob Scott)
2013–2016 Grimsby Town
2016– Shrewsbury Town

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 04:38, 2 July 2016 (UTC).


Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English former professional footballer and manager of League One side Shrewsbury Town.

As a player he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career for Rotherham United, bar a brief loan spell with Burton Albion in his final year as a player. After retiring from the playing side of the sport in 2008 he became joint manager of Ilkeston Town along with former team mate Rob Scott. The pair later took over Boston United before joining Grimsby in 2011. Hurst holds a UEFA 'A' Coaching Licence.

Playing career

Rotherham United

Hurst figured regularly on the left side of the back four and in this position he performed well. He played over 430 games for Rotherham United.

He was in the team that were the champions of the Football League Trophy in April 1996, which resulted in a 2–1 win against Shrewsbury Town, at the Wembley Stadium.[1]

On 6 March 2004 Hurst scored a consolation on 74 minutes in the 1–2 defeat at home to Bradford City, a chipped free-kick over the wall found Hurst to fire home.[2] Hurst signed a new two-year contract in 2004 keeping him at Millmoor until the summer of 2006.[3]

FourFourTwo magazine decided before the 2007–08 season, that they would sponsor a player from every team within the top four divisions in England. Hurst was the player they chose for Rotherham United.

On 15 February, Hurst joined Conference National side Burton Albion on a one-month loan to regain his fitness after injury and extended for a second month.[4]

He was released by Rotherham after 15 years at the club, at the end of the 2007–08 season. Hurst stated that he wants to return to Rotherham as part of the backroom staff in the future.[5] Hurst had a trial at Mansfield Town.[6]

Management career

Ilkeston Town

Hurst and former Rotherham team mate Rob Scott were appointed joint managers of Northern Premier League outfit Ilkeston Town in January 2009. The pair led Ilkeston from ninth in the league to second, and ultimately promotion to Conference North via the play-offs. Afterwards, uncertainty surrounded whether or not they would remain at the helm of the Derbyshire club due to the club's worrying financial position.

Boston United

In May 2009 Rob Scott and Hurst moved to York Street to sign as joint managers of Boston United.[7] In their first season at United they gained a second successive promotion to the Conference North with a win in the play-off final,[8] this was to complete a treble of trophies as they had already collected the Northern Premier League Challenge Cup and Lincolnshire Senior Cup.

Grimsby Town

On 22 March 2011, both Hurst and Scott resigned from Boston[9] and the following morning they were both announced as the new management team of Grimsby Town, replacing the sacked Neil Woods.[10]

Grimsby who had suffered relegation from the Football League[11] in the previous season had hoped for an instant return but following a mid-season slump that led to the sacking of the previous manager, Hurst and Scott could only manage to salvage an 11th place spot come the end of the 2010–11 campaign. During the summer months the duo bolstered Grimsby's ranks in order for a promotion push but were hit by a blow as previous season's top scorer and player of the year Alan Connell left to join Swindon Town.[12] The eventual signing of Liam Hearn[13] was a more than suitable replacement as he scored 32 times during the 2011–12 season, a year which saw The Mariners slide away out of the contention of a play-off spot in the final few months of the season. Grimsby, like the year previously finished 11th in the Conference National.

The 2012–13 season started slowly, but by Christmas Grimsby were top of the league and leading a closely contested pack of Newport County, Wrexham and Forest Green Rovers. On 6 January 2013 speculation about the pairs future at Blundell Park came into light when rumours circulated a potential move to Football League One side Doncaster Rovers surfaced. Rovers who had lost manager Dean Saunders earlier that day to Wolverhampton Wanderers were rumoured to have placed Scott and Hurst on their managerial shortlist. The rumour was quashed the following day with Hurst saying that the pair were focused on earning promotion with Grimsby.[14] Grimsby went on to reach the final of the FA Trophy but were defeated on a penalty shootout after drawing 1-1 with Wrexham at Wembley Stadium. The Mariners also despite leading the Conference for part of the season had dropped off towards the end of the year and had to settle for 4th place, eventually losing to Newport County in the play-off semi finals.

On 6 September 2013 Scott was suspended amongst circumstances not released by the club, leaving Hurst in sole charge.[15] On 19 September 2013 Grimsby confirmed Scott had been sacked for gross misconduct and that Hurst would remain in sole permanent charge.[16] On 7 January 2014 Hurst signed an improved deal reflecting the fact that he was now sole manager.[17]

Hurst oversaw an overhaul of players in the 2014–15 season, in his first full season in charge as a manager, signing 7 players on free transfers, along with a total of 10 players on short term (4) and long term (6) loans. Grimsby started the season fairly average reaching 11th position with 15 games played, but with much improvement they ended the campaign in third place, six points behind Conference National champions Barnet.[18]

Hurst clinched promotion with Grimsby in their 3–1 victory over Forest Green Rovers in the 2016 National League play-off Final at Wembley, seeing Grimsby promoted to League Two after a six-year absence from the Football League.[19][20]

Hurst made his League Two managerial debut with the club on 6 August 2016 in the opening game of the 2016–17 season in Grimsby's 2–0 home victory against Morecambe,[21] the performance lead to Hurst winning the Sky Bet EFL team manager of the week.[22]

Shrewsbury Town

On 24 October 2016, Shrewsbury Town announced that Hurst and Chris Doig were to take over the manager and assistant manager roles at the club following the departure of Micky Mellon to Tranmere Rovers.[23] Hurst was selected from a field of over 100 candidates,[24] and tasked with steering the club clear from the relegation places, with them sitting bottom of the League One table.[25] His first match in charge was a 1−1 draw away at Southend United, ending a run of four consecutive defeats.[26] A week later, Hurst picked up his first victory as Shrewsbury manager, defeating League Two side Barnet 3−0 in the FA Cup first round at New Meadow in his second game in charge.[27] A week later he would win his first home league game in charge with Shaun Whalley scoring a 98th minute goal to secure a 2-0 win over Oxford.

Broadcasting career

In summer 2008, he graduated from Staffordshire University with a degree in Professional Sports Writing and Broadcasting.[28]

Hurst worked for Rotherham United's Community Sports Trust as Participation Officer.[29]

Personal life

Hurst completed his UEFA A football coaching licence in January 2014, which is widely regarded as one of the highest qualifications in the game.[30] He is married to Melanie and has a daughter Millie and a son Zack.[31]

Managerial statistics

As of 3 December 2016[32][33]
Team Nat From To Record
GWDLWin %
Ilkeston Town (Joint with Rob Scott) England 24 October 2008 2 July 2009 29 18 6 5 62.07
Boston United (Joint with Rob Scott)[34][35] England 2 July 2009 23 March 2011 75 45 16 14 60.00
Grimsby Town (Joint with Rob Scott) England 23 March 2011 19 September 2013 132 59 38 35 44.70
Grimsby Town England 19 September 2013 24 October 2016 182 90 46 46 49.45
Shrewsbury Town England 24 October 2016 Present 8 3 3 2 37.50
Total 426 215 109 102 50.47

Honours

Player

Rotherham United

Joint Manager

Ilkeston Town
Boston United
Grimsby Town

Manager

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 "Rotherham 2–1 Shrewsbury". The Independent. 15 April 1996. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Rotherham 1–2 Bradford". BBC Sports. 6 March 2004. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  3. ↑ "Hurst signs Millers deal". Sky Sports. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  4. ↑ "Brewers retain Millers defender". BBC Sports. 18 March 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  5. ↑ Hurst Could Return to Millmoor MillersMad, 13 May 2008
  6. ↑ "Hurst turns down Mansfield move". BBC Sport. 5 August 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Pilgrims appoint Scott and Hurst". BBC Sport. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Boston United clinch promotion with play-off final win". BBC Sport. 1 May 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  9. ↑ "Duo resign from Boston United roles". Grimsby Telegraph. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "Grimsby Town appoint Rob Scott and Paul Hurst". BBC Sport. 23 March 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  11. ↑ Lutz, Tom (8 May 2010). "League Two: Grimsby Town relegated after Burton defeat". The Guardian. London.
  12. ↑ "Alan Connell set to join Paolo's revolution at Swindon - The Washbag". The Washbag.
  13. ↑ "BBC Sport - Alfreton Town striker Liam Hearn signs for Grimsby Town". BBC Sport.
  14. ↑ http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/Grimsby-Town-joint-bosses-deny-truth-Doncaster/story-17782745-detail/story.html
  15. ↑ "Rob Scott gone? Grimsby Town say Paul Hurst has taken sole charge of team matters - Grimsby Telegraph". Grimsby Telegraph.
  16. ↑ "Club Statement - Rob Scott".
  17. ↑ "Hurst Signs New Deal".
  18. ↑ "Grimsby 3–1 Aldershot". BBC Sport. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  19. ↑ "Forest Green 1–3 Grimsby". BBC Sport. 15 May 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  20. ↑ "Grimsby secure promotion back to Football League at Wembley". Sky Sports. 15 May 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  21. ↑ "Grimsby 2–0 Morecambe". Sky Sports. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  22. 1 2 Butcher, Alex (8 August 2016). "Sky Bet EFL: Team of the Week - EFL Kick-Off weekend". EFL. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  23. ↑ "Paul Hurst: Shrewsbury Town name ex-Grimsby boss as new manager". BBC Sport. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  24. ↑ "Shrewsbury Town: Chief executive Brian Caldwell 'snowed down' by applications". BBC Sport. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  25. ↑ "Paul Hurst: My challenge is to keep Shrewsbury Town in League One". Shropshire Star. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  26. ↑ "Southend United 1−1 Shrewsbury Town". BBC Sport. 29 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  27. ↑ "Paul Hurst post Barnet". Shrewsweb. 5 November 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  28. ↑ "Hats off to our super students". givemefootball.com. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  29. ↑ "Hurst returns to club where he is a 'Legend'". Non League Daily. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  30. ↑ "Grimsby Town boss Paul Hurst proud to receive UEFA A licence and join elite band of coaches". Grimsby Telegraph. London: Trinity Mirror. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  31. ↑ "Paul Hurst's wife has fingers crossed for a Grimsby Town victory". Grimsby Telegraph. London: Trinity Mirror. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  32. ↑ "Paul Hurst's managerial career". Soccerbase.
  33. ↑ "Paul Hurst's managerial career". Ilkeston Town.
  34. ↑ Footymad Limited. "Results Fixtures 2009-2010 Boston United - Liverpool FC - LFC Online".
  35. ↑ Footymad Limited. "Results Fixtures 2010-2011 Boston United - Liverpool FC - LFC Online".
  36. ↑ "Grimsby Town's Hurst and Scott managers of the month". Grimsby Telegraph. London: Trinity Mirror. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  37. ↑ "Grimsby Town boss Paul Hurst named Skrill Premier Manager of the Month". Grimsby Telegraph. London: Trinity Mirror. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  38. ↑ "Grimsby Town boss Paul Hurst is Vanarama Conference manager of the month". Grimsby Telegraph. London: Trinity Mirror. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  39. ↑ "Grimsby Town boss Paul Hurst named as manager of the month". Grimsby Telegraph. London: Trinity Mirror. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  40. ↑ "Grimsby Town boss Paul Hurst WINS monthly Vanarama accolade". Grimsby Telegraph. London: Trinity Mirror. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
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