Paul Huntington
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| Paul Huntington | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | September 17, 1987 | |
| Place of birth | Carlisle, England | |
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | |
| Playing position | Defender | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Leeds United | |
| Number | 3 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 2004-2006 | Newcastle United | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2006-2007 2007- |
Newcastle United Leeds United |
11 (1) 17 (2) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2004 | England U18 | 2 (0) |
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1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Paul Huntington (born September 17, 1987 in Carlisle) is an English footballer, currently playing for Leeds United. He is a Centre half by trade, but has been employed at the Fullback position by his club at times.
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[edit] Newcastle United
Huntington joined the Newcastle United School of Excellence on July 1, 2004 from Trinity School in Cumbria. As a schoolboy he played at Wembley Stadium and also won the England Under 18 National Cup for his school in 2004. After impressing in the youth teams he was promoted to the reserve squad in late 2004 to play tougher opposition and gain experience. He made his reserve debut for the club on December 7, 2004 in a 3-0 home win over rivals Middlesbrough and made his official England Under 18 debut against Scotland fifteen days later in a 1-0 win. He signed his first professional contract at the club in July 2005.
His first involvement in the first team at Newcastle was when he appeared on the bench for the club's Intertoto Cup games against ZTS Dubnic and Deportivo La Coruña in July 2005. In the summer of 2005 he was awarded the prestigious 'Wor Jackie Milburn' trophy, given each year to the rising star of north-east football. He was also named in the first team squad at Newcastle for the FA Cup third-round tie against Mansfield Town (remembered by Geordies for being the game in which Alan Shearer scored his 200th goal for the club). He came close to making a first team appearance on 23rd of November 2006 when a defensive crisis left the club with only three fit senior defenders. Huntington and fellow youth defender David Edgar made the substitutes bench for a UEFA Cup match against Celta Vigo.
On 9 December 2006 he made his first Newcastle United appearance as a late substitute against Blackburn Rovers in the unfamiliar role of right-back. The following match, on 14 December 2006 Huntington started his first ever game for Newcastle, again appearing at right back in the midst of an injury crisis engulfing the club. Huntington marked his first ever goal for Newcastle on January 14, 2007 when he scored the first equaliser for them in Newcastle's 3-2 win over Tottenham.
[edit] Leeds United
On 31 August 2007 he transferred to Leeds United for an undiclosed fee[1]. Huntington made his home debut for the club as a substitute in the 2-0 victory on 8 September 2007 at Hartlepool United.
On 9th October, 2007 Huntington opened his Leeds account by scoring against Darlington in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Second Round to help Leeds go to the next stage.
He scored his first league goal against Luton Town on the 26th January, 2008. The defender also scored against Leyton Orient on the 5th April, 2008. There were controversies surrounding whether it was he or Bradley Johnson who scored the goal, but in the end it was officially given to Huntington[2].
Paul has established himself as Leeds' third-choice centre-back, standing in for Rui Marques on two sets of occasions - when Marques was at the African Cup Of Nations, and again when he was out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury. He has been on good form during the run-in to the end of the 2007-2008 season and manager Gary McAllister has said Paul has a bright future ahead of him.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Paul Huntington career stats at Soccerbase
- NUFC Official website profile
- ESPN Soccernet Profile
- BBC Sport Profile
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