Biography
Tall inside left Paul Todd joined the Tigers at the start of October 1951 to replace recently departed player-manager Raich Carter in the forward line. Todd slotted straight into the first team and started 23 consecutive games, but notched only twice in a Boxing Day 3-1 win over Blackburn and a January 1952 5-0 thrashing of Bury. By early December 1951 the Tigers were drifting down the table towards the relegation spots, which prompted the City directors to make up with Carter and lure him back to Boothferry Park in a playing capacity. Carter and Todd were selected as an inside forward pair for the first two months of 1952 but in March 1953 Todd was dropped to the reserves, effectively spelling the end of his first team career at Hull City. He made just six appearances during 1952/53 under new manager Bob Jackson, and scored just once in a 3-1 defeat at Leeds. Todd left the Tigers in the 1953 close season.
Born in Middlesbrough and raised by his train driver father within sight of Boro’s Ayresome Park ground, World War Two intervened at the time when Paul Raymond Todd might have come of age as a footballer. He instead worked in a chemical plant prior to joining the Royal Air Force. He toured the Far East in the military and played for the RAF Ceylon XI before returning to the UK towards the end of the war, when he was stationed near Doncaster. He played several wartime games for Doncaster Rovers before signing a contract in 1945. With the War ended and the Football League restarting in 1946, Todd scored over 50 goals in 160 league starts, top scoring with 26 goals in 1946/47 season and attracted the attention of Division Two side Blackburn Rovers, who paid £10,000 for his services in July 1950. Todd added nearly 50 starts to his tally at Ewood Park and scored 12 league goals, but had fallen down the pecking order by October 1951 when he joined the Tigers.
In May 1953 Todd was appointed player-manager at Southern League side King’s Lynn, supplementing the income he received from his sports outfitters shop in Doncaster. He helmed King’s Lynn for four years before joining Fenland side March Town as a player in August 1957. In October 1961 he was appointed manager of Boston United and when that team folded in 1964 Todd went on to manage the phoenix club Boston FC until the 1969 close season. He was appointed manager of Worksop Town in August 1969, a post he held for two years before retiring from the football scene. He remained living in Boston where he died in October 2000.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 8 May 1920, Middlesbrough
Hull City First Game: 6 October 1951, Southampton A (Division Two), 31 years, 151 days old
Hull City Final Game: 31 January 1953, Gateshead H (FA Cup Fourth Round), 32 years, 268 days old
Clubs
Doncaster Rovers (1945-1950), Blackburn Rovers (1950-1951), Hull City (1951-1953), King’s Lynn (1953-1957), March Town (1957-1959)
Hull City Record
Career: 30 apps, 3 goals
Paul Todd| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951/52 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1952/53 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |