612 Paul Olsson

Biography

Midfielder Paul Olsson was born in Hull and attended Kelvin Hall School. He played regularly for Hull Schoolboys between 1975 and 1981 and came through the youth apprentice ranks at Hull City in the early 1980s, signing his first professional contract in January 1984. He made his only first team appearance in an Associate Members Cup tie against Sheffield United in May 1984, a midweek fixture played in the midst of City’s promotion push under Colin Appleton. Several alterations were made to the first eleven that Wednesday night and Olsson was amongst the better changes as he scored the winner in a tight 1-0 victory. Within a few weeks Appleton resigned and was replaced by Brian Horton, a squad rebuilding exercise began, City were elevated to Division Two and further first team chances for Olsson did not arise.

He was loaned to Division Four side Exeter City in March 1987, where Colin Appleton was now manager, and made 8 appearances on loan before joining the Grecians on a permanent deal that summer. Olsson made his league debut for Exeter City against Hereford United in March 1987, scored his first senior career goal on New Years Day 1988 at Newport County and made 38 appearances for the Grecians and scored two goals during the 1987/88 season.

In August 1988 Olsson returned north to sign for Division Four side Scarborough. In a season and a half Paul scored five times in 64 appearances for the Seadogs before heading up the East Coast to sign for Division Four rivals Hartlepool United in December 1989. Olsson was a first team regular at the Victoria Ground for four and a half seasons, scoring 15 goals in 206 first team appearances – Pools won promotion to Division Three at the end of the 1990/91 season and in the 1991/92 season Olsson played in all 58 league and cup games for the newly promoted side, scoring six times. Paul stayed at Hartlepool for a further two years but at the end of the 1993/94 season the club was relegated back to League Division 3 and Olsson moved on. In July 1994 he joined local League Division 3 rivals Darlington and spent two seasons at Feethams, scoring eleven goals in 88 appearances before ending his league career in the 1996 close season.

Olsson then embarked on a fifteen year second career in football administration and coaching. He was appointed Football in the Community Officer at York City in February 1997, a role he maintained for nine years. He was also a youth team coach at Hull City during the late 1990s, was assistant manager at Gainsborough Trinity between August 1998 and October 1999, then was assistant manager at North Ferriby United in the mid-2000s under manager Brian France. He retrained as a gas fitter after his job at York City came to an end in December 2006 but was soon involved in the early days of phoenix club Scarborough Athletic, reuniting with Brian France. Olsson joined the Scarborough coaching staff in September 2009 then was elevated to first team manager in September 2010 when France suffered a brain haemorrhage after being struck in the face by a football. Paul was relieved of the manager’s post at Scarborough Athletic in March 2011, despite a 50% win ratio, and subsequently focused on his work in the gas industry.

Details

Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 24 December 1965, Hull
Hull City First Game: 2 May 1984, Sheffield United H (Associate Members Cup Quarter Final), 18 years, 130 days old
Hull City Final Game: 2 May 1984, Sheffield United H (Associate Members Cup Quarter Final), 18 years, 130 days old

Clubs

Hull City (1983-1987), Exeter City (1987, loan), Exeter City (1987-1988), Scarborough (1988-1989), Hartlepool United (1989-1994), Darlington (1994-1996), North Ferriby United (1996)

Hull City Record

Career: 1 apps, 1 goals

Paul Olsson
SeasonLGE
App
LGE
Gls
FAC
App
FAC
Gls
FLC
App
FLC
Gls
EUR
App
EUR
Gls
OTH
App
OTH
Gls
1983/841 (0)1
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87

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