Biography
Paul Fewings was a Hull-born left-sided striker who was deemed the best of his contemporaries when he came through the City youth system in the mid 1990s after having scored freely as a teenager for Malet Lambert School and Hull Schoolboys – in the latter team Paul benefited greatly from the crosses of another ex-Tiger Sam Sharman. Fewings joined the Tigers’ YTS scheme in the summer of 1994 and was soon hitting goals for City’s Juniors side. With the Tigers struggling on the pitch and in the boardroom in equal measure, it was hoped that Fewings would be an important homegrown young star for Terry Dolan to nurture and develop.
Given his debut with two substitute appearances at the end of the 1994/95 season, the seventeen year old Fewings was handed his first professional contract in August 1995 and was involved in the first team squad for much of the 1995/96 season, either on the subs’ bench or starting in a variety of forward positions. Paul scored his first City goal in an August 1995 League Cup victory against Carlisle United and added further strikes at Burnley in September 1995, against Preston North End in the Associate Members’ Cup in October 1995 and the winner at York City in December 1995. Four goals in his first five months of senior football demonstrated Fewings’ promise, however his form faded as the season wore on and City tumbled towards the foot of the table and relegation. Injury and illness meant he missed several months of football and he was rarely chosen for first team action in the 1996/97 season, Dolan’s last in charge.
When Mark Hateley took over the club in the summer of 1997 he initially didn’t choose Fewings but by September 1997 he was back in the first eleven playing as a left sided wing back. This role lasted until the end of November when Fewings was dropped to the bench – he only started one more game for the Tigers, a 0-2 defeat against Barnet in February 1998.
Fewings left City in the 1998 close season and joined Conference National side Hereford United. In two seasons Fewings continued to struggle to find a regular first team shirt, though he scored 14 goals in his 35 appearances for the Bulls, 12 of those goals coming in the 1999/00 season. In December 1999 Fewings was part of the Hereford side that reached the FA Cup Third Round and took Premier League side Leicester City to a replay – Fewings scored the opening goal in a replay that ended in a narrow 2-1 defeat for the Bulls.
Paul went on to play for a string of lower league clubs before a chronic back injury led to his retirement at the age of 26 in 2004. He then commenced a second career as a life assurance adviser in London and Milton Keynes, rising to become Head of Customer Experience at Lifesearch UK in January 2024.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 18 February 1978, Hull
Hull City First Game: 2 May 1995, Crewe Alexandra A (League Division 2), 17 years, 73 days old
Hull City Final Game: 24 February 1998, Barnet H (League Division 3), 20 years, 6 days old
Clubs
Hull City (1994-1998), Hereford United (1998-2000), Boston United (2000-2001). Kingstonian (2001, loan), Chesham United (2001-2002), Billericay Town (2002-2003), Bishop’s Stortford (2003, loan), Chesham United (2003), Kettering Town (2003-2004), Cambridge City (2004), Bedford Town (2004)
Hull City Record
Career: 69 apps, 4 goals
Paul Fewings| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994/95 | 0 (2) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1995/96 | 16 (9) | 2 | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 (1) | 1 | – | – | 0 (1) | 1 |
| 1996/97 | 3 (9) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1997/98 | 13 (5) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 1 (2) | 0 | – | – | 0 (1) | 0 |