Paul Raynor

For the Chester City footballer, see Paul Raynor (footballer, born 1957). For the English-New Zealand ceramicist, see Paul Rayner.

Paul James Raynor (born 29 April 1966) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He has worked as assistant manager under Steve Evans at Rotherham United, Leeds United, Mansfield Town, Peterborough United, Gillingham and Stevenage. He is currently at Rotherham United.

Paul Raynor

Raynor in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Paul James Raynor
Date of birth	(1966-04-29) 29 April 1966 (age 59)
Place of birth	Nottingham, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Nottingham Forest
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1984–1985	Nottingham Forest	3	(1)
1984	→ Bristol Rovers (loan)	8	(0)
1985–1987	Huddersfield Town	50	(9)
1987–1992	Swansea City	191	(27)
1988	→ Wrexham (loan)	6	(0)
1992–1993	Cambridge United	49	(2)
1993–1995	Preston North End	80	(9)
1995–1997	Cambridge United	79	(7)
1997	Guangdong Hongyuan	10	(1)
1998	Leyton Orient	15	(0)
1998–1999	Kettering Town
1999–2000	Ilkeston Town
2000–2001	Boston United
2001	King's Lynn	5	(0)
2001	Hednesford Town	11	(0)
2001	Gainsborough Trinity
2002	Ossett Albion
2002–2004	King's Lynn	68	(1)
2007–2009	Crawley Town	4	(1)
Managerial career
2001	Hednesford Town
2004–2006	Boston United (assistant manager)
2006–2007	Boston United
2007–2012	Crawley Town (assistant manager)
2012–2015	Rotherham United (assistant manager)
2015–2016	Leeds United (assistant head coach)
2016–2018	Mansfield Town (assistant head coach)
2018–2019	Peterborough United (assistant manager)
2019–2022	Gillingham (assistant manager)
2022–2024	Stevenage (assistant manager)
2024–	Rotherham United (assistant manager)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

He played in the Football League for Nottingham Forest, Bristol Rovers,^[2] Huddersfield Town,^[3] Swansea City, Wrexham,^[4] Cambridge United,^[5] Preston North End^[6] (where he briefly played alongside a young David Beckham), and Leyton Orient.^[7] He also spent a year in the Chinese Jia-A League with Guangdong Hongyuan.^[8]

After leaving Leyton Orient, Raynor moved into non-League football with clubs including Kettering Town, Ilkeston Town, Boston United,^[9] King's Lynn, Hednesford Town, where he spent a few months as player-manager,^[10][11] Gainsborough Trinity,^[12] Ossett Albion, and then King's Lynn again, to be released at the end of the 2002–03 season, only to rejoin for the next.^[13][14]

Coaching career

Raynor has coached at clubs Sheffield United and Boston United, where he was assistant manager for a time to Steve Evans.^[15] In May 2007 Evans and Raynor left Boston to take over as manager and assistant at Crawley Town,^[16] where he occasionally appeared as a player in the Conference.^[9] The pair subsequently moved to Rotherham United. On 28 September 2015, Raynor left Rotherham.^[9] On 19 October 2015, Raynor joined fellow Championship side Leeds United, once again as assistant to Evans.^[17][18] On 31 May 2016, Evans and Raynor were both sacked by Leeds owner Massimo Cellino, with Evans becoming the sixth manager sacked by Cellino in two years.^[19]

In June 2019 Raynor linked up with Evans once again at Gillingham.^[20] Both departed the club on 9 January 2022.^[21]

Honours

Swansea City

• Football League Fourth Division play-offs: 1988^[22]