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Archived News from June 2009

STAGS SIGN LEFT BACK PAUL HECKINGBOTTOM
9th June 2009 14:12


02 June 2009
STAGS SIGN LEFT BACK PAUL HECKINGBOTTOM
One year deal, with an option to extend --->
http://www.mansfieldtown.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10325~1679501,00.html

Video interview --->
http://www.mansfieldtown.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10325~1679579,00.html

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Stags land new left back
CHAD.co.uk, 02 June 2009
EXPERIENCED defender Paul Heckingbottom today signed a one-year deal for Mansfield Town.
The 31-year-old was with Bradford City last season, but was out for most of the campaign with a hamstring injury.

The left-back started his career at Manchester United as a youth and went on to play for Darlington, where he made over 120 appearances before moving to Norwich City, Bradford, Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley, and returned to Bradford last season.

Heckingbottom has amassed over 350 career appearances.

Shortly after penning the deal he told mansfieldtown.net: "It was an easy decision to make. I spoke to the manager last week and he impressed me with everything he said.

"When I drove home I thought that I would enjoy myself playing for Mansfield. It was the manager who convinced me that it was a good move to come here."

Said manager David Holdsworth: "He is a class act and an accomplished player. The left back position is one which I have been trying to fill for the past few weeks.

"I had three candidates in mind but Paul is a League player and will slot straight into the left back position. I am delighted to have him on board."

SUMMER INS: Paul Heckingbottom, Gary Mills, Tim Sandercombe, Daryl Clare, Luke Graham, Luke Jones, Jake Speight.

SUMMER OUTS: Nathan Arnold, Anthony Howell, Neil MacKenzie, Paul Mayo, Michael Blackwood, Gianluca Havern, Chris Wood, Jamie McGhee, Ryan Goward, Lewis Trimmer, Warren Burrell, Adie Moses, Jason White, Mark Stallard, Aaron O'Connor, Alan O'Hare, Alex Jeannin.

TO BE DECIDED: Curtis Woodhouse.

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Stags sign full back Heckingbottom
Evening Post, June 02, 2009

LEFT-BACK Paul Heckingbottom has today signed a one-year deal with Mansfield Town.
The experienced 31-year-old played for Bradford City last season but spent most of the campaign out with hamstring trouble.
The former Sunderland trainee has more than 350 senior appearances to his credit.
He has also played for Darlington, Norwich, Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley.
"It was an easy decision to make. It was the manager who convinced me to come here," said Heckingbottom.
Manager David Holdsworth added: "I had three candidates in mind but Paul is a League player and will slot straight in.
"He is a class act, accomplished, and I'm delighted to have him on board."
Stags also have the option of extending Heckingbottom's contract for a further year beyond next season.

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Holdsworth delight at latest Stags signing
Evening Post, June 03, 2009

MANSFIELD Town have snapped up Paul Heckingbottom because of his natural ability in playing the left-back role, says David Holdsworth.
Curtis Woodhouse and Scott Gardner filled the role during the closing stages of last season.
But the Stags boss was keen to ensure he had a specialist to complete his back four – and believes 31-year-old Heckingbottom is ideal.
The Barnsley-born player has signed a one-year contract at Field Mill with the option of a 12-month extension.
"Left-back is a specialist position and Paul's a specialist in it," said Holdsworth.
"You need certain people in certain areas to do a specific job and he has the right credentials.
"He ticks all the boxes and he is a class act. He is a very mature player but also at an age where I am not concerned about his legs going.
"He is very positive and he has got tremendous experience. Paul will add balance to the team and really does have good knowledge.
"The quality of the clubs he has been with is recognisable and some of the younger players will be able to look up to him."
Heckingbottom suffered hamstring problems at Bradford last season having previously played for Darlington, Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich and Barnsley.
But Holdsworth has no worries in that regard.
He added: "Throughout all the discussions we were not talking about money. He wanted to come to the club for the right reasons, which is a compliment to the club and also to him.
"The hamstring injury he has had does not concern me. I have spoken to him about the situation and he will be ready to go in pre-season."
Holdsworth has previously indicated he wanted three more new faces including Heckingbottom.
But now he has revealed he still has three more targets in mind.
He said: "I want three more players in – a centre forward, a winger and a flexible midfield player. I am quite close to getting an answer for a couple of those."

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paul Heckingbottom
Date of birth 17 July 1977 (age 31)
Place of birth Barnsley, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position Defender
Youth career
1993–1995 Manchester United
Senior career (1)
Years Club App (Gls)*
1996–1999Sunderland 0 (0)
1997–1998? Scunthorpe United (loan) 29 (0)
1998–1999? Hartlepool United (loan) 5 (1)
1999–2002Darlington 116 (5)
2002–2003Norwich City 15 (0)
2003–2004Bradford City 43 (0)
2004–2006Sheffield Wednesday 42 (6)
2006–2008Barnsley 49 (1)
2007–2008? Bradford City (loan) 23 (0)
2008–2009 Bradford City 30 (0)

(1) Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Born in Barnsley, Heckingbottom was a season ticket holder at the town's football club, with his grandfather.[1] He started his own football career at Manchester United as a trainee but joined Sunderland after failing to gain a professional contract. He had loan spells at Scarborough, Hartlepool United and Darlington without featuring for Sunderland before joining Darlington permanently in 1999. He made 128 appearances scoring 6 goals before catching the attention of Norwich City who signed him in 2002.

Heckingbottom made just 16 appearances for Norwich before signing for Bradford City in 2003 where he was named their player of the year at the end of his first season.[2] But Bradford were relegated to League One at the end of the 2003–04 season, and he left to join Sheffield Wednesday during the close-season.

Sheffield Wednesday
Heckingbottom was well favoured under both Chris Turner and Paul Sturrock and made a total of 41 appearances at left back in his first season - more than any other player that year. He also scored four goals, helping Wednesday to the League One play-off final at the end of the 2004–05 season. Due to an injury sustained in pre-season he was put out of contention for the first 16 games of the 2005–06 season. When he returned to fitness, new signing John Hills had begun to make the left back spot his own. An injury to Hills allowed him to re-stake a claim on the team but he only managed a 4 game streak in the team before once again becoming injured and it was this time Peter Gilbert that took his place in the squad. Sturrock allowed him a chance to prove himself in an FA Cup third round game against Charlton Athletic. He scored both of Wednesday's goals in the 4–2 defeat at Hillsborough.

Barnsley
Heckingbottom was sent on loan with a view to a permanent move to his boyhood club Barnsley.[3] He played an important part in their promotion campaign and win against Swansea City in the League One play-off final, scoring one of the four penalties that secured their promotion to the Championship. Heckingbottom has currently made 42 appearances for Barnsley scoring one goal.

Bradford City
In July 2007, Heckingbottom returned to Bradford City on loan until 1 January 2008.[4] He played in all 23 league games during his loan spell, missing only an FA Cup tie against Tranmere Rovers after he was suspended following a red card in a 1–1 draw with Stockport County.[2][5] A week after his loan deal expired, his contract at Barnsley was cancelled by mutual consent and he signed a permanent 18 month deal at Bradford.[6] He missed his first league game of the 2007–08 season with four games left, when an ankle injury prevented him for playing against Brentford on 12 April 2008. Heckingbottom's place was taken by Luke O'Brien, who made his Bradford debut, in a 2–2 draw.[7][8]

He played in the club's first nine league games of the 2008–09 season, but was sent off in a 1–1 draw with Luton Town for two bookable offences.[9] His place was again taken by youngster O'Brien, and although Heckingbottom returned for an FA Cup game against Milton Keynes Dons, he suffered a tendonitis injury, which has kept him out for four months.[10][11]

References
^ Heckingbottom, Paul (2008-10-16). "How can booing a player help your team?". Telegraph & Argus. http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/3765151.How_can_booing_a_player_help_your_team_/. Retrieved on 2008-10-17.
^ a b Parker, Simon (3 January 2008). "McCall awaiting defender's answer". Telegraph & Argus. http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/search/display.var.1941124.0.mccall_awaiting_defenders_answer.php. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
^ "Heckingbottom seals Barnsley move". BBC Sport. 13 January 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/barnsley/4610988.stm. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ "Heckingbottom seals Bradford move". BBC Sport. 16 July 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bradford_city/6900808.stm. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
^ "Bradford 1-1 Stockport". BBC Sport. 24 November 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/7099922.stm. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
^ "Heckingbottom seals Bradford move". BBC Sport. 8 January 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bradford_city/7176638.stm. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
^ Parker, Simon (2008-04-15). "Hecky's helping hand for O'Brien". Telegraph & Argus. http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/sportbcfcheadlines/display.var.2198856.0.heckys_helping_hand_for_obrien.php. Retrieved on 2008-04-17.
^ "Brentford 2-2 Bradford". BBC Sport. 2008-04-12. http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/7332194.stm. Retrieved on 2008-04-17.
^ "Bradford 1-1 Luton". BBC Sport. 2008-10-04. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/7639320.stm. Retrieved on 2008-10-04.
^ "Paul Heckingbottom". Soccerbase. http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=10750. Retrieved on 2009-03-22.
^ Sobot, Lee (2009-03-22). "Bradford City: Injury giving Heck' the needle". Yorkshire Evening Post. http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/yorkshire-soccer/BRADFORD-CITY-Injury-giving-Heck39.5096432.jp. Retrieved on 2009-03-22.

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