32 Facts About Paul Hart

Paul Anthony Hart was born on 4 May 1953 and is an English football manager, coach, and former professional player who made 567 appearances in the Football League as a defender.

The son of Johnny Hart, who played for and managed Manchester City, and brother of Nigel, a defender who made more than 300 League appearances, Hart had five-year spells with both Blackpool and Leeds United, and shorter spells with Stockport County, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday, among others.

Paul Hart began his management career with Chesterfield in 1988, but left within three years and spent the following decade as a youth team coach for Leeds United and then Nottingham Forest.

Paul Hart made his Blackpool debut on 22 October 1973, and only made two more appearances that season.

Paul Hart spent five years at Elland Road, playing 191 games.

In 1983 Paul Hart signed for Nottingham Forest to replace Willie Young, where he played 87 games and scored three goals.

Paul Hart had further spells at Birmingham City and Notts County before retiring from playing in 1988, having made 567 league appearances.

Paul Hart then moved into youth coaching firstly at Nottingham Forest, and then subsequently took charge of Leeds United's fledgling academy.

Paul Hart then returned to take charge of Nottingham Forest's academy after a high-profile fall-out with Leeds manager George Graham over the promise of Jonathan Woodgate.

On 12 July 2001, Paul Hart was promoted from Youth Academy Director to manager, succeeding David Platt, who had recently left the club to become the manager of the England under-21 team.

Less than a month after being forced out of the City Ground, Paul Hart accepted the offer of the manager's job at Second Division club Barnsley.

Paul Hart joined Premier League club Portsmouth as Director of Youth Operations in 2007.

Paul Hart was asked to take over as caretaker manager, initially for one game only following the sacking of Tony Adams on 9 February 2009.

Shortly afterwards, Paul Hart brought Brian Kidd in as his assistant.

Paul Hart was appointed as permanent manager on a two-year contract on 21 July 2009.

On 17 December 2009, Paul Hart was appointed manager of Queens Park Rangers following the exit of Jim Magilton the previous day, with Mick Harford joining him as assistant manager.

On 15 January 2010, after only five games in charge, Paul Hart left the club, with his assistant Mick Harford taking temporary charge.

On 2 March 2010, Paul Hart was appointed caretaker manager of Crystal Palace with Dougie Freedman as assistant manager and John Pemberton as first-team coach.

Crystal Palace were in administration, and Paul Hart's task was to keep them in the Championship.

In June 2010, it was announced that Paul Hart was on the shortlist to become the successor to Phil Brown at the recently relegated Hull City.

Paul Hart was appointed manager of Swindon Town on 3 March 2011, with his new club in the League One relegation zone.

Paul Hart appointed former Notts County manager Ian McParland as his assistant.

On 3 June 2011, Paul Hart joined Charlton Athletic as Academy Director.

Paul Hart left the club on 21 May 2014 following a restructure in the Charlton Academy.

On 2 October 2014, Paul Hart was appointed as acting academy manager at League One club Notts County, following the suspension of academy manager Mick Leonard.

Paul Hart later became caretaker manager, a day after the sacking of manager Shaun Derry on 23 March 2015, following a run of three wins in 24 league games.

Paul Hart guided the club to three draws in three games, before the appointment of Ricardo Moniz as manager on 7 April 2015.

Paul Hart subsequently left Notts County, stating it was always his attention to leave after the departure of Shaun Derry.

Paul Hart left the club on 1 April 2016 due to personal matters.

On 3 May 2016, Paul Hart was appointed as the assistant manager of League Two club Luton Town.

In January 2019 Paul Hart was appointed assistant manager to Nathan Jones at Stoke City.

On 19 June 2020, Paul Hart returned to Luton Town for the remainder of the season.