33 Facts About Paul Heckingbottom

Paul Heckingbottom was born on 17 July 1977 and is an English football coach and former player who is the manager of EFL Championship club Preston North End.

Paul Heckingbottom obtained a position with Barnsley's development squad and, after a successful spell as caretaker manager in which the club won promotion and the EFL Trophy, he was appointed manager in 2016.

Paul Heckingbottom then managed Scottish Premiership club Hibernian, but was sacked in November 2019.

Paul Heckingbottom was born in Barnsley and grew up in nearby Royston.

Paul Heckingbottom started his football career at Manchester United as a trainee, but joined Sunderland in 1995 after failing to gain a professional contract.

Paul Heckingbottom had loan spells at Scarborough, Hartlepool United and Darlington, without featuring for Sunderland, before joining Darlington permanently in 1999.

Paul Heckingbottom made 126 appearances, scoring 6 goals, before catching the attention of First Division side Norwich City, who signed him in 2002 on a three-year contract.

Paul Heckingbottom made just 16 appearances for Norwich, including only 7 starts, resulting in him cancelling his contract with the club by mutual consent after just one year.

Paul Heckingbottom subsequently signed for Bradford City in July 2003, and was named their Player of the Year at the end of his first season.

On 13 January 2006, Paul Heckingbottom was sent on loan, with a view to a permanent move, to his boyhood club Barnsley.

Paul Heckingbottom played in 31 games for Barnsley the next season, as they comfortably avoided relegation.

In July 2007, Paul Heckingbottom returned to Bradford City on loan until 1 January 2008.

Paul Heckingbottom's place was again taken by youngster O'Brien, and although Heckingbottom returned for an FA Cup game against Milton Keynes Dons, he suffered tendonitis which kept him out for five months.

Paul Heckingbottom signed for Conference National club Mansfield Town on 2 June 2009, marking his first foray into the game outside the Football League.

Paul Heckingbottom scored his first and only Mansfield goal against Crawley Town on 14 November 2009.

On 1 February 2010, Paul Heckingbottom joined Gateshead on loan until the end of the season.

Paul Heckingbottom signed for Gateshead on a permanent basis on 26 May 2010.

Paul Heckingbottom took the opportunity to gain an academic understanding of football coaching, to set his CV apart from other managers competing for jobs.

Paul Heckingbottom completed his BSc Sports Coaching at Leeds Metropolitan University in 2013, followed by an MSc in Sport Coaching in 2016, by which point the university had been renamed Leeds Beckett University.

Paul Heckingbottom went on to work as a coach with professional club Barnsley's development squad, and was appointed caretaker manager of the first team after Danny Wilson was sacked in 2015.

Paul Heckingbottom was not appointed on a permanent basis in favour of Lee Johnson, though was appointed in the caretaker manager role the following year after Johnson left to manage Bristol City.

Paul Heckingbottom was awarded Sports Hero of the Year by The Yorkshire Post.

Paul Heckingbottom signed a new rolling contract at Barnsley on 2 February 2018, but he left the club days later to take a similar position with Leeds United.

On 6 February 2018, Paul Heckingbottom was announced as the new head coach of Leeds United on an 18-month contract.

Paul Heckingbottom integrated further academy players with the first team during a controversial post-season tour of Myanmar.

Paul Heckingbottom was sacked by Leeds on 1 June 2018, after just four months with the club, and was succeeded by Marcelo Bielsa.

Paul Heckingbottom was appointed head coach of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian on 13 February 2019.

The club went on an unbeaten league run, and Paul Heckingbottom won the Premiership Manager of the Month award for March 2019.

Two days later, Paul Heckingbottom won his first Edinburgh derby match as Hibs manager against Hearts at Tynecastle.

Hibs finished in fifth position, but Paul Heckingbottom was unhappy that the team "downed tools" in the last few matches of the season.

Paul Heckingbottom was appointed as under-23s lead coach at Sheffield United in July 2020.

Sheffield United won three of their last six matches, and Paul Heckingbottom was reportedly shortlisted for the permanent position, but former Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic was appointed instead, with Paul Heckingbottom returning to his previous role as the under-23s manager at the club.

On 25 November 2021, Paul Heckingbottom was appointed manager of Sheffield United, this time on a permanent basis, on a four-and-a-half-year deal following the sacking of Jokanovic.