46 Facts About Paul Sturrock

Paul Whitehead Sturrock was born on 10 October 1956 and is a Scottish former football coach and former player.

Paul Sturrock was named the SFWA Footballer of the Year in 1982.

At international level, Paul Sturrock played twenty times for Scotland and appeared at the 1982 and 1986 World Cups.

Since 2000, Paul Sturrock has worked as a manager in English football, initially with Plymouth Argyle where he helped the club to win two promotions before moving on to a brief spell with Southampton.

Paul Sturrock has subsequently managed Sheffield Wednesday, Swindon Town and Southend United as well as returning to Plymouth for a second spell.

Paul Sturrock became Yeovil Town manager in April 2015, but left the club eight months later.

Paul Sturrock announced in July 2008 that he was suffering from a mild form of Parkinson's disease.

Paul Sturrock was born in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, and grew up in Pitlochry, Perthshire, where he was educated at the local primary and secondary schools and played for amateur side Grandtully Vale.

Paul Sturrock had trials with Morton and St Johnstone, but was signed for Dundee United by then manager Jim McLean on 1 July 1974.

Paul Sturrock made his debut in the European Cup Winners' Cup match v Juil Petrosani of Romania on 18 September 1974 and his league debut on 28 December 1974 as a substitute against Motherwell.

Paul Sturrock was played as a substitute in two of the three Scottish Cup ties and was on from the start in five out of six League Cup games and scored once.

Paul Sturrock started in three of the four UEFA Cup games netting one in that competition, too.

Paul Sturrock appeared four times plus once as sub out of the six League Cup ties.

Paul Sturrock contributed to this success with eight goals in his 28 appearances.

Paul Sturrock set up Ralph Milne for his fourth-minute opener against Dundee in the final League game.

Paul Sturrock scored seven in the nine games he turned out in on the way to a League Cup quarter-final exit.

Paul Sturrock played in seven of the eight games and scored once in a UEFA Cup run that ended with an exit in Prague.

Paul Sturrock stayed at Tannadice for the next five years, in the role of coach.

Paul Sturrock left the club in 1993 after twenty years continuous service.

Paul Sturrock made his first appearance for the Scotland under-21 team on 12 October 1976, in a goalless draw with Czechoslovakia.

Paul Sturrock won 20 caps for his country, scoring three goals.

Paul Sturrock was a non-playing member of the Scotland squad for the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain and appeared twice in Mexico in 1986.

In 1993, Paul Sturrock became the manager of First Division team St Johnstone, having been recommended by the outgoing manager, John McClelland.

In September 1998 Paul Sturrock was appointed manager at Dundee United.

Paul Sturrock made a bright start to his time as manager at Tannadice, where he was feted by the fans for his excellent spell as a player.

Paul Sturrock's United team failed to recover from the sale of top scorer Billy Dodds in December 1999, when they were lying third in the table.

In October 2000 Paul Sturrock joined Plymouth Argyle, a club which had reached the lowest ebb in its history, struggling in the English Football League Third Division.

In October 2003, Paul Sturrock had successfully taken Argyle back to the top of the Football League Second Division and left when Plymouth had just 12 games to play in what would prove to be another season when they would finish as divisional champions and return to the Football League Championship, formerly known as the First Division.

Paul Sturrock was named as the successor to Gordon Strachan as manager of Southampton on 4 March 2004.

Paul Sturrock was then appointed by League One club Sheffield Wednesday languishing in 14th place on 23 September 2004, and he guided the club to the League One play-offs.

Paul Sturrock's first season in charge at Swindon was a success, achieving promotion from League Two to League One.

On 27 November 2007, Paul Sturrock resigned his post as Swindon Town manager after just over a year with the club to rejoin previous club Plymouth Argyle.

Paul Sturrock brought back to the club assistants Kevin Summerfield and John Blackley, who were previously with him during his first successful spell as manager.

Paul Sturrock then proceeded to take the club to its highest league position in 20 years: tenth in the Championship.

On 10 December 2009, Paul Sturrock was removed as Plymouth Argyle manager and put into a business support role by chairman Sir Roy Gardner.

On 22 April 2010, the Plymouth board confirmed that Paul Sturrock had left his role within the club to pursue other managerial opportunities.

On 5 July 2010, Paul Sturrock was confirmed as manager of League Two Southend United.

Paul Sturrock faced the tough task of rebuilding the Southend side with only five first team players available for selection at one stage of pre-season, with only Anthony Grant, Matt Paterson and Scott Spencer surviving.

Paul Sturrock soon appointed new signing Craig Easton, who he had previously managed at Swindon Town, as captain while another player from one of Sturrock's old clubs, Chris Barker, was later appointed as vice-captain, having initially been signed on loan, and then permanently on deadline day.

Paul Sturrock was named Manager of the Month for September 2011 by the Football League.

Paul Sturrock was sacked as manager of Southend United on 24 March 2013 although it was agreed that he could lead out the players in the final of the Football League Trophy to be held at Wembley on 7 April.

Paul Sturrock remained involved in local football, being given an advisory role at non-League club Plymouth Parkway.

Paul Sturrock writes a regular column for local newspaper, the Plymouth Evening Herald.

On 8 March 2018, Paul Sturrock renewed his involvement with Dundee United when he was appointed as the club's chief scout in England.

Research by football economists Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski found Paul Sturrock to be among the highest performing managers in English football.

Paul Sturrock's autobiography was published in 2015, Luggy: The Autobiography of Paul Sturrock.