Hayden Mullins

Crystal Palace

Mullins was born in Reading, Berkshire. He joined Crystal Palace as a trainee in August 1996, and made his first-team debut in July 1998, at the age of 19, in the 1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup matches against Turkish club Samsunspor. Head coach Terry Venables gave him his domestic debut in a 3–3 draw against Bolton Wanderers in August 1998, and he scored his first senior goal in a 3–1 away defeat to Birmingham City a week later. He immediately established himself in the first team, made 45 league and cup appearances in the 1998–99 season, was named Player of The Year, and was capped for the England under-18 team. Mullins later acknowledged his debt to Venables, saying, "I learnt a lot from him. He took a lot of time with us on the training pitch. He taught us a lot about shape and formation, he's very detailed in that respect. He's very good man on man, he made me feel totally comfortable he didn't pressure me into it at all." Financial difficulties meant that Crystal Palace were unable to make new signings for the 1999–2000 season and relied on youngsters such as Mullins and Clinton Morrison and veterans such as Andy Linighan as they successfully battled against relegation from the First Division. Mullins made 49 league and cup appearances in that season and a further 51 appearances in the 2000–01 season as Palace reached the semi-final of the League Cup, but narrowly escaped relegation. He was transfer listed in October 2000, due to what manager Alan Smith…

Mullins made three appearances for the England under-21 team in 1999, against Poland in March, Hungary in April and Bulgaria in June.

After retiring as a player, Mullins joined Reading in a role that saw him oversee the development of the club's players who were out on loan. In July 2016, he joined Watford as assistant to under-21 coach Harry Kewell, later progressing to management of the under-23 team. In December 2019, Mullins was named as temporary manager of Watford after Quique Sánchez Flores was sacked. He managed two games as interim manager; a 2–0 away defeat by Leicester City and a goalless draw at home to Crystal Palace. Mullins took charge against Crystal Palace while newly appointed manager, Nigel Pearson watched from the stands. In July 2020, he was again placed in temporary charge following the dismissal of manager Pearson. His first game in charge following Pearson's dismissal resulted in a 0–4 defeat to Manchester City. This result, coupled with Aston Villa's win later the same day, dropped Watford into 18th place in the league and a relegation position. Watford were relegated to the Championship on the last day of the season following a 3–2 defeat by Arsenal. On 1 September 2020 he left the club. On 3 September 2020, Mullins was announced as assistant head coach to Steve Ball at Colchester United. In February 2021, Ball was replaced by Wayne Brown as first team coach. After a run of poor results, Brown was in-turn replaced by Mullins on 31 March 2021. On 13 May 2021, Mullins was appointed head coach of Colchester on a permanent basis. On 19 January 2022, Mullins was sacked as head coach…

As a player

Portsmouth

FA Cup runner-up: 2009–10

As a coach

Fulham U21

Premier League Cup: 2023–24