Paul Groves

Burton Albion

Born in Derby, Derbyshire, Groves began his career in non-League football, playing for Belper Town before joining Burton Albion in 1987 for whom he appeared at Wembley Stadium for in the 1987 FA Trophy Final.

Leicester City

In April 1988 he moved to Leicester City for £12,000. He made 19 appearances for the Foxes, scoring two goals. In August 1989 he was loaned out to Lincoln City, playing eight league games and scoring once. Having not made the grade at Filbert Street, Leicester placed Groves on the transfer list and he eventually left the club in January 1990.

Blackpool

Groves signed for Blackpool on a permanent £60,000 deal. He became a regular in the side, making a total of 135 appearances and scoring 29 goals between 1990 and 1992.

Grimsby Town

In August 1992 Groves signed for Grimsby Town for £150,000 who at the time were managed by Alan Buckley. Groves became very consistent as a player at Grimsby and was a first team regular who regularly scored goals from midfield, in addition to being a good tackler. His goals enabled him to top the club's scoring chart in his first season at the club 1992–93, with 12 goals in 46 matches. He also topped the chart again in the 1995–96 . He played every league game in his first (four-season) spell and in his first three seasons. Groves became part of a nostalgic playing squad that harboured such professionals as Ivano Bonetti, Steve Livingstone, John McDermott and Gary Croft. Whilst…

Grimsby Town

Groves who at the time was the club captain at Grimsby Town was installed as the player/caretaker manager at the club following the sacking of Lennie Lawrence and long serving assistant manager John Cockerill. A week later in December 2001 he was installed as full-time player-manager of Grimsby. At the time of his appointment the club were and had been in the second tier of English football since 1998 and were heading into a third successive relegation battle despite the fact the club had briefly topped the table in September. He brought back former player Graham Rodger as his assistant and bolstered his side with several good loan signings, including Charlton Athletic duo Andy Todd and Martin Pringle. Groves managed to steer the club to safety and secured Town's place within what is now the Football League Championship for another year. The 2002–03 season was not as successful: the club was eventually relegated. A poor start to the 2003–04 season saw Groves sacked from his managerial duties in February 2004 but remarkably he was kept on as a player until the end of the season but found himself farmed out to local rivals Scunthorpe United on loan by his replacement Nicky Law. He left Grimsby during the summer of 2004 and signed for York City as a player.

Portsmouth

In July 2006, he joined the coaching staff at Portsmouth under Harry Redknapp. He was appointed as caretaker manager at Portsmouth alongside Ian Woan on 24 November 2009 after Paul…

Blackpool

Football League Fourth Division play-offs: 1992 Grimsby Town

Football League Second Division play-offs: 1998 Football League Trophy: 1997–98 Stafford Rangers

Conference North: 2005–06 Individual

PFA Team of the Year: 1991–92 Fourth Division, 1997–98 Second Division Grimsby Town Player of the Year: 1998–99