Russell Hoult

Hoult began his career at Leicester City, where he was usually a reserve. During his time at the club he was sent on loan to Lincoln City twice, Kettering Town, Blackpool, where he did not make a first team appearance, Cheltenham Town, when they were playing non-league football, and Bolton Wanderers. He signed for Derby County in the summer of 1995, joining for a fee of £200,000. He went on to help them win promotion to the Premiership in 1996. Hoult remained with the club until January 2000, when he was loaned to Portsmouth. This transfer was made permanent two months later and he remained with the club until the following January, when he left to join West Bromwich Albion for £450,000. Hoult played a key role in helping West Brom win promotion to the Premiership in 2001–02, keeping a club record number of clean sheets and being named in the PFA Division One team of the year. On 15 September 2001, in a game against Watford, he saved a last minute Marcus Gayle penalty to preserve West Brom's 2–1 lead. He was a regular for Albion in the Premiership and was watched by England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, but never made it into the national squad. A highlight of Hoult's 2002–03 season was saving a Dion Dublin penalty to help his side secure a 0–0 draw away at Aston Villa. Following Albion's relegation, Hoult remained a fixture in the side for the following season, as the club were promoted to the Premiership at the first attempt. In 2004, he was named as one of West Bromwich…

Hoult signed on as goalkeeping coach at Hereford United on Thursday 26 August. In October 2010 he became assistant manager to Jamie Pitman after the sacking of Simon Davey. On 25 February 2011, he registered as a player for Hereford United in order to provide goalkeeping back up. In March 2012, Hoult signed for Thringstone Miners Welfare as both player/manager and club president.

Hoult, a married man, has on a number of occasions been the subject of public revelations concerning his sexual conduct. In 2000, he was fined £300 for kerb crawling. He was also cleared of sending indecent letters to a 15-year-old girl after his lawyer told magistrates that they were no worse than "saucy seaside postcards". In January 2007 he was suspended by West Bromwich Albion after footage of him involved in an orgy was leaked onto the Internet allegedly with him wearing a club polo shirt. Hoult was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis in 2023, and stage four bile duct cancer in 2024. By 2025, both illnesses had become terminal, leading to Hoult being put on palliative care.

Individual

PFA Team of the Year: 2001–02 First Division