Paul Bodin

Early career

Bodin began his career with Chelsea as a schoolboy, travelling via train to London Paddington station every weekend to train with the club. However, he left Stamford Bridge without making a first-team appearance for the "Blues" and moved onto a brief spell with Newport County under manager Len Ashurst, rejecting interest from his hometown side Cardiff City after watching Newport draw 2–2 with German side Carl Zeiss Jena in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. As a young trainee player, Bodin's role at the club included helping paint the stands at the club's Somerton Park ground. He eventually followed Ashurst to Cardiff. He was handed his professional debut on the opening day of the 1982–83 season against Wrexham at the age of 17. He quickly established himself in the first-team, making over 30 appearances in his first season, helping Ashurst's "Bluebirds" to promotion into the Second Division, finishing as Third Division runners-up to Portsmouth. Jimmy Goodfellow then led Cardiff to a 15th-place finish in the 1983–84 season, before Alan Durban took charge at Ninian Park and led Cardiff to relegation in the 1984–85 campaign, after which Bodin left the club and joined Merthyr Tydfil. During his time as a semi-professional, he supplemented his income by working as a roofer's assistant and insurance salesman.

Bath City and Newport County

He signed with Conference club Bath City, who finished 12th at the end of the 1985–86 season. He scored 21 goals for the…

During his time with Cardiff, Bodin won a single cap at under-21 level for Wales. He went on to win 23 caps for Wales under the management of Terry Yorath and Mike Smith, making his debut in a 1–0 win over Costa Rica. He missed a penalty when the score was 1–1 in Wales' final and decisive 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier at home to Romania, a game Wales needed to win in order to qualify but they subsequently lost 2–1. Speaking in 2015, he said "I have had to live with that hurt and it never quite goes away".

Bodin was appointed a coach in Swindon Town's youth team set-up in 2001. In April 2011 he took over as caretaker manager of Swindon for the final two games of the 2010–11 season after the departure of Paul Hart. Following the arrival of Paolo Di Canio, Bodin rebuffed advances from Torquay United to become assistant manager under good friend Martin Ling, and opted to sign a new long-term deal with Swindon Town following the revelations he had been working without a contract for three and a half years. He left the club in June 2013. He went on to work in Southampton's Academy. In May 2015, Rob Page appointed Bodin as his assistant manager at Port Vale. He rejected the chance to follow Page to Northampton Town in May 2016, and resigned his post at Vale Park for personal reasons. In August 2019, Bodin was promoted from Wales under-19 coach to Wales under-21 team coach. In July 2022 Bodin's contract with Wales Under-21 was terminated by mutual consent.

His son, Billy Bodin, is also a professional footballer.