Hart: Paul Anthony (Paul)

1978-1983 (Player Details)

Centre Half

Born: Golborne, Manchester: 04-05-1953

Debut: v Liverpool (a): 11-03-1978

6’2” 12st 8lb (1979)

#86 in 100 Greatest LUFC Players Ever

Paul Hart, son of former Manchester City star Johnny Hart, played for Manchester Boys before joining Stockport County in September 1970, making his debut a fortnight before he signed professional forms. He made eighty-seven appearances and scored five goals before he moved to Blackpool for £25,000 in June 1973 and proved skillful enough to warrant a few games in midfield. He scored seventeen times in one hundred and forty-three appearances for the Bloomfield Road club before Leeds turned to Hart in their search for a replacement for Gordon McQueen and paid Blackpool £300,000 in March 1978. His early days at Elland Road were marred by a flurry of own-goals and errors before he settled at the core of the Leeds defence. He was a commanding stopper for Leeds and often tipped for England honours, although that recognition never came his way. He was sometimes a little over-enthuisiastic in preventing opponents from scoring and often incurred the wrath of referees for his indiscretions, which did not help his cause in the search for higher recognition. In the summer of 1983 a £40,000 move took him to Nottingham Forest, where he scored once in seventy appearances and then he went to Sheffield Wednesday in the summer of 1985, where he made fifty-two appearances and scored twice. He left for Birmingham in December 1986, but broke his leg in his only appearance for the Blues on New Years Day 1987, in a 3-2 home win against Plymouth Argyle. He joined Notts County as a player-coach in June 1987 for £15,000, playing twenty-three games without scoring before becoming Chesterfield’s Manager on 2nd November 1988. Hart spent three years at the Saltergate helm, reaching the play-offs before a fall-out with the chairman and Hart's sacking on 1st January 1991, when they were in the Fourth Division. He joined Grantham as a player before being appointed to the Nottingham Forest coaching staff in July 1991. The following summer he returned to Leeds to supervise the Leeds Youth development and enjoyed a superb first year in charge as the FA Youth Cup was won for the first time in the club’s history. He repeated the feat again in 1997. Along with Eddie Gray, he was responsible for many of the crop of stars produced by Leeds when they were in the youth side, and they formed the backbone of the successful Leeds teams over the next five or more years. Hart then returned to take charge of Forest's academy after a high-profile fall-out with Leeds' manager George Graham over the promise of Jonathan Woodgate. His return to Forest to take over their youth setup was a blow to Leeds. Forest's Under-Nineteen side became immensely successful winning the Under-Nineteen title in 1999-2000. His teams produced many fine players for Forest including several players who were to become internationals and household names. In July 2001, Hart was appointed Manager at the City Ground following the departure of David Platt to coach the England Under-Twenty-One team and, after stabilising the team and the club's finances with the sales of talented young players like Jermaine Jenas and David Prutton, he got the club into an excellent position to challenge for promotion, but lost out in the play-offs in 2002-03, when they were beaten in extra-time by Sheffield United in the Semi-Finals. Unfortunately, wage demands and poor decisions meant several key players were lost in the summer of 2003, and not replaced. Forest started the subsequent season well, but a run of just two wins in Hart's last twenty-two games, including two months without even a goal (and fourteen games without a win) brought the end of his tenure. Hart was sacked on 7th February 2004. Less than a month after being forced out of the City Ground, on 4th March 2004, Hart accepted the offer of the Manager's job at Division Two side Barnsley, but was sacked a year later, on 4th March 2005, having failed to mount a serious promotion challenge. Promotion was achieved by the Oakwell club the following year under Hart's successor Andy Ritchie. On 23rd May 2006, Hart took over as manager of Rushden & Diamonds, following the departure of Barry Hunter. Ian Bowyer, Ian Woan and Tony Godden were also brought in as back room staff. With only a short list of players retained, Paul Hart set about signing a number of players in June. Glenn Wilson, Paul Watson, Jon Ashton, Chris Hope and Leo Fortune-West all arrived on free transfers, while Michael Rankine and Nicky Eyre both signed after successful trial periods at the club. The Diamonds started the season poorly with defeats to Crawley Town and Grays Athletic, and after a 4-1 defeat to Northwich Victoria, and with only four wins in the first sixteen games, Paul Hart and his management team paid the price for the Club's poor League position, Hart leaving the club on 16th October 2006 by mutual consent, with Tony Godden taking temporary charge as Caretaker Manager. On 19th March 2007, Hart was appointed Director of Youth Operations at Portsmouth. He became Portsmouth Manager, from 9th February to 24th November 2009, saving them from relegation in the 2008-09 season before financial problems made his job impossible. On 17th December 2009 he took over as Manager of Queens Park Rangers, with a contract until the end of the season, but adverse results saw him leave on 15th January 2010 after just five games. He took over as Manager of Crystal Palace on 2nd March 2010 and saved the club from relegation from the CCCL but again financial problems within the club saw his exit on 2nd May 2010. He was appointed Manager of Swindon Town on 3rd March 2011 after Danny Wilson had resigned as Manager of the Wiltshire club. Hart brought in ex-Notts County Manager, Ian McParland, as his assistant. They resigned by mutual consent on 28th April 2011 after winning just one game in eleven, as the Robin's failed to avoid relegation from League One. On 3rd June 2011, Hart was appointed Academy Director at Charlton Athletic, thereby returning to an occupation where he he had a proven record at both Nottingham Forest and Leeds United and with a club that also had a record for producing outstanding players from their Academy. On 6th October 2011 Nottingham Forest appointed him their Director of Football, but Charlton refused to let him go unless there was a six figure pay-out. Forest were unable to meet their demands and Hart remained at the Valley.