Paul Carden

Football player infobox
playername = Paul Carden


fullname = Paul Andrew Carden
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1979|3|29|df=y
cityofbirth = Liverpool
countryofbirth = England
height = height|ft=5|in=9
currentclub = Cambridge United (player/assistant manager)
clubnumber = 15
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1996–1998
1998–2000
2000
2000–2001
2001
2001–2005
2005–2006
2006
2006–2007 2007–2008 2007
2008
2008
2008–
clubs = Blackpool
Rochdale
→ Chester City (loan)
Chester City
Doncaster Rovers
Chester City
Peterborough United
Burscough
Burton Albion Accrington Stanley → Cambridge United (loan)
→ Cambridge United (loan)
Wrexham
Cambridge United
caps(goals) = 001 (0)
046 (0)
011 (0)
035 (0)
016 (1)
120 (3)
044 (0)
000 (0)
027 (1) 004 (0) 002 (0)
015 (0)
000 (0)
003 (0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate = 21:51, 25 August 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate =

Paul Andrew Carden (born 29 March 1979 in Liverpool) is a footballer for Conference National side Cambridge United, as well as acting as assistant to manager Gary Brabin. The midfielder has previously played for Blackpool, Rochdale, Chester City, Doncaster Rovers, Peterborough United , Accrington Stanley and Burton Albion.

Career

Carden made his Football League debut as a 17-year old apprentice for Blackpool in December 1996 in a local derby defeat by Preston North End. That was to be his only first-team action for Blackpool but he enjoyed regular football with Rochdale, who he joined in March 1998. However, after falling out of favour he joined Chester City in March 2000, shortly before they were relegated out of the Football League. It was to be the start of a long association with the Cheshire club.

Carden had two spells with Chester (a brief stint at Doncaster Rovers in 2001 falling in between) and was a regular for most of his time there, chalking up more than 200 first-team appearances for the Blues. The highlight of his Chester career was captaining the side to the Nationwide Conference title in 2003-04 and a return to the Football League for both Carden and the club. The following season saw him named as the club's player of the season but he was then surprisingly released by new manager Keith Curle.

Carden teamed up with his former boss Mark Wright at Peterborough. His debut ironically came against Chester on the opening day of 2005-06. Later in the season, after Wright had departed, Carden became one of the central characters of the Big Ron Manager documentary series on Sky, with Ron Atkinson drafted in to help new boss Steve Bleasdale.

On October 18, 2006 it was announced that Carden had his contract with Peterborough terminated by mutual consent. He promptly registered with Burscough, who his brother Adam plays for, but immediately joined Burton Albion on a three-month loan, with a view to a permanent deal when the January transfer window opened. Carden, however, initially failed to complete the move following interest from Bury - a move failed to materialise and he signed a deal with Burton on January 31, 2007 until the end of the season. Four months later, he returned to Football League circles with Accrington Stanley but was allowed to join Cambridge United on loan in November 2007. After briefly returning to Stanley, Carden was allowed to join Cambridge for the remainder of the season on 3 January 2008. [cite news| title= Cambridge Return for Carden| url= http://www.accrington.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=95079| publisher= Vital Football| date= 2008-01-03| accessdate= 2008-01-03] . Carden was influential as Cambridge reached the Conference National play-off final at Wembley in May 2008. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cambridge_utd/7417390.stm|title=U's miss out on midfielder Carden |date=2008-05-23|publisher=BBC Sport|accessdate=2008-05-25]

Although initially leaving Cambridge after their defeat in the play-off final to join Wrexham, [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wrexham/7418586.stm |title=Midfielder Carden joins Wrexham |date=2008-05-24|publisher=BBC Sport|accessdate=2008-05-25] Carden returned to Cambridge on 23 June 2008 as a player and assistant manager to Gary Brabin, his first management role. [cite news|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn%5Fsport%5Fcamb%5Futd/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=325189 | title=Brabin takes the reins | publisher=Cambridge News | date=2008-06-23 | accessdate=2008-06-23]

Honours

* Nationwide Conference champions: 2003-04, Chester City
* Player of the Season: 2004-05, Chester City

External links

* [http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=13924 Profile at Soccerbase]
* [http://www.uptheposh.com/people/197/ Profile] at [http://www.uptheposh.com/ UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database]

References