Paul Tait (footballer, born 1971)

Paul Ronald Tait (born 31 July 1971) is an English former professional footballer who made more than 250 appearances in the Football League.

For the former striker, see Paul Tait (footballer born 1974).

Paul Tait
Personal information
Full name Paul Ronald Tait[1]
Date of birth (1971-07-31) 31 July 1971[1]
Place of birth Sutton Coldfield,[1] England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1987–1988 Birmingham City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1999 Birmingham City 170 (14)
1994 → Millwall (loan) 0 (0)
1997–1998 → Northampton Town (loan) 3 (0)
1999–2002 Oxford United 91 (3)
2002–2003 Nea Salamis 7 (0)
Total 271 (17)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Tait was born in Sutton Coldfield, which was then part of Warwickshire. As a youth he played as a striker, but he spent most of his playing career as a midfielder. He made his first-team debut for Birmingham City as a 16-year-old substitute against Leeds United in the last match of the 1987–88 season, and turned professional a few months later.[3]

He received media coverage during the 1995 Football League Trophy Final when, after scoring the winner, he revealed a T-shirt reading "Shit on the Villa", aimed at City's rivals Aston Villa.[4] He was fined two weeks' wages for the incident,[4] which was echoed in the same fixture eleven years later by Swansea City players.[5]

Tait had loan spells with Millwall and, towards the end of his time at Birmingham, with Northampton Town. He moved on to Oxford United in January 1999, where he spent two-and-a-half years. He also played for the Cypriot team Nea Salamis.

References
  1. "Paul Tait". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  2. Sewell, Albert, ed. (1996). News of the World Football Annual 1996–97. London: Invincible Press. p. 401. ISBN 978-0-00-218737-4.
  3. Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. pp. 128, 223. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  4. Corrigan, Peter (30 May 1995). "Shirty response to an act of mischief". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  5. "Police to quiz Swansea flag pair". BBC News Wales. 3 April 2006. Retrieved 22 May 2020.


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