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Gloucester appoint ex-Leicester, Blackpool, West Brom and Grimsby player

Gloucester City have chosen to appoint an ex-Leicester, Blackpool, West Brom and Grimsby player as their new first team manager.

He comes in to replace the recently departed James Rowe, who left then was appointed by league above Chesterfield who got rid of John Pemberton last month.

Gloucester City currently sit top of the National League North table, taking 24 points from 12 games played, but are winless in their last three games.

CLUB STATEMENT

Gloucester City is pleased to announce that Paul Groves has been appointed as the new First Team Manager. Groves, who has been working as Assistant Manager at Maccabi Haifa, arrived back in the country from Israel today and will take his first training session with the club on Thursday.

Paul brings with him over 14 years of managerial and coaching experience at the highest levels of the game.

After a distinguished playing career spanning almost 20 years with over 700 professional appearances for clubs including Leicester, Blackpool, Grimsby and West Bromich Albion, Groves first step into management was as Player/Coach at Grimsby under Lennie Lawrence. He eventually took over as Player/Manager after Lawrence left the club, overseeing more than 100 matches and steering the Mariners away from what is now the Championship relegation zone in his first season.

After leaving Grimbsy, he became Assistant Manager at Stafford Rangers, winning promotion to the Conference in the first season. He joined Portsmouth originally as First Team Coach before being appointed as caretaker Manager. With the arrival of Avram Grant, he returned to his coaching duties with the season culminating in an FA Cup final apperance for Pompey and later UEFA Cup European football.

Following Grant’s resignation at Portsmouth, Groves linked up again with the Israeli this time joining West Ham United as Senior Coach before joining Bournemouth as Youth Team Manager.

After the departure of Lee Bradbury, Groves took temporary charge of the Cherries, overseeing their last eight games of the season. Bournemouth lost just twice in the process and as a result finished safely in midtable. He was subsquently appointed as Bournemouth Manager on a permanent basis where he remained in charge until Eddie Howe’s appointment, reverting back to Youth Team Manager.

Further roles followed at Crawley, Bristol City and Birmingham City – where he was First Team Coach to Harry Redknapp and saw the Blues successfully remain in the Championship. After leaving St Andrews he opted to move overseas, first with Indian Super League side Chennaiyin FC as assistant to John Gregory, where they won the ISL title in their first season.

After the spell in India, he moved to Israel as Assistant Manager of Premier League club Maccabi Haifa. Haifa finished second in the League, qualifying for the Europa League in the process which saw a surprise victory this season over Russian Premier League side FK Rostov before bowing out to Tottenham.

Co-Chairman Alex Petheram believes it’s a testament to how far the club has moved forwards that Gloucester City can attract a Manager of Paul’s calibre;

“What a week… ! I’m delighted to be able to announce Paul Groves as our new manager. Paul has a CV that speaks for itself and was only in October managing in the Europa League against Tottenham. Our humble shipping containers in Gloucester are a far cry from the sunshine of Maccabi Haifa, but our hope, hunger and desire to succeed is second to none. The past couple of weeks has united the club even more and now we can move forward and look to the future..”

Welcome to Gloucester City Paul!

– STATEMENT ENDS –

PAUL GROVES’ CAREER:

198?–1988 – Burton Albion
1988–1990 – Leicester City – 16 games (1 goal)
1989 → Lincoln City (loan) – 8 games (1 goal)
1990–1992 – Blackpool – 107 games (21 goals)
1992–1996 – Grimsby Town – 184 games (38 goals)
1996–1997 – West Bromwich Albion – 29 games (4 goals)
1997–2004 – Grimsby Town – 270 games (33 goals)
2004 → Scunthorpe United (loan) – 7 games (2 goals)
2004 – Scunthorpe United – 6 games (1 goal)
2004–2005 – York City – 42 games (3 goals)
2005–2006 – Stafford Rangers – 30 games (5 goals)
Total – 699 games (109 goals)

TEAMS MANAGED
Grimsby Town – 28 December 2001 until 9 February 2004 – 103 games, 24, wins, 31 draws, 48 defeats, 23.3 win %
Bournemouth – 25 March 2012 until 3 October 2012 – 20 games, 3 wins, 11 draws, 6 defeats, 15.0 win %
Total – 123 games, 27 wins, 42 draws, 54 defeats, 22.0 win %

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