 Hartley withBristol City in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Paul Hartley[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1976-10-19)19 October 1976 (age 49)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Hamilton, Scotland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Midfielder[4] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Cove Rangers (head coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1993–1994 | Hamilton Academical | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–1996 | Hamilton Academical | 47 | (11) |
| 1996–1997 | Millwall | 44 | (4) |
| 1997–1998 | Raith Rovers | 50 | (13) |
| 1998–2000 | Hibernian | 36 | (6) |
| 1999–2000 | →Greenock Morton (loan) | 3 | (1) |
| 2000–2003 | St Johnstone | 87 | (12) |
| 2003–2007 | Heart of Midlothian | 118 | (31) |
| 2007–2009 | Celtic | 62 | (3) |
| 2009–2010 | Bristol City | 40 | (5) |
| 2010–2011 | Aberdeen | 24 | (4) |
| Total | 511 | (90) | |
| International career | |||
| 1997 | Scotland U21 | 1 | (0) |
| 2004 | Scotland B | 1 | (0) |
| 2005–2010 | Scotland | 25 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2011–2014 | Alloa Athletic | ||
| 2014–2017 | Dundee | ||
| 2017–2018 | Falkirk | ||
| 2019–2022 | Cove Rangers | ||
| 2022 | Hartlepool United | ||
| 2023– | Cove Rangers | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Paul Hartley (born 19 October 1976) is a Scottish professionalfootball manager and formerplayer who played as amidfielder. He is the manager ofScottish League One sideCove Rangers.
As a player, Hartley won trophies with bothHearts andCeltic, and earned 25caps for theScotland national team. He also played forHamilton Academical,Millwall,Raith Rovers,Hibernian,Greenock Morton,St Johnstone,Bristol City andAberdeen during his career.
As a manager, he guidedAlloa Athletic to successive promotions. He then moved toDundee, who he helped win promotion to the Scottish top flight in 2014. Hartley was sacked by Dundee in March 2017. He was then appointed byFalkirk, but he left this position after less than one year. Hartley joinedCove Rangers in July 2019 and led the club to two promotions before his move to Hartlepool.
His time atHartlepool United was short-lived. After signing 17 players in three months, he was unable to register a league win in the first nine games of the season and he departed with the club in 23rd position in the table. He returned to management in January 2023, re-joining former club Cove Rangers for a second spell.
Hartley was born inHamilton, South Lanarkshire.[4] Hartley started his senior career atHamilton Academical, where he spent two seasons.Millwall paid £380,000 to gain his services in July 1996; this remained Hamilton's biggest sale untilJames McCarthy moved toWigan Athletic for an initial £1.2 million in 2009.[5] Hartley returned to Scotland a year later, joiningRaith Rovers for £150,000, before moving toHibernian in 1998, whom he helped win theFirst Division in1998–99.[6]
In season1999–2000, he spent a short spell on loan atGreenock Morton.[7]
St JohnstonemanagerSandy Clark, who had previously managed Hartley atHamilton, signed Hartley for a £200,000 fee in 2000.[8]Billy Stark, who succeeded Clark in 2001, started using Hartley as a central attacking midfielder during the 2001–02 season. This change of position from his previous role as aright winger, coincided with a significant upturn in his performances, but it was not enough to prevent St Johnstone's relegation to theFirst Division. Hartley's personal success continued as he was nominated for theSPFA First Division player of the year award in 2003,[9] but his team failed to gain promotion back to theSPL in 2003.
Hearts signed Hartley on a free transfer when his contract with St Johnstone expired in the summer of 2003. He helped Hearts to third place in the Premier League in2003–04 and starring in their subsequentUEFA Cup run. In January 2005,Celtic attempted to buy Hartley, but their £300,000 offer was considered significantly below Hearts valuation and was rejected. Hartley subsequently signed an improved contract with Hearts.[citation needed]
Hartley scored three goals against archrivals Hibernian in theScottish Cup semi-final in 2006, his first hat-trick as a professional footballer.[10] Despite his sending off, Hearts defeated Second Division outfitGretna onpenalties in the2006 Scottish Cup Final.[11]
He was voted asSPL Player of the Year in2005–06.[12] Hartley was also shortlisted forScottish Football Writers award in the same season and theSPFA Players' award in2004–05.[13][14]
During the January 2007transfer window, Hartley was linked withRangers[15] andPremier League clubAston Villa.[16] Hearts managerValdas Ivanauskas initially responded to the speculation by insisting any transfer bids would not be appreciated.[17] On 26 January, however, Hearts and Ivanauskas admitted that they had now come to the decision to sell their prize assets; both Hartley andCraig Gordon were both dropped for that weekend's match against Rangers.[18]
Hartley signed for Celtic for £1.1 million on a two-and-a-half-year contract, with the option for a further year, in January 2007.[19] On 15 August 2007, he scored his first goal for the club in theirChampions League 3rd qualifying round tie againstRussian Premier League sideSpartak Moscow.[20]
Gordon Strachan usually employed Hartley, who had played as an attacking midfielder for Hearts, in a more defensive role.[21] Playing in the centre of midfield withBarry Robson, Hartley helped Celtic to their third league title in a row in May 2008.[22]
Hartley featured less for Celtic during the 2008–09 season and was released by newmanagerTony Mowbray on 1 July 2009.[23]
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After his release by Celtic, Hartley signed forBristol City.[24] Hartley played his first match for the club in a friendly against Dutch team Ajax before scoring on his competitive debut in a 2–2 draw away to Preston North End.[25][26] After citing a desire to return to Scotland, Hartley was made available for free transfer by the club in July 2010.[27] He was heavily linked with a return to former clubHearts, but they dropped their interest in Hartley after he refused to distance himself from criticism of majority shareholderVladimir Romanov during his first stint with the club.[28]
Hartley signed forAberdeen on 28 July 2010 and was appointed as the new club captain on the same day.[29] On his league debut for Aberdeen, Hartley scored a hat-trick ofpenalty kicks in a 4–0 victory against Hamilton.[30] It was the first time a player had scored a hat-trick of penalties in a Scottish top division match sinceDonald Ford, for Hearts againstMorton, in September 1973.[31] Hartley scored another penalty, against Hibernian in a 4–2 victory, on 23 October 2010.[32] Three days later, Hartley scored both Aberdeen goals in a 2–1 win againstFalkirk in theLeague Cup.[33] This meant that Hartley had scored eight goals for Aberdeen, seven from penalties.[33] Hartley announced his retirement as a player at the end of the 2010–11 season, having missed the last two months of the season due to a medial knee ligament injury.[34]
Hartley's first experiences of international football took place right at the beginning of his professional career when he was selected by managerCraig Brown as a training squad player forEuro 96.[35] His performances for Hearts earned him international recognition in December 2004, when he appeared forScotland B againstGermany B inMannheim.[36] He won his first fullScotlandcap the following year on the 26 March 2005, againstItaly in theSan Siro.[37] Hartley scored his only international goal in a 3–0 win overSlovenia on 12 October 2005.[38]
Hartley was appointed manager atAlloa Athletic on 17 May 2011,[39] to get Alloa back into the second division having been relegated the season before. He had to rebuild the squad as every player's contract had expired; only three were offered new contracts and only one accepted. Hartley managed to get a full squad together and Alloa won the title on 7 April 2012.[40] He led the side to a successive promotion through theScottish First Division play-offs in May 2013, relegatingDunfermline Athletic in the process.[41] He resigned after the 5–1 loss againstDumbarton on 18 January 2014.[42]
Hartley signed forDundee as manager on 5 February 2014, replacingJohn Brown. He led the Dee to theScottish Championship title on the final day and promotion to theScottish Premiership.[43] Dundee went unbeaten in their first 8 games of the season including a 1–1 draw with Celtic. Hartley then declined an offer to manageCardiff City.[44] Dundee went on to finish sixth in the Premiership,[45] and finished eighth in the following season.[45] Hartley was sacked by Dundee in April 2017, after a run of seven consecutive defeats left them in a relegation play-off position.[45]
Hartley was appointedFalkirk manager on 4 October 2017, succeedingPeter Houston.[46] After a bad start to the 2018–19 season, Hartley left Falkirk on 27 August 2018.[47]
Hartley joined newly promotedScottish League Two clubCove Rangers in July 2019, succeedingJohn Sheran as manager.[48] After immediately guiding the club to win promotion in hisfirst season and reachingLeague One play-offs in hissecond one, he led Cove to another promotion in the2021–22 league campaign, as the club won the League One title and progressed to theScottish Championship.[49]
On 3 June 2022, Hartley departed Cove to take up the vacant managerial role atEFL League Two clubHartlepool United.[49][50] During the summer transfer window, Hartley signed 16 new players in a major overhaul of the squad.[51] His first game was a 4–0 loss atWalsall on 30 July.[52] On 30 August, he won a competitive game for the first time at the eighth attempt, a 2–0 home win overHarrogate Town in theEFL Trophy group stage.[53] On 18 September 2022, following a 2–0 defeat toSutton United, Hartley was sacked by Hartlepool following a poor start to the season, with the club being in 23rd place at the time of his departure.[54] Hartlepool had failed to win any of their first nine League games.[51] Hartlepool would later be relegated to theNational League at the end of the2022–23 season.[55]
On 5 January 2023, Hartley returned to Cove Rangers, succeedingJim McIntyre as manager and signing a contract until June 2026 with the club.[56]
Despite being 10 points clear of bottom side Hamilton when he returned to the role, Cove would go on to be relegated from the Scottish Championship, meaning Hartley was involved in two relegation campaigns during the 2022–23 season with both Hartlepool United and Cove Rangers.[57]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Other[a] | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Millwall | 1996–97 | Second Division | 44 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 4 |
| Raith Rovers | 1997–98 | Scottish First Division | 30 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 9 |
| 1998–99 | Scottish First Division | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 | |
| Total | 48 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 14 | ||
| Hibernian | 1998–99 | Scottish First Division | 12 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 5 |
| 1999–2000 | Scottish Premier League | 24 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 3 | |
| Total | 36 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 8 | ||
| St Johnstone | 2000–01 | Scottish Premier League | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 3 |
| 2001–02 | Scottish Premier League | 32 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 5 | |
| 2002–03 | Scottish First Division | 32 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 6 | |
| Total | 87 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 98 | 14 | ||
| Heart of Midlothian | 2003–04 | Scottish Premier League | 30 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 3 |
| 2004–05 | Scottish Premier League | 33 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 15 | |
| 2005–06 | Scottish Premier League | 34 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 17 | |
| 2006–07 | Scottish Premier League | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 3 | |
| Total | 118 | 31 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 149 | 38 | ||
| Celtic | 2006–07 | Scottish Premier League | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 2007–08 | Scottish Premier League | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 1 | |
| 2008–09 | Scottish Premier League | 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 3 | |
| Total | 62 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 4 | ||
| Bristol City | 2009–10 | Championship | 40 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 5 |
| Aberdeen | 2010–11 | Scottish Premier League | 24 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 8 |
| Career total | 459 | 78 | 35 | 4 | 28 | 11 | 25 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 549 | 95 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 2005 | 7 | 1 |
| 2006 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 25 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 October 2005 | Celje,Slovenia |  Slovenia | 3–0 | 3–0 | FIFA World Cup 2006 qualification |
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Alloa Athletic | 17 May 2011 | 18 January 2014 | 109 | 56 | 23 | 30 | 051.38 |
| Dundee | 3 February 2014 | 17 April 2017 | 138 | 46 | 37 | 55 | 033.33 |
| Falkirk | 9 October 2017 | 27 August 2018 | 40 | 16 | 8 | 16 | 040.00 |
| Cove Rangers | 3 July 2019 | 3 June 2022 | 112 | 63 | 23 | 26 | 056.25 |
| Hartlepool United | 3 June 2022 | 18 September 2022 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 009.09 |
| Cove Rangers | 5 January 2023 | present | 139 | 47 | 31 | 61 | 033.81 |
| Total | 549 | 229 | 126 | 194 | 041.71 | ||
Hibernian
Heart of Midlothian
Celtic
Individual
Alloa Athletic
Dundee
Cove Rangers
