Whatever Happened To... Paul Gibbs
Gibbs spent two years with the U's, making 63 appearances and scoring three goals. He left Layer Road on a free transfer ahead of the 1997-98 season, joining Torquay United.
Playing in a more attacking position for the Gulls, he scored 11 goals in 53 appearances in his only season at Plainmoor. His final appearance was at Wembley in the Division Three play-off final against the U's (we all know what happened there).
He left Torquay, following manager Kevin Hodges to Plymouth Argyle in July 1998, and was named in the Division Three team of the year for 1998-99. However, he unfortunately suffered a broken leg on the final day of that season against Carlisle - the game which goalie Jimmy Glass famously scored in the 94th minute to keep Carlisle in the Football League. He missed most of the following season and left Home Park to join Brentford on a free transfer in May, having made 36 appearances and scoring three goals for Argyle.
Despite signing a three-year contract at Brentford, he was put on the transfer list in his first season due to the Bees wanting to cut their wage bill, and he joined Barnsley on a free transfer the following season, after less than two years at Griffin Park. He scored four goals and played 67 games for Brentford, including making an appearance in the 2001 Football League Trophy final at the Millennium Stadium, which Port Vale won.
His time at Barnsley was troubled by injury and he was released from his contract early into the 2003-04 season, having made 36 appearances, scoring one goal. He returned to Brentford to train in November and played for their reserves. Later the same month he joined Gravesend & Northfleet, and he finished the season playing for Canvey Island.
He started the 2004-05 season at Weymouth on a one-year deal, but left in January, returning to his home town club Gorleston, where he went on to coach.
Away from football he now runs a recruitment agency in Norfolk and is a triathlete.
Clubs since leaving the U's: Torquay United, Plymouth Argyle, Brentford, Barnsley, Gravesend & Northfleet, Canvey Island, Weymouth, Gorleston.
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****ing Southampton. Again. ****ing Adam Armstrong. Again. ****ing Play-offs. Again. Grrrrrr.
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As you probably know already, our play-off final against with Southampton kicks off at 3pm on Sunday. And if you didn’t manage to get your hands on a ticket, it’s live on Sky Sports.
With our recent form being what it was, I was expecting a nervy encounter, with Leeds struggling to get through the Norwich City defence, but how wrong I was! Suddenly we recovered the swagger we have shown for much of the season, and not a moment too soon.
Many neutrals have complained on social media that yesterday’s game at Norwich City was a bit on the dull side, but the Leeds team wasn't set up to please them. For us it was the result that mattered, and it should leave us in a better position to get through to the final.
For the second time this season we are visiting Norwich City, this time for the play-off game at high noon on Sunday, and the kick-off time is of course thanks to our good friends at Sky Sports. You’ll find Carrow Road is about a mile to the south-east of the city centre.
If we were ever going to have a final day miracle we needed a much better performance than this final day showing against Southampton, so now we have to endure the agony of the play-offs yet again.
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Just when we thought we’d turned the corner with that win at Boro, we slipped back into the desperate form of the post-international break period, losing heavily to Queens Park Rangers in this critical game.
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