Paynter: William Paul (Billy)

2010-2012 (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Striker

Born: Liverpool: 13-07-1984

Debut: Nil

6’0” 12st 5lb (2010)

Paynter started his career at Port Vale as a trainee, and turned professional soon after his sixteenth birthday. He was given a very early debut when only sixteen years and two hundred and ninety-four days old when given his chance on 3rd May 2001 as a sixty-first minute substitute at home to Walsall. After several substitute appearances he had his run-on debut on 5th March 2002 in the home game with Wrexham. His first goal came after fifty-eight minutes of his first game in the 2002-03 season, when he came on as a twenty-second minute replacement for Vale's injured striker Stephen McPhee, against Notts County at Vale Park.After this he became a regular and while he did score several goals, he was not a prolific scorer ad he often played as provider rather than scorer. He was popular with the fans and was voted the club's "Player of the Year" in 2004-05. He had scored thirty goals in one hundred and forty-four League games, including twenty-five as a substitute, scored three times in four starts and two games from the bench in the F.A. Cup and once in five starts in the Football League Trophy but two starts and one game from the bench failed to produce a goal in the League Cup when on 17th November 2005, Hull City Manager, Peter Taylor, signed Paynter on loan until the end of the calendar year. He made his debut for the Tigers two days later in a 3-1 defeat at Reading, as a seventy-seventh minute substitute, before making his run-on debut three days later in the 1-1 home draw with Southampton. He had scored three League goals in six starts and three games from the bench when Hull took Paynter on a permanent basis, for a £150,000 transfer fee, as soon as the transfer window opened. Paynter mainly played as a striker, but also made some appearances as a right midfielder, but the goals immediately dried up. Paynter played for a Football League Under-21 team (selected and managed by Peter Taylor) in a game against an Italian Serie B side, a match which took place at the KC Stadium in February 2006, in which Paynter played as a right-midfielder. He made five League starts and came on eight times as a substitute in the League, as well as starting once in the F.A. Cup, without finding the net once. He was transferred to Southend United for £200,000 on 7th August 2006, but was actually loaned to them on the 4th of August so he could play as a seventy-first minute substitute in the 1-0 home win over Stoke City on 5th August 2006. Things hadn't work out for Paynter at Hull, injuries and inconsistent form keeping him out of the starting line-up and again injuries, this time a hamstring problem, and lack of form hampered his progress after he came to Roots Hall. He had only scored once in two League Cup starts and hadn't found the net at all in five starts and three games from the bench in the League. On 31st January 2007, Southend loaned him out for a month to League One side Bradford City. The move kick started Paynter's career, and he was soon amongst the goals and quickly established himself as a favourite with the Bradford supporters. He made his debut for Bradford City in a 2-2 home draw with Nottingham Forest on 3rd February 2007, and scored a last minute equaliser. His loan was extended to the end of the season and he started fifteen League games for Bradford City in which he scored four goals. He signed for Swindon Town on the final day of the transfer window on 31st August 2007.He made his debut on 9th September 2007 as a seventy-second minute substitute in a televised 1-0 defeat at home to Yeovil, after a paperwork hitch prevented him from making his debut days previously. The defeat prompted manager Paul Sturrock to thrust Paynter into the starting line-up at Hartlepool United the following week, and after a good team performance, Paynter marked his full home debut by notching a hat-trick against Bournemouth. Seemingly forging a formidable partnership with loan signing Simon Cox, Paynter scored twice against Gillingham a fortnight later as his Swindon career got off to a flying start. When Paynter scored just once in his next nine appearances he was dropped to the bench in December amidst talk of a crisis in confidence. He had to be restored to the side in January after Barry Corr was suspended. Paynter was involved in some rare incidents in the F.A. Cup Third Round Replay on 22nd January 2008, when he was the hero as he gave Swindon a forty-second minute lead but turned villain when in the fifty-third minute he inadvertently diverting the ball past Peter Brezovan to equalise for the Bees. It only got worse when Paynter was one of four Town men to miss from the spot in the resulting penalty shoot out, as they were bundled out 2-0 in the penalty shoot-out. The following week saw Paynter sidelined again, after being judged to have elbowed Crewe's Michael O'Connor and a three game ban resulted. Upon his return, Paynter netted his eighth goal for the Town against Cheltenham but his ninth wasn't to come until almost a month later, when he scored in the fourth minute at Huddersfield on 4th March 2008. Unfortunately, it was tainted by a sending off for deliberate handball, when he diverted a Huddersfield effort onto the bar. Although the Terriers scored the rebound, the referee had already blown his whistle and had little option but to send Paynter off, leaving nine man Swindon to hang on to a 3-2 lead for fifteen minutes, having been 3-0 up in the first half. This time, Paynter was benched on his return, and he started just two more games beforethe season's end, scoring in a 2-1 win at Tranmere Rovers on 28th March 2008, before starting in the final game of the season at home to Millwall on 3rd May 2008. There were six strikers vying for the two attacking roles at the start of the 2008/09 season, but Paynter was given the nod to start up front with Simon Cox again. As the season progressed, the understanding between the two improved further and Paynter's strong play blended well with the pace and intelligent running of Cox we. Though Cox was obviously the main goalscorer, Paynter started the season well, with three goals in his first five games. Even though he was regularly substituted to make way for other attacking options, it was not until December before Paynter found himself out of the first eleven, and this was a self-inflicted wound, after he had been sent off at Crewe for the second season in succession. The resulting suspension could not have come at a worse time for Paynter, as new manager Danny Wilson was appointed over the Christmas period while Paynter was suspended. An Injury to Barry Corr was to hand Paynter his place back in January, and from that point, he was ever-present in the side for the rest of the season, as the Robins clawed themselves out of relegation trouble. Paynter finished the season with twelve goals in all competitions, but his Golden Boot winning striker partner, Simon Cox, was the first to praise Paynter for his unselfish contribution to his total, saying that he wouldn't have been anywhere near the top of the goalscoring charts without Paynter alongside him. Paynter had made forty-two League starts, scoring eleven goals and providing vital support for the league's top-scorer Simon Cox. During the summer Simon Cox was sold to West Bromwich Albion and as a result Paynter was given a more prominent role in attack. The 2009–10 season proved to be his best yet, scoring twenty-two goals in all competitions by March as the Robins pushed for promotion. On 3rd April 2010, Paynter scored twice for Swindon in their 3-0 rout of Leeds United at Elland Road and the win gave Swindon some hope of achieving automatic promotion. Paynter had also previously scored against Leeds that season in a 3-0 win at the County Ground. He was part of the Swindon side which reached the League One playoffs, and they won their play-off Semi-Final after beating Charlton Athletic on penalties. Paynter had missed the First Leg through injury, but returned for the Second Leg which saw Swindon sail into the final at Wembley. Paynter overcame a slight injury doubt and managed to play from the start in Swindon's play-off final defeat as Swindon lost 1-0 to Millwall, but was substituted late in the second half. During the 2009-10 season Paynter had managed to form a formidable strike partnership with Charlie Austin and the duo had scored a total of forty-nine goals between them. In total Paynter scored twenty-nine goals for Swindon in the season, representing his best goal scoring ratio in a single season. His record with Swindon was forty-five goals in one hundred and twenty League games, of which eighteen were as a substitute, there were three more goals in seven starts and one game from the bench in the F.A. Cup and three goals in three starts in the League Cup but no goals were scored in his two play-off Final starts nor in the two starts and two substitute appearances in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. On 2nd June 2010, after turning down a new deal at Swindon Town, Paynter accepted a three–year deal with newly promoted Leeds United on £7,000 per week, joining them on 1st July 2010, when his Swindon contract expired. He featured in both of Leeds' pre-season games in Slovakia and scored his first goal for the club as Leeds defeated MFK Kosice 1-0 on the 16th July 2010. On 23rd July 2010, Paynter was ruled out for a minimum of six weeks, after suffering a stress fracture of the shin during the Slovakian trip. It did not stop Manager Simon Grayson from giving him the Leeds No. 9 jersey, last worn by Jermaine Beckford. He returned to training early in September and played a full game in a "behind closed doors" friendly at Thorp Arch in a 3-1 win over Middlesbrough. Unfortunately there was an adverse reaction and Paynter returned to the treatment room for a longer period. In mid-October he made a return to the Reserves and he finally made his League debut as an eighty-first minute substitute for Luciano Becchio in a 4-1 win at Scunthorpe United on 30th October 2010. He made his Elland Road debut as a replacement for Luciano Becchio in the eighty-ninth minute of a 2-2 draw with Hull City on 9th November 2010. there were another five games as a substitute before he made his starting debut on 28th December 2010 in the 3-3 draw at Portsmouth, which he was replaced by Luciano Becchio after sixty-five minutes. He vied for one of the two strikers' spots with Luciano Becchio and Davide Somma and usually came on as a late substitute but did start the odd game. It was in a rare start at Deepdale in a 2-1 win over Preston om 8th March 2011 that he scored his first Leeds League goal, in the fifty-seventh minute before being replaced by Luciano Becchio in the seventy-fifth minute. He didn't help his selection chances, when, after coming on as a sixty-seventh minute substitute for Luciano Becchio at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United, he was sent off in the final minute. With Becchio injured, he was restored to the starting side for the final four games of the season, but a return of one goal from twenty-three starts was not that of a main striker even though many had not been even half games. In the close season he was linked with a move to Sheffield United. However, he was still at Elland Road for the pre-season and featured in the pre-season games and scored the winner in the eighty-fifth minute of the 3-2 win over EPL side Newcastle United. He came on as a fifty-fourth minute substitute at Southampton in the opening fixture of the 2011-12 season on 6th August 2011. He had a recurrence of his injury and with Luciano Becchio and Davide Somma already sidelined for lengthy spells Leeds had to take Andy Keogh on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers to cover the lack of strikers. At the end of August there were talks with Brighton & Hove Albion about a move but nothing eventuated. Luciano Becchio was close to recovering from his injuries and Mikael Forssell had been signed on loan and on 20th October Paynter was made available for loan. On 27th October 2011 he was loaned to Brighton & Hove Albion until the end of the calendar year. On 29th October 2011 he made his Brighton debut at St Andrew's against Birmingham City when he came on as a sixty-seventh minute substitute for Matt Sparrow in a 0-0 draw. He made his starting debute on 1st November 2011 in a 0-1 loss at Watford. He made six starts and came off the bench four times without scoring before returning to Elland Road. It wasn't until 20th March 2012 that he featured in the first team when he came on as an eightieth minute substitute for Luciano Becchio in the 3-7 home debacle against Nottingham Forest. He followed this up with a sixty-ninth minute substitution for Luciano Becchio in the 0-2 defeat by Derby County at Elland Road on 9th April 2012, before he celebrated his start against Peterborough United on 14th April 2012 by scoring in the forty-fifth and seventy-third minute before being substituted by Luciano Becchio in the final minute, when he left the field to a standing ovation. His performance earned him another start, this time at Bloomfield Road on 17th April 2012 in a 0-1 defeat by Blackpool, when in the fifty-second minute he suffered an Achilles injury and had to be replaced by Luciano Becchio. The injury caused a premature end to his season and at the end of the season he was placed on the transfer list. After a trial period, on 13th August 2012 Paynter joined League One side Doncaster Rovers on a free transfer and signed a two year contract. It proved to be a good move as he scored thirteen goals in thirty-seven League appearances of which twelve were from the bench and also made one appearance in each of the F.A. Cup, League Cup and Football League Trophy, without scoring, and coming on as a substitute in the League Cup. On the final day of the League Competition, 27th April 2013, it was Paynter that provided the vital pass that gave James Coppinger the chance to score the only goal of the game in their clash with third-placed Brentford at Griffin Park which gave the club promotion back to the Championship as Champions of League One. Life in the Championship was not as easy as in League One and he was loaned out to Sheffield United on 10th January 2014 for the rest of the season. He started six games and came off the bench on seven occasions and, though he failed to score, the club did have a successful run as they climbed the ladder in the League and went on a run to the F.A. Cup Semi-Finals, allbeit without Paynter. He was released by Doncaster manager Paul Dickov at the end of the season when his contract ran out. He had scored thirteen goals in twenty-six starts and twenty games from the bench in the League but failed to add only one to that tally in other games in which he started one and came off the bench in one in the F.A. Cup, Scored one in three substitute appearances in the League Cup and start once in the Football League Trophy. He signed a two year contract with Carlisle United of League Two on 27th June 2014 and by late November 2014 he had started nine League games and come off the bench twice, started one League Cup game all without scoring but did get one in two starts in the Football League Trophy.