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Paul Dickov
Personal information
Full name	Paul Dickov
Date of birth	November 1, 1972 (age 34)
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Manchester City
Number	14
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1990-1996 1993 1994 1996-2002 2002-2004 2004-2006 2006-	Arsenal → Luton Town (loan) → Brighton (loan) Manchester City Leicester Blackburn Rovers Manchester City	022 0(4) 015 0(1) 008 0(5) 158 (35) 089 (32) 050 (14) 015 0(0)
National team2
2001-	Scotland	010 0(1)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 October 2006. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 21:02, 9 January 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Paul Dickov (born November 1, 1972 in Livingston, Scotland) is a Scottish football player currently playing for Manchester City.

Dickov started his career with Arsenal F.C., but was never a first team regular. In 1996 he moved to Manchester City, who were then in Division One. Over six seasons in Manchester Dickov experienced two promotions and two relegations, playing in three different divisions. A 2005 poll named Dickov's equalising goal in the 1999 Division Two playoff final the greatest ever Manchester City goal. In 2002 Dickov joined Leicester City, where he stayed for two seasons. In 2004 he signed for Blackburn Rovers, and was part of the team which qualified for the UEFA Cup in 2005-06. Upon the expiry of his Blackburn contract he rejoined Manchester City.

In 2001 he received his first Scotland cap in a friendly against Australia. As of April 2007 he has represented his country ten times, scoring one goal.

Contents 1 Arsenal 2 Manchester City 3 Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers 4 Return to Manchester City 5 References 6 External links

As a youth, Dickov represented Scotland in the 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship, in which Scotland reached the final. His performances in the tournament led to an offer to join Arsenal, and in July 1989 he joined the London club as a trainee.^[1] He made his senior debut as a substitute in a FA Premier League match against Southampton on March 20, 1993, before heading off to both Brighton & Hove Albion and Luton Town on loan during the 1993-94 season. Unable to secure a regular place ahead of Ian Wright, Paul Merson and Kevin Campbell, he made 25 appearances in three years for Arsenal, most of them as substitute, and scored six goals.

On 22 August 1996 Dickov joined Manchester City in a transfer valued between £750,000^[2] and £1 million,^[3] the final signing of Alan Ball's Manchester City management. He made his debut as a substitute against Stoke City on 24 August,^[4] a 2-1 defeat which was Ball's final match. Dickov made his first Manchester City start in the next match, a 2-1 win over Charlton Athletic.^[5] Dickov joined the club in a period of turmoil; in his first season at Manchester City he played under five different managers (three full-time appointments and two caretakers). A regular starter under Asa Hartford, Steve Coppell and Phil Neal, he played less frequently under Frank Clark, and finished the season with five goals from 25 League starts. At the start of the 1997-98 season Dickov did not feature in the first team, but was restored to the starting lineup following injuries to Uwe Rösler and Lee Bradbury. Dickov finished the season as the City's top scorer with nine goals, but the club were relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time in their history after finishing in 22nd place.

In the 1998-99 season Dickov played a supporting role in a striking partnership with Shaun Goater, and scored sixteen goals in all competitions. The sixteenth of these was particularly crucial, an injury time equaliser in the final of the promotion playoffs against Gillingham. Dickov's 95th minute goal took the game to extra time, and the Manchester team ultimately won to earn promotion to the First Division. This goal was voted City’s Greatest Ever Goal in a 2005 poll conducted by Manchester City.^[6] When Manchester City returned to the Premiership for the 2000-01 season it appeared that Dickov's chances of playing would be limited as City signed former FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah and Costa Rican international Paulo Wanchope. However Dickov's hard work earned him his place in the team and his performances attracted the attention of the then Scotland national football team manager Craig Brown. Dickov made his international debut against Australia and scored a 30-yard bicycle kick which deceived the opposition goalkeeper and won the game.

Manchester City were relegated back into Dvision One for the 2001-02 season and Kevin Keegan replaced Joe Royle as manager. Dickov found his first team opportunities at the club limited especially as the team had other strikers such as Paulo Wanchope, Shaun Goater and Darren Huckerby. Having fallen out of favour, he moved to Leicester City as they attempted to avoid relegation from the Premiership. His Leicester debut came in a 3-0 defeat against Derby County. However in the next match he played, he scored both goals in a 2-1 victory against Blackburn Rovers.

In March 2004, he was arrested, along with Keith Gillespie and Frank Sinclair, on allegations of rape whilst on a training camp trip in Spain.^[7] All three were latered cleared^[8] and he still managed to score 13 goals in the 2003-04 season. Leicester were subsequently relegated to the First Division and Dickov moved to Blackburn Rovers, despite having publicly pledged his determination to help the Foxes achieve promotion the following season.^{[citation needed]} He began the season 2005-06 on the trainer's table with injuries and found it hard to retain a regular place in the side, with manager Mark Hughes having signed prolific forwards Craig Bellamy and Shefki Kuqi during the summer. He left the club in the summer of 2006 following the expiry of his contract.^[9]

On May 26, 2006 Dickov rejoined Manchester City, signing a two-year deal.^[10] There he joined Andy Cole who he had known as a trialist at Arsenal and at Blackburn Rovers for a short period of time. However, Cole left for Portsmouth on 31 August 2006, before they had the chance to renew their partnership.

Dickov came on as a substitute in Manchester City's first game of the 2006-07 season against Chelsea which the team lost 3-0 and then started the teams first home game of the season against Portsmouth a match which ended 0-0. In City's third game of the season he put in a man of the match performance against his old team Arsenal and City won 1-0 after Joey Barton converted a penalty awarded after Trevor Sinclair was brought down in the penalty area.

In October 2006 it was revealed that Dickov had been suffering from a back problem and had been playing when this was not quite right. However after undergoing the appropriate medical treatment he returned to action and was part of the team that helped Manchester City defeat Middlesbrough 1-0. Although, his goal-scoring exploits have been decidedly limited, he provides a critical contribution to the team and is highly-rated by pundits and players alike,^{[attribution needed]} particularly current Birmingham City F.C manager Steve Bruce who reputes him to be "very good off the ball".^{[citation needed]}

• Paul Dickov career stats at Soccerbase

Manchester City F.C. - Current Squad
1 Isaksson | 2 Richards | 3 Ball | 4 Jordan | 5 Dabo | 7 Ireland | 8 Barton | 9 Mpenza | 10 Abdoun | 11 Vassell | 12 Weaver | 14 Dickov | 15 Distin | 16 Onuoha | 17 Sun | 18 Mills | 20 Samaras | 21 Hamann | 22 Dunne | 24 Beasley | 27 Trabelsi | 28 Sinclair | 30 Corradi | 33 Johnson | 36 Sturridge | 39 Laird | 43 Miller | Manager: Pearce