Hayden Mullins

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Hayden Mullins bigraphy, stories - English footballer

Hayden Mullins : biography

27 March 1979 –

Hayden Ian Mullins (born 27 March 1979) is an English footballer who plays for Birmingham City. He is primarily a defensive midfielder, but can also play as a sweeper and at right-back.

Mullins began his career with Division 1 side Crystal Palace in 1996, and signed his first professional contract with the club in 1998. He quickly established himself in the first team, and made 257 senior appearances for Palace in five seasons. In October 2003, he switched to First Division side West Ham United, initially on a short-term loan, which quickly turned into a permanent transfer. He remained at the club for five-and-a-half years, making 213 appearances, before joining Premier League side Portsmouth in January 2009. He made 129 appearances for Portsmouth, but the club’s financial difficulties meant that he joined Championship side Reading on loan in March 2012. At the end of the 2011-12 season, Mullins left Portsmouth, and joined current club Birmingham City on a free transfer.

Mullins made three appearances for the England under-21 squad in 1999, but is yet to make a senior international appearance.

International career

Mullins has made three appearances for the England U-21 team against Poland U-21 in March 1999, Hungary U-21 in April 1999 and Bulgaria U-21 in June 1999.

Honours

Portsmouth

  • FA Cup runner-up, 2010

Club career

Crystal Palace

Mullins was born in Reading, Berkshire. He joined Crystal Palace as a trainee in August 1996, and made his first-team debut in July 1998, at the age of 19, in the 1998 Intertoto Cup matches against Turkish club Samsunspor. Head coach Terry Venables gave him his domestic debut in a 3–3 draw against Bolton Wanderers in August 1998, and he scored his first senior goal in a 3–1 away defeat to Birmingham City a week later. He immediately established himself in the first team, made 45 league and cup appearances in the 1998–99 season, was named "Player of The Year", and was capped for the England under-18 team. Mullins later acknowledged his debt to Venables, saying, "I learnt a lot from him. He took a lot of time with us on the training pitch. He taught us a lot about shape and formation, he’s very detailed in that respect. He’s very good man on man, he made me feel totally comfortable he didn’t pressure me into it at all."

Financial difficulties meant that Crystal Palace were unable to make new signings for the 1999–2000 season and relied on youngsters such as Mullins and Clinton Morrison and veterans such as Andy Linighan as they successfully battled against relegation from Division One. Mullins made 49 league and cup appearances in that season and a further 51 appearances in the 2000–01 season as Palace reached the semi-final of the League Cup but narrowly escaped relegation. He was transfer listed in October 2000 due to what manager Alan Smith described as a "bad attitude" but was taken off the list and was offered and signed a new four-year contract two months later as his relationship with Smith improved. Smith said of him in January 2001, "He’s a really good footballer which means I can play him in any position. I like my young players to play in different positions. This season he’s played full-back, midfield and sweeper. [We’ve] got to work on his defending, but he’s got pace, he has good vision and he wants to play football."

Mullins made a total of 47 appearances in league and cup in the 2001–02 season as Palace made an ultimately unsuccessful push for the Division One play-off places. He was made captain in the 2002–03 season by manager Trevor Francis, who saw him as an integral part of the squad. He made 52 league and cup appearances as Palace reached the quarter-finals of the League Cup and recorded a memorable 2–0 win over Liverpool in an FA Cup fourth round replay at Anfield. He was named "Player of The Year" for a second time in 2003.

An offer of £600,000 from Birmingham City in January 2003 was rejected as "derisory". With one year remaining on his existing contract, Mullins turned down the offer of a new contract in May. His agent said, "It is no secret that Hayden believes he will not be able to fulfil his true potential at Palace. If the club wishes to get some financial reward for their role in his up bringing, then they need to sell him this summer." The following October, he joined West Ham United. Mullins made over 250 league and cup appearances for Palace, scoring 20 goals.