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Paul Willis

Name: Paul Willis
Born: 5 March 1986
Height: 5.10 ft
Weight:
Position: Goalkeeper

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 1 Under-21 Cap (2006), Under-19.
Club Honours: (with Liverpool) Liverpool Senior Cup Winner 2003/04; (with AFC Liverpool) North West Counties First Division Trophy Winner 2008/09, 2009/10.

Club Career:
Teams........... --Seasons-- Signed -Fee- -League-
Liverpool....... 05/06...... Jul-05 Youth ..0(0)/0
Stockport County 05/06 ..... Feb-06 .Loan ..0(0)/0
AFC Liverpool... 08/09-09/10 Jul-08 ...... 64(0)/0* (North West Counties League)
Alsager Town ............... Sep-10 ............... (North West Counties League)
* all games

Biography:
When Paul Willis was selected for Northern Ireland's UEFA European Under-19 Championship Finals squad in 2005 he was the sole representative of Liverpool's celebrated Academy at the tournament. For that feat alone he was feted as the next Elisha Scott, the last Liverpool goalkeeper to play for (Northern) Ireland. He had already made the news having scored the winning penalty for his club's under-18 side in a shoot-out win over Everton in the Liverpool Senior Cup final.

After graduating from the Northern Ireland Under-19 set-up, Willis was overshadowed by Michael McGovern and Jonny Tuffey and although a regular in the Under-21 squad for a season he was limited to a place on the bench. He made his only Under-21 appearance as a half-time substitute against Israel in February 2006 friendly.

A fine shot-stopper, Willis perhaps lacked the frame required to make it at the highest level. On 24 February 2006 he joined Stockport on a months loan where he was merely un-used back-up. At the end of that season Willis was released by Liverpool, later re-emerging at "fans' club" AFC Liverpool. He was awarded both the Fans' and Players' Player of the Year for the 2009/10 season during which he played 61 times.

After joining Alsager Town early in the 2010/11 season Willis made headlines when he scored from a goal kick in a 4-1 win at Flixton in January 2011.

AFC Liverpool Squad

Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
08-02-2006 Israel A W 1-0 FR sub

Summary: 1/0. Won 1, Drew 0, Lost 0.

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