Paul Crowley (born: 13 August 1980) is a versatile central midfielder whose first real taste of the League of Ireland experience was under John Gill with Dublin City in 2003, as he played a vital role in City’s First Division title success. Crowley had been with the club for four seasons previous to that and he remained for the Vikings’ top flight return, however, it was an expedition which didn’t go to plan. In mid-season, with City bottom of the league, Gill handed in his resignation, though Crowley stayed on until the end of the campaign after avoiding the Roddy Collins clearout. 26 appearances and five goals - a tally leaving him the second highest scorer at the club behind Gary O’Neill - was not enough to help City avoid relegation as they finished as table proppers, with Crowley transferring to another Premier Division outfit, Waterford United, shortly after the season’s end.
 
In a one season spell at the RSC, Crowley helped guide the Blues to eighth place with five goals from 24 outings, a return which saw him share the club’s top scorer award with Vinny Sullivan. At the start of 2006, and with Dublin City having gained promotion back to the Premier, Crowley returned to his old club, then under the management of Dermot Keely. It was to come to another disappointing end, however, as City went bust less than halfway through the campaign. Crowley soon found himself a new club, though, as he arrived at UCD. Between then and the end of the season, he appeared eight times and made enough of an impression on manager Pete Mahon to earn a new contract for 2007.
 
In his first full campaign with the Students, Crowley appeared nineteen times in the league - the last of which came in the 2-1 defeat away to Galway United on the final day of the season - and helped them to safety, as well as playing a part in their run to the semi-finals of both domestic cup competitions. Despite enjoying his time at Belfield, however, Paul decided to depart the college club to drop back to the First Division after being offered a deal with Dundalk by his former boss.
 
Profile last updated: February 2008