In Profile: Paul Warne

Paul Warne is the new Head Coach of Derby County Football Club.

The 49-year-old parted company with Championship side Rotherham United to make the move to Pride Park Stadium and he has linked up with the Rams in their first season in the third tier of English football since 1986.

After a 15-year professional playing career which included spells at the Millers, Oldham Athletic and Yeovil Town - Warne went into first team management with Rotherham in 2016 and enjoyed plenty of success during almost six years in the hotseat.

Here’s everything you need to know about the new man in the Derby dugout…

Career Beginnings

Warne was born in Norwich on 8th May 1973.

Before going into management, Warne had a long and successful playing career in the EFL - predominantly with the Millers, whom he made 294 appearances for across two separate spells.

He started off with local side Great Yarmouth Town before moving to Diss Town and then Wroxham. During his time at Diss Town, he won the FA Vase in 1994. Away from the game, he graduated from Nottingham University with a Sports Science & Business degree and completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Education.

His first professional contract came in 1997 at 23-years-old with Wigan Athletic, where he stayed for two years and also had a loan stint at Kettering Town, before moving to South Yorkshire for his first spell at Rotherham.

Warne stayed with the Millers for six years and played his part in their back-to-back promotions to the Championship in 1999/2000 and 2000/01, as well as the side’s next four seasons in the second tier. He then earned a transfer to Oldham Athletic in 2005, after a brief loan spell at Mansfield Town. He was a firm fan favourite with the Latics and won the 2006/07 Supporters’ Player of the Year accolade as they reached the play-offs.

At the end of that campaign, he moved to fellow League One side and the previous season’s beaten Play-Off Finalists Yeovil Town for two years before returning to the Millers in 2009, where he closed out his playing career in the summer of 2012.

His last appearance came at the age of 38 years, 11 months and 27 days and retired with more than 500 professional appearances to his name and he bagged 67 goals.

Coaching & Managerial Career

Upon his retirement from the playing side of the game with Rotherham in the summer of 2012 - and being granted a testimonial by the Millers for his service - Warne stayed with the club and held the position of fitness coach – a role he kept working with four different managers over the next few years under Neil Redfearn, Neil Warnock, Alan Stubbs and Kenny Jackett.

Following Jackett’s departure in November 2016, Warne was put in caretaker charge of the club before seeing that position extended until the end of the season a couple of months later.

And in April 2017, following several excellent performances and results including wins over Norwich City and Queens Park Rangers, the former midfielder was appointed first team manager on a permanent basis.

Warne oversaw an impressive three promotions from League One with Rotherham, in 2017/18, 2019/20 and 2021/22, and also led the Millers to an EFL Trophy victory over Sutton United last term at Wembley Stadium.

The start of the current campaign saw his Rotherham side defy the odds early doors back in the second tier and he left the Millers earlier this week having guided them to eighth in the Championship table with a game in hand over their rivals. He left the Millers as the sixth longest serving manager in the English game and the fourth in the EFL.