Paul Mullin (footballer, born 1994)

Paul Philip Mullin (born 6 November 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Wrexham. He is a product of the Everton, Liverpool, and Huddersfield Town academies.

Mullin was the 2020–21 EFL League Two top scorer with Cambridge United and, having helped to secure their promotion to League One as runners-up, then subsequently moved to Wrexham ahead of the 2021–22 season where he again became top scorer; this time in the National League. In the 2022–23 season, Mullin scored 38 league goals as Wrexham were promoted to League Two as champions. In the 2023–24 season, he was again the team high scorer as Wrexham were promoted to League One. Born in England, he is eligible to play for Wales through his grandmother.

Career
Mullin was born in Litherland, Merseyside. He spent time in the academies of both Everton and Liverpool and after a period in the Liverpool Foundation Football College, he moved to Huddersfield Town.

Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town's youth coach Frankie Bunn invited Mullin to the squad. Subsequently Mullin was signed to Huddersfield Town in 2012 after impressing at U18 and U21 level; he signed a one-year contract at the club. However, at the end of the 2013–14 season, Mullin was released by the club, without ever making a first team appearance.

Morecambe
After a successful trial period he signed for Morecambe on a short-term contract in August 2014. He made his professional debut coming on as a second-half substitute in the League Cup first round defeat to Bradford City on 12 August 2014. Four days later, on his league debut, Mullin scored his first professional goal after coming on as a second-half substitute in the 3–2 win over Newport County, in which he scored a winning goal. One week later, on 23 August, Mullin made his full debut scoring both goals in a 2–1 win away at Cambridge United. After scoring three goals in his first seven matches, Mullin signed a three-year contract with the club in mid-September. Mullin then went through a barren spell of 11 games without scoring, only finding the net again in a 2–1 loss at Accrington Stanley on 31 October 2014.

Swindon Town
On 27 June 2017, Mullin joined League Two club Swindon Town for an undisclosed fee. Mullin was well regarded by fans for his hard-working approach but goals were hard to come by; which led to his departure after only one season.

Tranmere Rovers
In June 2018, he signed for Tranmere Rovers. He scored his first goal for Tranmere in a 4–3 EFL Trophy loss against Crewe Alexandra on 4 September 2018.

In January 2020, Tranmere Rovers took Premier League club Watford to an FA Cup third round replay after drawing 3–3 at Vicarage Road, Mullin scored a penalty in the first game and went on to score the winner after coming on as a substitute in the replay at Prenton Park. Tranmere drew Manchester United in the fourth round at home.

Cambridge United
Mullin signed for Cambridge United on a six-month loan deal on 31 January 2020, and scored his first goal for the club on 11 February 2020, away at Scunthorpe United. He scored again at Leyton Orient on 7 March, the last match before the season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July 2020, Mullin signed permanently on a one-year contract. On 20 October 2020, he scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 victory over Port Vale, taking his goal total to 11 in ten matches in all competitions. On 27 March 2021, Mullin scored his 25th league goal of the season in a 2–1 victory over Carlisle United, a goal which saw him break David Crown's record for the most league goals by a Cambridge United player in a season. As a gesture, club partners Mead renamed their stand the "Paul Mullin Stand", a name that would stay in place for the remainder of the 2020–21 season.

In April 2021, Mullin was nominated for the EFL League Two Player of the Season, before being announced as the winner at the EFL Awards on 29 April, where he was also named in the 2020–21 EFL League Two Team of the Season. Mullin was also awarded the League Two Golden boot after scoring 32 goals in Cambridge United's 2020–21 campaign, in which they secured promotion to the third tier of English football, a record number for the division since its rebranding in 2004.

Wrexham
At the end of the 2020–21 season, Mullin rejected a new contract offer with Cambridge United and in July 2021 joined National League side Wrexham on a three-year deal.

2021–22 season: National League Player of the Season and Golden Boot
On 19 October, Mullin scored both goals in a 2–0 win over Marine in the fourth qualifying round replay of the 2021–22 FA Cup, thus helping Wrexham reach the cup's first round proper. This brace also meant he had now scored 7 goals in his first 10 games for the club, thus having the best start of any Wrexham player since the club joined the National League in 2008, breaking the previous record held by Jefferson Louis who had scored 6 times in his first 10 appearances in 2009. After scoring three goals across the course of the month, including a vital last-minute winner against FC Halifax Town, Mullin was awarded the league's Player of the Month award for November 2021.

On 2 April 2022, in the semi-finals of the 2021–22 FA Trophy, Mullin scored both goals in a 2–0 win over Stockport County. Both goals came in stoppage time, twice lobbing the goalkeeper, as he helped Wrexham reach their first FA Trophy final since 2015. Mullin continued to have a successful first season at Wrexham, scoring 26 goals in the league campaign to help the club to a second-placed finish, losing the automatic promotion from the National League to Stockport County. Wrexham then lost the 2022 FA Trophy final in Wembley Stadium to Bromley on 22 May, and just six days later, Wrexham lost 5–4 to Grimsby Town in the semi-finals of the promotion play-offs despite Mullin scoring twice. In total, Mullin scored 32 goals in all competitions in his debut season, thus winning Wrexham Men's Team Top Goalscorer, Player of the Season, and Goal of the Season awards as well as the National League's Golden Boot and Player of the Season.

2022–23 season: FA Cup Golden Ball and promotion to the Football League
On 20 August 2022, Mullin scored his first hat-trick for Wrexham in a 5–0 home victory against Maidstone United. In October 2022, Mullin posted a picture of his boots on with "F*** the Tories!" printed on the side. The club acted quickly to ban him from wearing the boots, calling the photo an "unwelcome distraction". Later that season, he wore another message on his boots, carrying a dedication to his son Albi who had recently been diagnosed with autism.

On 1 October, Mullin scored a last-minute penalty against Oldham Athletic to seal a 2–1 comeback win for his team, who went top of the league. In the second round of the FA Cup, Mullin scored his second hat-trick for Wrexham in a 4–1 home victory against Farnborough. His first goal was his 50th goal for Wrexham, and his second-half brace saw him reach 20 for the 2022–23 season. In the third round, Mullin converted a second-half penalty against Championship side Coventry City to help secure a 4–3 win to Wrexham, as the club reached the FA Cup fourth round for the first time since 2000. In the fourth round, Wrexham faced Championship club Sheffield United. Mullin scored a late goal to give his side a 3–2 lead, but a last-minute equalizer forced a replay in which Mullin scored a penalty, but also missed one, as Wrexham were knocked-out with a 3–1 loss. Despite being eliminated in the fourth round, the 2022–23 FA Cup ended with Mullin as its top scorer with 9 goals (including one in the qualifying rounds), and he was thus the winner of the Golden Ball Award, which he collected in Wembley after the final ended. He was also selected to the FA Cup Team of the Season.

On 4 March, Mullin scored both goals in a 2–2 draw with Maidenhead United, a result that saw Wrexham return to the top of the National League, one point clear of Notts County. On 10 April, Mullin scored a goal in an eventual 3–2 win over league rivals Notts County, which helped his club to go three points clear of Notts County in the National League title race. On 22 April 2023, he scored two goals in a 3–1 home victory over Boreham Wood to clinch promotion to League Two. He finished as the league's second highest top scorer with 38 goals behind Notts County's Macaulay Langstaff, who set a National League division record of 42 goals. Mullin was named as the club's Player of the Season for the second consecutive season.

On 15 May, Wrexham extended Mullin's contract, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2026.

2023–24 season: Back in League Two; pre-season injury; and back-to-back promotion
On 25 July, in the third match of Wrexham's pre-season US tour, Mullin suffered a punctured lung after Manchester United's goalkeeper, Nathan Bishop, ran out of the box to challenge Mullin and ran into his side as Mullin jumped to attempt a header. Mullin walked off the field with assistance while wearing an oxygen mask and was later hospitalized with broken ribs and a punctured lung, an injury which would cause him to miss the start of the season. Wrexham would go on to win the game 3–1. Mullin's injury caused him to stay in the United States after the team returned to the United Kingdom to allow time for his lung to heal.

On 29 August, Wrexham's manager Phil Parkinson revealed that Mullin had begun non-contact training. On 9 September, Mullin made his first appearance since his injury when he was named as a substitute and later came on in a 2–1 victory over Doncaster Rovers. Then on 16 September, Mullin started against Grimsby Town in a 3–0 victory. Mullin scored his first goals of the regular season with a brace against Crewe Alexandra on 30 September, resulting in a 3–3 draw. On 25 November, Mullin achieved a hat-trick over his former club Morecambe in a 6–0 victory. On 1 January 2024, Mullin signed a contract extension with Wrexham, signing until the end of the 2026–27 season. On 2 March, Mullin converted his first hat-trick of the year and second of the season in a 4–0 win over Accrington Stanley with all goals being scored in the first half. He continued his impressive goalscoring form across the remainder of March, scoring seven goals and registering two assists in six matches, winning the League Two Player of the Month award for a second time in his career. He achieved his 100th goal for Wrexham on 6 April 2024 in a win against Colchester United. On 13 April, he scored two goals in a 6–0 home victory over Forest Green Rovers which clinched promotion to League One.

Personal life
Mullin began to raise awareness for autism after his son, born in 2019, was diagnosed with it and became a patron for the autism charity YourSpace in March 2023. He released the memoir My Wrexham Story in November 2023 through Penguin Books.

International career
Born in England, Mullin is eligible to play for the Wales national team through a grandmother. Mullin was placed on the standby list for the Wales national team for their October 2023 fixtures against Gibraltar and Croatia.

Honours
Tranmere Rovers
 * EFL League Two play-offs: 2019

Cambridge United
 * EFL League Two second-place promotion: 2020–21

Wrexham
 * EFL League Two second-place promotion: 2023–24
 * National League: 2022–23
 * FA Trophy runner-up: 2021–22

Individual
 * EFL League Two Player of the Month: October 2020, March 2024
 * EFL League Two Player of the Year: 2020–21
 * EFL League Two Top Scorer: 2020–21
 * EFL League Two Team of the Season: 2020–21
 * PFA Team of the Year: 2020–21 League Two
 * Cambridge United Player of the Season: 2020–21
 * National League Top Scorer: 2021–22
 * National League Player of the Season: 2021–22
 * National League Team of the Season: 2021–22, 2022–23
 * Wrexham Player of the Season: 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
 * Wrexham Goal of the Season: 2021–22
 * FA Cup Golden Ball: 2022–23