PAUL RAYNOR
PAUL RAYNOR
Rotherham United Assistant Manager Paul Raynor is a trusted colleague of boss Steve Evans, with the pair enjoying success together for over two decades.
A midfielder in his playing days, Raynor turned out for the likes of Swansea City, Cambridge United and Preston North End during a long and illustrious career, before taking his first step into coaching with Hednesford Town.
He first linked up with Steve Evans in 2004, where he was his assistant at Boston United, the pair would go on to win two promotions in four years whilst with the Pilgrims, guiding the club to the EFL for the first time.
Their success continued at Crawley Town in 2007, where again the duo would be celebrating promotion together, in the shape of a National League title success in 2011. During this time, they also reached the Fifth Round of the Emirates FA Cup on two occasions, one of which saw them lock horns with Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United.
Evans and Raynor had the Red Devils on the brink of a second successive promotion before Rotherham United came calling for their service for the first time towards the end of the 2011/12 campaign.
Having assembled successive promotion-wining squads the previous two seasons before, Evans and Raynor worked their magic once again, guiding the Millers to League One at the first attempt.
If that wasn’t enough, they oversaw another memorable campaign, securing back-to-back triumphs after winning the League One Play-offs, before keeping the club in the second tier the following year.
Spells with Leeds United, Mansfield Town, Peterborough United and Gillingham followed, before the pair took on another role at Stevenage in 2022.
With Boro facing the very real possibility of losing their EFL status, Evans and Raynor oversaw an uptick in form to keep them in the EFL and led them to an unthinkable promotion the following season.
The Hertfordshire-based side were on the cusp of the third tier Play-offs when Rotherham came calling for Evans and Raynor’s services once again in April 2024.
