Paul Thirlwell initially joined the Cumbrians on a three month loan deal from Derby County in September 2006 before signing permanently for the club in January 2007.

The Newcastle-born midfielder began his career at Sunderland after coming through the club's School of Excellence. He made his first-team debut in a League Cup tie in August 1998 and went on to make five appearances in his first full season as a professional.

After Sunderland were promoted to the Premier League at the end of that season, he was allowed to go out on-loan to First Division side Swindon Town at the start of the following campaign.

After a two month spell with Swindon he returned to the Stadium of Light and went on to make several appearances as the Black Cats finished in 7th place.

In the summer of 2004 after over 90 appearances for the Mackems, he left the club to join Sheffield United. He spent one season at Bramall Lane, making 36 appearances and scoring his first ever league goal in a 3-3 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Before the start of the 2005/06 season he left the Yorkshire club to move to Derby County but again spent only one full season with them, making 23 first team appearances during his time at Pride Park.

In September 2006 he made the move north to Cumbria and signed for United on a three-month loan deal. After impressing as the Blues settled into life back in League One, he was signed up on a permanent deal in January 2007.

His impressive attitude and performances were enough for him to be named as the new club captain following the departure of Kevin Gray in the summer of 2007. After starting the 2007/08 season well, he found first team opportunities limited from September onwards due to injury, although he was a part of the side that defeat Leeds United at Elland Road in the play-off semi-finals.

After returning to full fitness in the summer of 2008, he played more regularly during the 2008/09 campaign, helping the Blues avoid relegation to League Two on the last day of the season against Millwall. He scored the second goal in a 2-0 win over the Lions, a stunning 20 yards volley that was only pipped to the "Goal of the Season" award by Graham Kavanagh's strike earlier in the game.

The 2009/10 season saw Thirlwell miss parts of the first half of the season due to injury but he returned to be an almost ever-present after Christmas, leading the team out at Wembley as captain in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final against Southampton.

The following campaign saw United make it to the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final again and this time, it was Thirlwell who went up the steps as the winning captain, becoming only the second United captain to lead the club to victory in a first-team cup final after the 1-0 win over Brentford at Wembley Stadium.

With over 150 appearances for the club, Paul leads by example with his hard-working performances from the middle of the park, rarely wasting a pass and having the ability to occasionally pop up with important goals. He has also been capped at U21 level for England.

Under contract until the summer of 2012.

Paul is sponsored by the CUFC Away Travel.

For more details on our Player and Coaching Staff sponsors for the 2011/12 season, click here.