During a goal-filled stint at Swindon Town in League One, when he scored 26 goals in the 2009–10 season alongside the equally prolific Charlie Austin, the one-man battering ram was sending defences reeling.
Paynter struggled in the second division after moving to Elland Road, while his teammate, who went on to have a successful career in the Championship and Premier League, was not as successful.
After failing to deliver results for a team aiming to get promoted to the top flight, he was let go and sent on loan to Brighton and Hove Albion after 14 months.
Billy Paynter’s incredible season with Swindon Town
After only reaching double figures in three of his first nine professional football seasons, Paynter’s 09/10 season at the County Ground saw everything come together, with goals coming as easily as they had ever come.
With Simon Ferry, Jonathan Douglas, Austin, and Jon-Paul McGovern in midfield, the Robins were a formidable team in the third division that season. Paynter’s 26 league strikes were the main factor in the team’s march to the playoffs.
Even though the season began badly, the striker’s 17 goals in as many games from October to February saw him take off and put the Wiltshire team in the running for promotion.
Paynter’s physical presence up top allowed him to frequently benefit from Town’s aggressive style. Leeds was one of his many victims during that year, as he scored braces in both of the team’s meetings with the Yorkshire club.
Austin opened the score in the first of those games, which really made the rest of the division take notice of Swindon. Paynter’s almost-posy header doubled the score, and a spot-kick completed the 3-0 triumph in front of their own supporters.
| Billy Paynter’s Swindon Town, Leeds United league game comparison (FBRef) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Swindon Town | Leeds United | |
| Appearances | 120 | 27 |
| Starts | 112 | 10 |
| Goals | 45 | 3 |
| Assists | 17 | 1 |
| Goal contribution/90 | 0.62 | 0.38 |
With a few weeks left in the season, Swindon overtook Leeds in the top two thanks to the identical score in the rematch at Elland Road, when Paynter stole the show with a well-executed volley and long-range piledriver.
Sadly, the Robins’ dreams were dashed when they lost to Millwall in the playoff final. Leeds, on the other hand, overcame their recent nemesis to secure a return to the third division.
Billy Paynter struggles following his transfer to Leeds United.
Untied was excited to claim Paynter as their own as they advanced to the Championship after witnessing the striker single-handedly destroy their team twice in the previous campaign, but that incredible season would quickly turn out to be a false dawn.
At the time, Whites manager Simon Grayson [above] expressed his excitement about the signing and even cited those two matches versus Swindon as a crucial demonstration of his talent.
“He proved his worth last season, scoring four goals against us in two games,” the Leeds boss remarked at the time.
“Over the past few years, he has developed as a player, and he had an incredible season the previous year.
He puts in a lot of effort, holds the ball up nicely, and has demonstrated that he is aware of where the back of the net is.
“We were frantic to obtain him as soon as we found out he was available. We think he will be a valuable addition to the team, and I’m happy to have him.”
There was a lot of pressure on Paynter to perform well after he moved to Yorkshire, but he was unable to do so since Jermaine Beckford had left the team weeks earlier to join Everton in the Premier League.
With just 22 appearances that season, and only eight from the opening whistle, the former Swindon player always had his job cut out for him in the second division, where players like Luciano Becchio and Ross McCormack were competing for a first-team berth at the club.
The Algerian wide player appears to be a target for the Elland Road team.
United supporters won’t remember him wearing a white shirt during that campaign other than one goal in a 2-1 victory against Preston North End. The striker scored just as many goals at Elland Road prior to joining Leeds as he did while they were hiring him.
His reputation did not improve during his goalless loan spell with Brighton, a Championship team, in the subsequent season before he returned to League One with Doncaster Rovers, where he felt more at home.
The goals quickly reappeared once he was back where he felt most at ease, with 13 goals helping his new employers win the championship and advance to the Championship.
At the time, what appeared to be a wise decision on paper backfired spectacularly for the player and the team, and Paynter and Leeds probably regretted taking a risk that didn’t pay off.
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