He was signed by
Middlesbrough straight after he left school. With his chances of first team football at the
Riverside Stadium very scarce, he went on loan to
Gateshead,
Hartlepool United for a month and then to
Stoke where he made 3 appearances. After Middlesbrough released him, Stoke did not hesitate to sign him permanently. Whilst at Stoke he went on loan to
Cambridge United where he scored 5 goals in 14 games. After his time at Stoke he moved to
Rochdale, who paid a club record (still standing as of June 2017) fee of £150,000 to bring him to
Spotland Stadium. He was an immediate success taking Rochdale to the brink of the play-offs with his goals before an unfortunately-timed injury. This prevented him from playing more than a marginal role the following season when Dale did make the play-offs. He managed to shake off the injury for the 2002–03 season when he played a key role in Dale's run to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup. With the end of his contract looming Connor was sold just before transfer deadline day in March 2004 for just £35,000 to
Swansea City despite Dale's precarious League position. Connor proved to be a hardworking, skilful striker, forging effective partnerships with both
Lee Trundle and
Kevin Nugent. Often maligned for basically not being Trundle, Paul scored a number of very important goals with some excellent finishes. The second top goal scorer in the 2004–05 season with 12 finishes in 44 appearances was 3 or 4 better than their top scorers totals for a number of seasons during the 1990s. In January 2006, he had fallen down the pecking order at the
Liberty Stadium, and so the Leyton Orient manager,
Martin Ling, signed him for £40,000. He made 34 appearances, scoring 7 goals.
Cheltenham Town On 15 January 2007 he signed for
Cheltenham Town for an initial fee
£20,000 with a further £5,000 payable if the Robins avoided relegation from League One that season.{{cite web
Lincoln City Connor commenced the 2009–2010 season by training with
Cheltenham Town{{cite web
Mansfield Town On 28 July 2010 he joined
Mansfield Town on a one-year contract with the club's supporters group The 12th Stag making a contribution to his wages.{{cite web Connor made an immediate impact scoring two goals on his debut.
Gainsborough Trinity On 1 December 2011, Connor joined
Gainsborough Trinity on a part-time basis; a move designed to allow him to explore other alternatives after football whilst also spending more time with his young family.{{cite web In June 2017 he was appointed player-coach at
West Auckland Town after previously being with
Shildon.{{cite web ==Personal Life==