Born in England, Paul Child came to the United States in 1972 to play for the Atlanta Chiefs of the North American Soccer League.

After two years, Child was traded to the San Jose Earthquakes, where he excelled for the next six seasons. He electrified the Quakes’ offense with his prolific scoring touch and finished as the franchise’s all-time scoring leader with 61 goals. In 1975 Child was named Most Valuable Player of the NASL Indoor Tournament, leading the Quakes to the title at the Cow Palace in San Francisco with seven goals in four games. Over his career, Child played 239 games for four NASL teams and scored 102 goals, ranking fifth all-time in NASL history.

Paul Child was inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.