Simon Grayson

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Simon Grayson
Personal information
Full name Simon Nicholas Grayson
Date of birth 16 December 1969 (1969-12-16) (age 38)
Place of birth    Ripon, England
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current club Blackpool (manager)
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1988–1992
1992–1997
1997–1999
1999–2002
2000
2001
2001
2002
2002–2005		 Leeds United
Leicester City
Aston Villa
Blackburn Rovers
→ Sheffield Wednesday (loan)
→ Stockport County (loan)
→ Notts County (loan)
→ Bradford City (loan)
Blackpool
Career		 002 0(0)
188 0(4)
049 0(0)
035 0(0)
005 0(0)
013 0(0)
010 0(1)
007 0(0)
126 0(6)
434 (11)   
Teams managed
2005– Blackpool

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969 in Ripon, North Yorkshire) is an English former footballer and now a manager. Throughout his playing career he primarily operated on the right side of defence; however, he was also utilised in midfield.

He is the manager of Blackpool and guided them to promotion to The Championship in 2007. He is the brother of cricketer Paul Grayson, and he is nicknamed "Larry", after his namesake Larry Grayson.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Early career

Grayson began his career at Leeds United in June 1988 as a midfielder/defender. He did not manage to make the big breakthrough at Leeds, playing just twice in four years. He signed for Leicester City in March 1992, and went on to make 229 appearances in five years, enjoying some silverware along the way, winning the League Cup in 1997, and was voted the club's player of the season in the same year.

[edit] Aston Villa and beyond

He moved to Aston Villa in 1997, and made another 49 Premier League appearances at Villa Park. He signed for Blackburn Rovers in July 1999, where he made 34 appearances in his first season. He lost his place the following season, and spent most of the next two years on loan, with spells at Sheffield Wednesday, Stockport County, Notts County and Bradford City.

[edit] Final years

Grayson signed for Blackpool on a free transfer on 19 July 2002.[1] He made more than 100 appearances for the Seasiders, and captained the side. He started his career at Blackpool in the right-back berth, but was moved to midfield by former boss Colin Hendry to bolster an area of weakness.

[edit] Management

[edit] Blackpool

Grayson moved into coaching in 2004-05, managing the reserve squad at Bloomfield Road with some success. He was named caretaker-manager of the first team in November 2005 following Colin Hendry's departure. After diverting Blackpool away from relegation that season he was given the job on a permanent basis for the start of the 2006-07 season.

Grayson retired from playing at the end of the 2005-06 season to focus purely on the managerial side of the game.

In late 2006, he led Blackpool to only one defeat in fourteen league games, a sequence that included five wins out of six, resulting in their appearance in the four play-off positions. The run also brought attendances of over 7,000 to Bloomfield Road. This led to his being awarded the League One "Manager of the Month" award for December.[2]

Blackpool's finishing positions in the Football League under Grayson.
Blackpool's finishing positions in the Football League under Grayson.

On January 6, 2007, he guided Blackpool to the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in seventeen years after beating Aldershot Town 4-2 at Bloomfield Road. They were knocked out by Norwich City, 3-2, after extra time, in a replay at Carrow Road on February 13, narrowly missing out on a trip to London to face Chelsea in the last sixteen.[3]

On May 1, 2007, Grayson was fined £250 by the FA for remarks made to an official during a match at Rotherham United back on March 27.[4]

Grayson received his second League One "Manager of the Month" award of the 2006-07 season in May 2007.[5] Two days later, on May 5, 2007, Grayson guided Blackpool to a third-place finishing position in League One and a place in the end-of-season play-offs.[6]

Blackpool beat Oldham Athletic 5-2 on aggregate over the two legs of the play-off semi-final. They met Yeovil Town in the final at the newly-renovated Wembley Stadium on May 27 and won 2-0, securing promotion to The Championship. It was their tenth-consecutive victory, a new club record.

For the first league game in the Championship, on August 11, 2007, Blackpool travelled to Leicester City, with whom Grayson spent the longest period as a player. Blackpool won by a single goal.[7] This victory, combined with one in the next game at Huddersfield Town in the League Cup on August 14, extended Blackpool's run of consecutive victories to twelve games. The run was ended four days later with a draw at Bristol City, but their unbeaten record was extended to thirteen games.

In October 2007, he guided Blackpool to the fourth round of the League Cup for the first time in thirty-five years. They were drawn against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. Their interest in the competition ended, as Spurs won 2-0.[8]

On 21 December 2007, Grayson signed a two-and-a-half-year contract, keeping him as manager of Blackpool until June 2010.[9] He had been working for two years without a contract.[10] On 29 May 2008, Grayson was said to be one of the favourites for the vacant manager's job at Football League One club Leicester City, with one bookmaker making him the favourite for the job.[citation needed] Grayson responded by saying, "It's flattering to be linked with another job, but it's pure speculation. When players do well at a certain club and are successful then they are linked with other teams and it's the same with managers. It's just the way football is, but it doesn't mean it's going to happen." And club chairman, Karl Oyston said, "I'm not saying it doesn't bother me, but I can't comment on something there is no substance for. Until I get a phone call from Milan Mandarić saying 'can we talk to your manager?' then there is nothing to talk about - and I haven't had a phone call saying that."[11]

[edit] Managerial stats

Statistics account for all competitions.
Updated: 5 May, 2008
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Blackpool Flag of England November 10, 2005 Present 135 52 43 40 38.51

[edit] Honours

[edit] As a player

Leicester City

Blackpool

[edit] As a manager

Blackpool

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Blackpool sign Grayson" - BBC Sport
  2. ^ a b Grayson collects monthly accolade - BBC Sport
  3. ^ Norwich 3-2 Blackpool, FA Cup 4R - BBC Sport
  4. ^ Blackpool manager handed FA fine - BBC Sport
  5. ^ a b Blackpool boss lands April prize - BBC Sport
  6. ^ Swansea 3-6 Blackpool - BBC Sport
  7. ^ Leicester 0-1 Blackpool - BBC Sport
  8. ^ Tottenham 2-0 Blackpool - BBC Sport
  9. ^ "We speak to Simon Grayson" - Blackpool F.C.'s official website
  10. ^ "Grayson signs a contract - finally!" - BBC Lancashire
  11. ^ "Pool boss is Leicester favourite", Blackpool Gazette, 2008-05-29. Retrieved on 2008-05-29. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Blackpool F.C. – current squad

— Barker • — Bayliss • — Broomes • — Burgess • — Coid • — Crainey • — D'Agostino • — Evatt • — Fox • — Gorkšs • — Green • — Hoolahan • — Jørgensen • — Kay • — Lloyd • — McPhee • — Merella • — Mitchley • — Morrell • — Rachubka • — Southern • — Taylor-Fletcher • — Wiles • Manager: Grayson
v • d • e
Blackpool F.C. – Managers

Barcroft (1903–09) • Cox (1909–11) • Norman (1918–23) • Buckley (1923–27) • Beaumont (1927–28) • Evans (1928–33) • MacFarlane (1933–35) • Smith (1935–58) • Suart (1958–67) • Mortensen (1967–69) • Shannon (1969–70) • Meadows* (1970) • Stokoe (1970–72) • Potts (1972–76) • Brown (1976–78) • Meadows* (1978) • Stokoe (1978–79) • Ternent (1979–80) • Ball (1980–81) • Brown (1981–82) • Ellis (1982–89) • Mullen (1989–90) • White* (1990) • Carr (1990) • Ayre (1990–94) • Allardyce (1994–96) • Megson (1996–97) • Worthington (1997–99) • McMahon (2000–04) • Hendry (2004–05) • Grayson (2005–)

* as caretaker-manager