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Christopher Mark Greenacre (born 23 December 1977) is an English football manager and former
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
, he is the head coach of the Wellington Phoenix FC Reserves. Greenacre began his career with Manchester City in 1996. Whilst at
Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest a ...
he was sent out on loan to Cardiff City, Blackpool,
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
,
Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...
and
Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...
in order to gain first team experience. However, he failed to make the grade at Manchester City and so joined Mansfield Town on a permanent transfer. He became a prolific scorer for the "Stags" scoring 58 goals for the club in three seasons. This led to Division One side Stoke City signing him in August 2002. However, despite arriving with high expectations he struggled to cope with the higher level and managed just 9 goals in three seasons at the
Britannia Stadium The Bet365 Stadium (stylised as ''bet365 Stadium'') is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was ...
. He left for
Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...
where he found his level and in four seasons at Tranmere Greenacre scored 53 goals. After his contract expired at Rovers he decided to join New Zealand based, A-League side
Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
. He played three seasons for Wellington helping the club to three consecutive finals series places before retiring in 2012.


Club career

Greenacre was born in
Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
and at the age of 13 he signed schoolboy forms at Manchester City, having previously been on the books at
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
. He signed as an apprentice at 16, and turned professional in 1995. His senior debut came in February 1997 against
Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
, when he came on as a substitute, replacing
Paul Dickov Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
. He made three further substitute appearances that season, without scoring. During his time at Manchester City most of his first team football came in the form of loan spells with lower league clubs. In his first start for Manchester City in October 1997, he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 win against
Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...
. This was his only goal for the club, and he started only two further matches. Greenacre subsequently went on to play on loan for Cardiff City, Blackpool and
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
before joining
Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...
in 2000. He became a prolific goalscorer at the
Field Mill Field Mill, currently known as One Call Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football ground in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, and the home of Mansfield Town Football Club. It is the oldest ground in the Football League, hosting footb ...
scoring nine goals in 1999–2000, 21 in 2000–01 and 28 in 2001–02. This attracted the attentions from bigger club's and in the summer of 2002 he joined Stoke City. His start at Stoke was however hampered by injury. Greenacre had a frustrating 2002–03 which saw him make 33 appearances scoring six goals which included a vital winner against
Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
. In 2003–04 he found himself out of the team after the arrival of Ade Akinbiyi and made 16 appearances scoring twice. In 2004–05 he played in 34 matches but only scored once and was released at the end of the season. He joined
Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...
in July 2005. Under the management of Brian Little, Tranmere finished 18th in League One in the 2005–06 season, but Greenacre himself finished top scorer with 18 goals in 49 games for the club. This included a hat-trick against
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
on 28 December and two goals against
Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...
in August. In 2006–07 under
Ronnie Moore Ronald David Moore (born 29 January 1953) is an English football manager and former player. He has taken charge of several clubs including Rotherham United, Tranmere Rovers and Hartlepool United. He played for many different clubs in a care ...
when Greenacre again finished top scorer, this time with a total of 19 goals, and signed a two-year extension to his contract at Prenton Park. A further 14 goals in all competitions during the 2007–08 season saw him again finish the season as the club's top scorer. He scored his first goals for the 2008–09 season with a brace away at Peterborough in a 2–2 draw. On 21 April 2009, it was announced that Greenacre had signed with
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
-based, New Zealand A-League club
Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
on a two-year contract. He made his league debut on 9 August 2009 scoring in a losing effort to the
Newcastle Jets FC Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...
. Before a bothersome knee injury, Greenacre had scored five goals in 16 appearances for the Phoenix. Greenacre started season 2010–11 by scoring twice in the opening game of the season against the
Gold Coast United FC Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first era of Gold Coast Un ...
at
Westpac Stadium Wellington Regional Stadium (known commercially as Sky Stadium through naming rights) is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is . The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situ ...
.


Coaching career

On 22 July 2011, Greenacre accepted a player/coaching role with his club
Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
. Greenacre already holds a UEFA B coaching licence and will reportedly be coaching the forwards as well as playing when chosen. On 18 July 2012 he announced his retirement from the game and accepted a position as assistant manager at
Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
. In October 2012, Due to the absence of Ricki Herbert due to international duties, Greenacre was appointed as the caretaker manager of the Wellington Phoenix for their Round 2 clash with
Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...
. Despite missing 7 first team players due to international duties, and despite playing an away clash, the Phoenix managed to obtain a 1–1 draw with the Heart, courtesy of a
Paul Ifill Paul Everton Ifill (born 20 October 1979) is a footballer who plays as a forward and manages Christchurch United. He spent most of his career playing as a right winger or a right midfielder, often described as an “old fashioned winger”. ...
penalty. On 26 February 2013, Greenacre was appointed interim manager of Wellington Phoenix until the end of the
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...
after Ricki Herbert resigned. He was replaced by
Ernie Merrick Ernest Merrick OAM (born 15 January 1953) is a Scottish-Australian coach, who last managed A-League soccer club Newcastle Jets. He was released on 6 January 2020. He was the former head coach of the Hong Kong national football team and A-Leagu ...
for the 2013–14 A-League season. Following Merrick's resignation on 5 December 2016, Greenacre was appointed as co-coach of the A-League side alongside
Des Buckingham Desmond Buckingham (born 7 February 1985) is an English professional football manager who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Mumbai City. Buckingham became the youngest head coach in the history of the A-League during ...
, originally as interim coaches, and in January 2017 confirmed for the roles until the end of the 2016-2017 season. Greenacre and Buckingham applied for the role on a permanent basis at the end of the season, but were passed over in favour of Darije Kalezic. On 12 October 2017, Greenacre was appointed coach of Wellington Phoenix Reserves, taking over from Andy Hedge. New Zealand football announced in January 2018 Greenacre would be assistant to Des Buckingham for the
New Zealand national under-20 football team The New Zealand men's national under-20 football team, more commonly known as the Junior All Whites, is controlled by New Zealand Football and represents New Zealand in international Under 20 or youth football competitions. The 25,000 capacity ...
for the
2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 22nd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 ...
cycle. Greenacre would retain his position with the Wellington Phoenix while fulfilling this role. Greenacre began his third period with the Wellington Phoenix A-League side when he was again appointed interim head coach following the departure of Darije Kalezic on 5 March 2018. On 17 November 2021, Greenacre was confirmed as the head coach of the Wellington Phoenix FC Reserves. In his first season in charge, he guided the team to a third placed finish.


Personal life

Greenacre is a
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
supporter.


Career statistics

Source:


Managerial statistics


Honours

Individual * PFA Team of the Year: 2001–02 Third Division


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenacre, Chris 1977 births Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Living people English footballers English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand English Football League players Footballers from Wakefield Wellington Phoenix FC players Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand A-League Men players A-League Men managers Wellington Phoenix FC managers Association football forwards English football managers