David Peter Gray (born 4 May 1988) is a Scottish 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 ...

and coach, who is currently the first-team coach of Hibernian. He represented Scotland at both under-19 and under-21 level. Gray progressed through Heart of Midlothian's youth system, before joining Manchester United for a fee of £50,000 in 2004. He spent six years at Manchester United, making one first-team appearance in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

fixture in 2006. During his six-year tenure with the club, Gray was loaned on four occasions; spending time at

Royal Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club, often referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Antwerp. Founded around 1880 as ''Antwerp Cricket Club'' by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years before ...

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 ...

, as well as two loan spells at Plymouth Argyle. Gray was released by Manchester United in 2010 and then signed for Preston North End. Gray spent two seasons at Preston, before being released at the end of the 2011–12 season. He then had spells at Stevenage and

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home grou ...

before signing for Hibs in 2014. Prior to his second season at the club, Gray was given the captain's armband by Hibs manager Alan Stubbs, taking over from Liam Craig. Gray scored the winning goal in the 2016 Scottish Cup final for Hibs against Rangers, their first

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Heart of Midlothian youth academy. He was selected for the Lothian Schools XI in 2002 while a pupil at Beeslack High School in

Penicuik Penicuik ( ; sco, Penicuik; gd, Peighinn na Cuthaig) is a town and former Police burgh, burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River Esk, Lothian, River North Esk. It lies on the A701 road, A701 midway between Edinburgh a ...

, along with other Hearts youngsters John Armstrong, Jason Thomson and

Andrew Driver Andrew David Driver (born 20 November 1987) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He has represented Scotland at schoolboy level and England, where he was born, for the under-21 side. Club career Hearts Driver was bor ...

. Gray progressed through the youth ranks up until the age of 16, when he attracted the interest of Manchester United, and signed for the club for a fee of £50,000 in 2004. Gray was signed by the club as a winger, although Manchester United's coaching staff felt he was better suited as a full-back, and subsequently deployed him in the right-back position for the majority of the club's reserve games during the 2005–06 season. After impressing during his first full season in the reserve side, Gray made his first-team debut for Manchester United during the 2006–07 season, playing the first 77 minutes in the club's 2–1 victory over

in the

in October 2006. It ultimately turned out to be Gray's only first-team appearance for the club. Three months after making his first-team debut, in January 2007, he was sent out on loan to Belgian club

, to gain match experience. However, after just two games he suffered an injury, which ultimately sidelined him for the rest of the season, and he returned to his parent club in May 2007. In November 2007, Gray was loaned to Crewe Alexandra on a one-month deal to provide cover for the club's injured players. He made one appearance during his brief loan spell, playing 80 minutes in Crewe's 2–0 away defeat to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. He returned to Manchester United in December that year, and spent the remainder of the 2007–08 season playing for the reserve side. Gray was to enjoy his first spell of first-team football during the 2008–09 campaign, with the player signing for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side Plymouth Argyle on loan in January 2009 until the remainder of the season. He made his Plymouth debut in a 3–1 away defeat to Arsenal in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

two days after signing, and went on to make 15 appearances in all competitions during his loan spell. Gray rejoined Plymouth for a second loan spell in September 2009, featuring regularly once again, making 12 league appearances for the club before returning to Old Trafford in December 2009 at the end of his loan agreement. Although both Plymouth and Manchester United discussed Gray's move to

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.the reserve side on a number of occasions during the latter stages of the 2009–10 season.

Preston North End

Gray's Manchester United contract expired at the end of the 2009–10 season, and although he was offered a one-year contract extension with the club, he opted to join Preston North End on a two-year contract on 16 July 2010. Gray started the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

season as a regular in

Darren Ferguson Darren Ferguson (born 9 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Championship club Peterborough United. In between his stints with Peterborough, he also managed Preston No ...

's side, making his debut in a 2–0 home loss to

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

on the first day of the campaign. He was ever-present during the first three months of the season, before suffering an injury in November 2010 that ultimately ruled him out of first-team action for three months. He returned to the first-team in a 1–0 away defeat to

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

on 12 February 2011, although would suffer an even bigger injury setback a month later after breaking his leg in a 1–1 draw against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

at Carrow Road. The injury ruled Gray out for the remainder of the season, as Preston were ultimately relegated to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

. During his first season with the club, he made 25 appearances in all competitions. Ahead of the 2011–12 season, in June 2011, Gray was given permission by a specialist to begin training, just three months after he broke his leg. As expected, he missed the first month of the new campaign as a result of his delayed start to pre-season training, but eventually made his comeback appearance as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 defeat to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in the League Cup on 21 September 2011. He went on to make 27 appearances for Preston during the season. Gray's contract at Preston expired at the end of the season, and he was released by the club in May 2012.

Stevenage

In June 2012, Gray signed for League One side Stevenage on a free transfer. He made his debut for the club on the opening day of the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, playing the whole match in a 3–1 home win against AFC Wimbledon in the

. Gray played regularly at right-back throughout the season, making 46 appearances in all competitions. He was placed on the transfer list in May 2013. With Gray entering the final year of his contract at Stevenage, new manager

Graham Westley Graham Neil Westley (born 4 March 1968) is an English former professional footballer and manager who was most recently manager of League Two club Stevenage. Westley's playing career, spent mostly as a striker in non-League football, was curt ...

felt he would not play as much as he would have liked, and therefore it was "better for all" that Gray "move on to develop his career".

Burton Albion

Gray signed for

in January 2014 on a contract until the end of the 2013–14 season. He made 12 appearances in

2013–14 Football League Two The 2013–14 Football League Two (referred to as Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship reasons) is the tenth season of the league under its current title and nineteenth season under its current league division format. The season began on 3 August ...

for Burton.

Hibernian

Gray signed a two-year contract with

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...

club Hibernian in July 2014. He scored his first ever professional goal on 29 September 2014, in a 3–1 win over Rangers. In total, Gray made 34 appearances and scored three goals for Hibs in the 2014–15 season. Gray was appointed captain at the end of the season, after the departure of Liam Craig, and also extended his contract until 2017. At the end of the season, Gray wrote himself into Hibernian folklore by becoming the captain of the first Hibs side to win the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Rangers in the 2016 final. Gray scored in a 3–0 win against Queen of the South on 15 April 2017, on the day when Hibernian clinched the

title, sealing promotion to the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

after a three-year absence. He signed a two-year contract with Hibs in May 2017. Gray suffered an achilles tendon injury during a friendly game against Willem II in January 2018, which meant that he did not make another first-team appearance in the 2017–18 season. Gray returned to the Hibs first team in July 2018, and he scored five goals during the early part of the 2018–19 season. In April 2019, Hibs and Gray agreed a new contract that was due to run until 2023. Gray played infrequently for Hibs over the next two seasons.

International career

Gray played for the Scotland schoolboys team in 2003 and represented the Scotland under-19 side on two occasions in 2006. In 2008, he was called up to the Scotland under-21 team to play in a friendly against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, making his debut during the match. In March 2009, Gray was called up for two

2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...

qualifiers later that month, although he was an unused substitute for both games. He was called up once again later that year, and was an unused substitute in a 1–0 defeat to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. A month later, he made his second appearance for the U21 side, playing 67 minutes of a 1–0 home victory against

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

Coaching career

Gray retired from playing in June 2021, and became a first-team coach at Hibs. Following the release of Jack Ross from the role of manager, Gray was appointed caretaker manager of Hibs on 9 December 2021. He held this position for three games, including a League Cup final defeat by Celtic, until the appointment of

Shaun Maloney Shaun Richard Maloney (born 24 January 1983) is a Scottish football coach and former player. Maloney played for Celtic, Aston Villa, Wigan Athletic, Chicago Fire, Hull City and the Scotland national team as an attacking midfielder or winger. ...

on 20 December. He again became caretaker manager in April 2022 after Maloney was sacked.

Career statistics

Player

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

, Scottish Challenge Cup,

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

and play-offs.

Managerial record

Honours

Player

;Hibernian *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2015–16 *

: 2016–17

Manager

;Hibernian *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

: runner-up: 2021–22

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, David 1988 births Living people Footballers from Edinburgh Scottish footballers Scotland under-21 international footballers Association football fullbacks Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Royal Antwerp F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players English Football League players Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Scottish Professional Football League players Hibernian F.C. non-playing staff Hibernian F.C. managers