Gary Stephen Montgomery (born 8 October 1982) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

former professional

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 le ...

and

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

. As a footballer he played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

from 1999 to 2010 for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

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 ...

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

and

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

. In 2010, he switched sports to

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and made three

List A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

appearances as a professional playing for

Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in English cricket. The club has held first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's home is Old Trafford Cricket Ground, although the team also play ...

Football career

Montgomery was promoted from the youth team ranks at

during the 1999–2000 season. He was part of the same impressive youth team that boasted fellow keeper

Chris Kirkland Christopher Edmund Kirkland (born 2 May 1981) is an English football coach and former professional goalkeeper who is now the head goalkeeping coach at Colne. As a player, he made 321 league and cup appearances in an 18-year professional career ...

. While at Coventry, Gary spent time on loan with

and

. Montgomery signed for

in the summer of 2003 as a young understudy for

Mike Pollitt Michael Francis Pollitt (born 29 February 1972) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Manchester United Born in Farnworth, Lancashire, Pollitt began his career at Manchester United turning profes ...

. Montgomery made his debut for Rotherham as a late substitute against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, coming on after Pollitt had been sent off for handball outside of his area. His second appearance came 10 days later in similar and dramatic circumstances; Rotherham were playing

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the

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 ...

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

when Pollitt was sent off again in extra time. Montgomery came on and the game went to penalties. He saved efforts from

Sylvain Wiltord Sylvain Claude Wiltord (born 10 May 1974) is a French former professional footballer. Mainly a right winger, he also played as a centre-forward, second striker and on the left wing. Wiltord had a four-season spell at Arsenal, with whom he won t ...

and

Quincy Owusu-Abeyie Quincy Jamie Owusu-Abeyie (born 15 April 1986), often known simply as Quincy, is a former professional footballer who plays as a forward or left winger for Dutch amateur club SV Robinhood. Quincy is also a rapper, who goes by the name BLOW. H ...

, and even scored a penalty himself, however Arsenal ultimately triumphed 9–8 on spot kicks. He remained with the club until being released at the end of the 2006–07 season. His next port of call was to join with

Grimsby Town F.C. Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

at the start of the 2007–08 campaign as understudy to

Phil Barnes Philip Kenneth Barnes (born 2 March 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Barnes was active between 1996 and 2019, spending the his first thirteen seasons in professional football in a career that began ...

, after his first season, he went on to sign a new one deal at

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9, ...

for 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 pol ...

. On 17 March 2009, Montgomery along with Phil Barnes and

Tom Newey Thomas William Newey (born 31 October 1982) is an English former professional footballer, commentator and football coach who is the Under 15s & Under 16s Coach at Leeds United. As a player he was a left-back from 2002 to 2017. He could also ope ...

were released by the club after they were told they were no longer needed and agreed to leave the club by mutual consent. Montgomery briefly returned to football during the 2010–11 season with

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side

, but left the club in December 2010.

Cricket career

In the 2009, Gary switched sports from

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. Montgomery appeared several times for

2nd Eleven, and signed a professional contract for the 2010 season. He played three matches for Lancashire in the

Clydesdale Bank 40 The ECB40, last known as the Yorkshire Bank 40 (YB40) for sponsorship reasons, was a forty-over limited overs cricket competition for the English first-class counties. It began in the 2010 English cricket season as a replacement for the Pro40 a ...

competition. He was released at the end of the 2010 season.

Honours

Grimsby Town *

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 Leag ...

runner-up: 2007–08

Notes

External links

*
Profile of Gary Montgomery
at codalmighty.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Gary 1982 births Living people Cricketers from Leamington Spa Footballers from Leamington Spa English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Coventry City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Boston United F.C. players English Football League players English cricketers Lancashire cricketers