Joseph Nicholas Grayson (born 26 March 1999) is an English 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 ...

who plays as a defender and

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who plays for

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

. Having come through the youth academy at Blackburn Rovers, he spent time on loan with Grimsby Town and

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

before signing a permanent contract with

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

in 2021. He has since played for both

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and Stockport County on loan.

Early and personal life

His father is Simon Grayson. He attended Moorland School.

Career

Blackburn Rovers

Grayson joined Blackburn Rovers in the 2014, turning professional in July 2017. He made his senior debut on 28 August 2018, in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

, in a 4–1 home victory against Lincoln City. In doing so him and his father became the third father-son duo to both play for Blackburn Rovers. He moved on loan to Grimsby Town in January 2019 for the rest of the season. On 1 February 2021, Grayson joined League One side

on loan until the end of the season. On 13 May 2021, Grayson announced on social media that he was being released by Rovers at the end of the 2020–21 season.

Barrow

On 23 June 2021, it was announced that Grayson would join

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

on a two-year contract following his release from Blackburn. He was injured between December 2021 and April 2022. On 9 August 2022, Grayson joined

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 Scotland (, ...

side

on a season-long loan. He made his debut 3 days later in a home win over

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

. Grayson scored his first goal for Dundee against

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

on 17 September 2022. On 18 January 2023, Grayson returned to his parent club after his loan was terminated. On 1 February 2023, Grayson was confirmed to have joined Stockport County on loan until the end of the season, with the clubs having beaten the previous day's deadline. He was released by Barrow at the end of the 2022–23 season.

Gateshead

In July 2023, Grayson joined

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

on trial. In August 2023 he signed for

Style of play

Grayson was described by Blackburn Rovers as "a classy left-footed midfielder with a great delivery from set-plays". He can also play as a defender, and Grimsby Town manager

Michael Jolley Michael Jolley (born 30 March 1977) is an English professional football manager who is the current manager of Vélez. Jolley is a Cambridge University graduate with an MA in economics and also has a postgraduate diploma PGDip/MSc in sports co ...

described him as somebody who "is versatile to play in several different positions and adds further strength, balance and competition to our squad".

Career statistics

References

1999 births Living people English men's footballers Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Place of birth missing (living people) Gateshead F.C. players National League (English football) players {{England-footy-defender-1990s-stub