Mark Dale Thomas McGregor (born 16 February 1977) is an English 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 ...
who played as a
defender who is the assistant
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
of
Runcorn Town
Runcorn Town Football Club is an English association football club based in Runcorn, Cheshire, England. After spending most of their years in the West Cheshire League, they were elected to the North West Counties League in 2010 and are currentl ...
. He played 498 games in a 13-year career in the
Football League, mostly in the third tier.
He started his career at
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
in 1995, and made 288 league and cup appearances in his six years for the Welsh club, before he signed with
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
. In July 2004 he moved from Burnley to
Blackpool. In January 2006 he
transfer
Transfer may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović
* ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film
* ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies
...
red to
Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
, before joining
Conference side
Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population ...
in August 2008. He stayed in Altrincham for one season, before becoming player-manager at Gap Connah's Quay. He led the club to the Cymru Alliance title for two consecutive seasons. He returned to just playing football with
Cefn Druids in January 2015. He was appointed player-assistant manager of Runcorn Town in April 2016.
Playing career
McGregor started off as a trainee for
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
, signing a professional
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
for the first time in July 1995. He first came to prominence in the
1995–96 season, making 33 appearances in the
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
. He continued to be a regular feature at the
Racecourse Ground
The Racecourse Ground ( cy, Y Cae Ras) is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C.
It is the world's oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales' first home ...
, making 44 appearances in
1996–97. The youngster was a consistent first team player for the "Dragons" by
1997–98, hitting 48 appearances in league and cup competitions. He missed just a handful of games in
1998–99, making a total of 56 appearances. On the last day of the
1999–2000 season he put a speculative long range effort past
Gillingham's
Vince Bartram, costing the "Gills" an automatic
promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
place, to the benefit of
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
; this was the only goal of his 52 appearances that season. He was voted Wrexham's Player of the Year in
2000–01 for his performances during his 47 appearances over the course of the campaign. In total, he played 288 league and cup games for
Brian Flynn's side.
Despite verbally agreeing a new contract with Wrexham, he moved to
First Division club Burnley on a
free transfer in July 2001. He made just two appearances in the
2001–02 season under
Stan Ternent, though he went on to play 37 games in
2002–03. He had surgery on his knee at the start of the
2003–04 campaign, before recovering to post 26 appearances
He moved on 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 ...
side
Blackpool in July 2004, after
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
Colin Hendry
Edward Colin James Hendry (born 7 December 1965) is a Scottish football coach and former professional footballer.
Hendry, who played as a defender notably played in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers where he was part of the title winning ...
offered him a twelve-month deal. He played 44 games in
2004–05 and made 25 appearances in
2005–06, scoring once 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 ...
against former club Wrexham, before leaving
Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...
after
Simon Grayson
Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Bengaluru.
As a player, he was a right back, but he was also utilised in ...
took charge.
In January 2006 McGregor decided to move on to
Martin Foyle
Martin John Foyle (born 2 May 1963) is an English former professional footballer and manager who is the Head of Recruitment at club St Mirren. In his 20-year playing career he played 533 League games, scoring 155 goals. As a manager, he took ...
's
Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
. He played 14 League One games throughout the rest of
the season, before featuring 35 times in an unsettled defence in
2006–07. He featured just 23 times in
2007–08, and was
transfer
Transfer may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović
* ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film
* ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies
...
listed by new manager
Lee Sinnott
Lee Sinnott (born 12 July 1965) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently manager of Gainsborough Trinity.
As a player, he was a defender for Walsall, Watford, Bradford City, Crystal Palace, Hudder ...
in January 2008, before Sinnott released him from the club three months later, as the "Valiants" were
relegated
In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
into
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 ...
.
McGregor had an unsuccessful trial with
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 July 2008, before he eventually dropped out of the Football League to sign for
Conference club
Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population ...
on 27 July. Handed the number four shirt at the club, he found himself a key feature of the back four and an occasional
captain, featuring 44 times for the Robins" in the
2008–09 campaign.
In January 2015, McGregor left as manager of the Nomads and just a few days later joined
Welsh Premier League
The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 20 ...
side
Cefn Druids as a player. The "Druids" were relegated out of the division at the end of the
2014–15 season.
He was appointed player-assistant manager of
North West Counties League
The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern ...
Premier Division club
Runcorn Town
Runcorn Town Football Club is an English association football club based in Runcorn, Cheshire, England. After spending most of their years in the West Cheshire League, they were elected to the North West Counties League in 2010 and are currentl ...
in April 2016.
Management career
In August 2009, he was appointed
player-manager
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...
at
Welsh Premier League
The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 20 ...
side
Gap Connah's Quay. The
2009–10 season ended in relegation to the
Cymru Alliance
The Cymru Alliance League (known for sponsorship reasons as Huws Gray Alliance) was a football league in north and central Wales which formed the second level of the Welsh football league system. From the 2019/20 season onwards, it was replaced ...
in 14th place, as a restructuring of the
Welsh league
The Welsh League was the first club rugby league competition in Wales.Lush (1998), pg. 19 Its inaugural season was in 1908/09 when four additional teams were formed to join Ebbw Vale RLFC and Merthyr Tydfil RLFC, which allowed a league tournamen ...
meant six places were cut from the Premier League from 18 to 12. They finished level on points with
Newtown (who avoided relegation), who finished above them on
goal difference. Making 26 league and 6 cup appearances in 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,
he managed his side to the Cymru Alliance title. However, they were not granted promotion back into the top-flight. They retained their title in
2011–12 and were promoted into the
Welsh Premier League
The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 20 ...
. The
following season saw the "Nomads" finish eighth in the Welsh Premier League, losing out in the
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. ...
play-off to eventual qualifiers
Bala Town
Bala Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed y Bala) is a Welsh football team from Bala, Gwynedd, who play in the Cymru Premier. They play their home games at Maes Tegid.
History
For a full history see; '' List of Bala Town FC seasons''
Al ...
. The "Nomads" finished tenth in
2013–14.
Career statistics
Honours
Wrexham
*
Wrexham A.F.C.
Wrexham Association Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Wrecsam) is a Welsh professional association football club based in Wrexham, Wales. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Formed ...
Player of the Year:
2001
Connah's Quay Nomads
*
Cymru Alliance
The Cymru Alliance League (known for sponsorship reasons as Huws Gray Alliance) was a football league in north and central Wales which formed the second level of the Welsh football league system. From the 2019/20 season onwards, it was replaced ...
:
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. ...
&
2011–12
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGregor, Mark
1977 births
Living people
Footballers from Chester
English men's footballers
Men's association football defenders
Wrexham A.F.C. players
Burnley F.C. players
Blackpool F.C. players
Port Vale F.C. players
Altrincham F.C. players
Connah's Quay Nomads F.C. players
Cefn Druids A.F.C. players
Runcorn Town F.C. players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
Cymru Premier players
Association football coaches
Men's association football player-managers
English football managers
Connah's Quay Nomads F.C. managers
Cymru Premier managers