Michael Jamie Clegg (born 3 July 1977) is an English

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 ...

coach and former player who played as a defender. He began his professional playing career with

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in the mid-1990s. He made 24 appearances for the club between 1996 and 2001, and spent time on loan to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

before making a permanent move to

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 ...

in 2002. He made 52 appearances in two seasons with the Latics before struggles with his mental health led to his retirement at the age of 26.

Playing career

Clegg, born in

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

, began his football career as a trainee with

and was part of the 1995

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

-winning side. He turned professional soon afterwards, and made his first-team debut on 23 November 1996, in a

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

game away to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

which finished as a 2–2 draw. He played in four

FA Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

games in the 1996–97 season, and although United were champions for the fourth time in five seasons it was not enough for a title winner's medal. He managed a further three appearances in 1997–98 (when United were trophyless for only the second time in the decade) before making his final two appearances in the 1999–2000 campaign, when United won their sixth title in eight seasons, but once again Clegg failed to meet the required number of appearances for a title winner's medal. Clegg spent time on loan at

and

before he joined

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 ...

club

on a free transfer on 19 February 2002. In his first season, he played just 10 times as Oldham qualified for the Second Division play-offs, only to see them beaten in the semi-finals. A potential purchase of the club fell through and they went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

, resulting in the squad being gutted to cover their debts. Clegg remained with the club and played 32 times as they finished in 15th place; however, he struggled with his mental health and retired from professional football at the end of the 2003–04 season.

Coaching career

After two years out of the game, Clegg was appointed by former Manchester United team-mate

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

's strength and conditioning coach in 2006. On 6 July 2019, Clegg was announced as a first-team strength and power coach at

Personal life

Clegg's father, Mike, was strength and conditioning coach at Manchester United from 2000 to 2011. Clegg's cousin, David, committed suicide at the age of 19.

Honours

Individual * Denzil Haroun Reserve Team Player of the Year: 1996–97

References

External links

*
England profile
at

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clegg, Michael 1977 births Living people Footballers from Ashton-under-Lyne English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Manchester United F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff Warrington Rylands 1906 F.C. managers Northern Premier League managers