Sean Matthew Gregan (born 29 March 1974) is an English 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 ...

who played as a

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 ...

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He played in the

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 ...

for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

, and in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

with

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

where he clocked up nearly 350 league appearances combined for both clubs. He also played in the Football League with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

and

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 ...

before moving into non-League football with

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

, Kendal Town and Darlington.

Club career

Early career

Gregan was born in

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmark i ...

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

. He started his career with

's youth system, before signing a professional contract on 20 January 1991. He played for them for five years before joining

. He was signed by

Gary Peters Gary Charles Peters Sr. (born December 1, 1958) is an American lawyer, politician, and former military officer serving as the junior United States senator from Michigan since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representativ ...

on 29 November 1996 for £350,000. He captained Preston to the Second Division title.

West Bromwich Albion

Gregan signed for newly promoted

club

on 3 August 2002 on a four-year contract for a fee of £2 million. Pundit

Rodney Marsh Rodney William Marsh (born 11 October 1944) is an English former footballer and football coach; he later worked as a broadcaster. A forward, he won nine caps for England between 1971 and 1973, scoring one international goal. Brought up in the ...

thought the signing uninspired, and commented that it was "like putting lipstick on a pig". Gregan made his debut against

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 ...

at Old Trafford on 17 August 2002. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 home win over

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 ...

on 14 September 2002, after goalkeeper Paul Jones failed to hold on to Gregan's 40-yard shot. Despite being a regular in the team, Gregan was unable to prevent the club's relegation from the Premier League. In 2003–04, he was instrumental in captaining the team to promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt, before joining Leeds United in September 2004.

Oldham Athletic

His lack of first team football in the 2006–07 season saw Gregan sent on loan on 8 November 2006 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 ...

until 1 January 2007. He scored three days later on his debut, in a 4–3 win over

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

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 ...

. Gregan left Leeds on 5 January 2007 after reaching an agreement over the remainder of his contract, and signed a two-and-a-half-year contract at Oldham three days later. His performance in their 3–0 win away to

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

on 22 September 2007 earned him a place in the League One Team of the Week. He was released by Oldham manager

Dave Penney David Mark Penney (born 17 August 1964) is an English football manager and former player. Born in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, Penney entered professional football at the relatively late age of 21. He had been working as a bricklayer and ...

after being deemed surplus to requirements on 12 May 2009. However, Penney had a change of heart after being impressed with the player's attitude and fitness levels, and he was soon brought back to the club on a one-year contract. He was later made captain of the team and remained a key feature in defence alongside

Reuben Hazell Reuben Daniel Hazell (born 24 April 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Hazell started his career as a youth player with Aston Villa before playing for Tranmere Rovers, Torquay United, Kidde ...

Fleetwood Town

Oldham player-manager

Paul Dickov Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

stated in October 2010 that he would allow Gregan to leave the club, after he was unable to force his way into the team following an injury at the beginning of the 2010–11 season. Gregan joined

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

club

on 19 October 2010 on a three-month loan. He left Oldham on 6 January 2011 after having his contract terminated before signing for Fleetwood permanently. He was released at the end of 2010–11.

Kendal Town

Gregan signed for

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Premier Division club Kendal Town on 10 August 2011. He made his debut three days later when starting a 3–0 home win over

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...

. He suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon on his second appearance on 21 August 2011 against

Matlock Town Matlock Town Football Club is a association football, football club based in Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock, Derbyshire, England. Nicknamed 'the Gladiators', they are currently members of the and play at Causeway Lane. History The club was esta ...

Coaching career

Gregan returned to Darlington on 4 June 2012 as a player-coach, as part of new manager Martin Gray's backroom staff. He was appointed as joint manager of Darlington, alongside

Brian Atkinson Brian Atkinson (born 19 January 1971) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder, either on the wing or as a central midfielder. Atkinson began his career with Sunderland and played in the 1992 FA Cup Final. After 141 appearan ...

, on 1 October 2017 for the rest of the 2017–18 season after Gray left for the club's

National League 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 ...

rivals

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

. However, the two left the club four days later without having taken charge of a match. With Atkinson also being a director of the Martin Gray Football Academy (MGFA),

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

rules meant he was unable to hold the Darlington managerial position as the academy's owner was in charge at another club. Gregan turned down the offer of a six-month contract to take over as manager on his own, as he would have had to relinquish his own role the MGFA. Gregan joined Gray at York in December 2017 as a part-time defensive coach. He took up the full-time position of assistant manager in July 2018 but left the club on 19 August along with Gray.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Preston North End *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

: 1999–2000 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 1998–99 Second Division, 1999–2000 Second Division *

Player of the Year: 2009–10 *Oldham Athletic Players' Player of the Year: 2009–10

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregan, Sean 1974 births Living people People from Guisborough Footballers from North Yorkshire English footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Association football utility players Darlington F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Kendal Town F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players English football managers Darlington F.C. managers Darlington F.C. non-playing staff York City F.C. non-playing staff