Simon Grayson

Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player.

As a player, he was a right back, but he was also utilised in midfield in a career that lasted from 1988 until 2006.

Having started his career with Leeds United he played in the Premier League for Leicester City, Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers, before moving into the Football League with Sheffield Wednesday, Stockport County, Notts County, Bradford City and Blackpool.

In June 1988 Grayson began his career with the club he had supported as a boy, Leeds United.

At Leeds he played as either a defender or midfielder, however, he did not manage to become a first-team regular, playing just twice in four years.

He signed for Leicester City in March 1992 and went on to make 229 appearances in five years.

He won promotion twice with Leicester City, both via the playoffs, in 1993–94 and 1995–96, and followed it up with a League Cup win in 1996–97.

During his time at Filbert Street the team won the League Cup in 1997, with Grayson scoring the goal against Wimbledon which put them in the final, and was voted the club's player of the season in the same year.

Grayson moved to Aston Villa in 1997 and made another 49 Premier League appearances at Villa Park, scoring two goals, both of which came in Villa's 1997–98 FA Cup campaign against Portsmouth and West Bromwich Albion.

He then signed for Blackburn Rovers in July 1999, where he made 34 appearances in his first season.

He lost his place in the team the following season and spent most of the next two years on loan, with spells at Sheffield Wednesday, Stockport County, Notts County (where he scored once against Reading) and Bradford City.

Grayson signed for Blackpool on a free transfer on 19 July 2002.

He made more than 100 appearances for the Seasiders and captained the side.

He started his career at Blackpool in the right-back berth, but was moved to midfield by former boss Colin Hendry to bolster an area of weakness.

His next piece of silverware came at Blackpool in 2003–04, when he lifted the Football League Trophy.

In 2004 he started the final as Blackpool won the 2003–04 Football League Trophy.

Grayson moved into coaching in the 2004–05 season, managing the reserve squad at Bloomfield Road with some success.

He was appointed as player-manager of Blackpool in 2005, and a year later retired from playing to concentrate on the managerial side of his job.

He was named caretaker manager of the first team in November 2005, following the departure of Colin Hendry.

Grayson retired from playing at the end of the 2005–06 season to focus purely on the managerial side of the game.

He guided the club to promotion, via the playoffs, from League One to the Championship in 2006–07.

After diverting Blackpool away from relegation that season he was given the job on a permanent basis for the start of the 2006–07 season.

In late 2006, he led Blackpool to only one defeat in fourteen league games, a sequence that included five wins out of six, resulting in their appearance in the four play-off positions.

The run also brought attendances of more than 7,000 to Bloomfield Road.

This led to Grayson being awarded the Manager of the Month award for December.

Grayson received his second League One Manager of the Month award of the 2006–07 season in May 2007.

On 6 January 2007, he guided Blackpool to the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in 17 years, after beating Aldershot Town 4–2 at Bloomfield Road.

They were knocked out by Norwich City, who beat them 3–2 after extra time, in a replay at Carrow Road on 13 February, narrowly missing out on a trip to London to face Chelsea in the last sixteen.

Two days later, on 5 May 2007, Grayson guided Blackpool to a final placing of third, and thus a place in the play-offs.

Blackpool beat Oldham Athletic 5–2 on aggregate over the two legs of the play-off semi-final.

They met Yeovil Town in the final at the newly renovated Wembley Stadium on 27 May and won 2–0, securing promotion to the Championship.

It was their tenth consecutive victory, a new club record.

This was extended in Blackpool's first game in the Championship with a league win over Leicester City and a victory against Huddersfield Town in the League Cup.

In October 2007, Grayson guided Blackpool to the fourth round of the League Cup for the club's first time in 35 years.

They were drawn against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, where Spurs won 2–0.

In December 2007 Grayson signed a two-and-a-half-year contract, following two years working without a formal contract.

In 2008, he was appointed manager of Leeds United, leading them to promotion to the Championship in 2010.

Dismissed in February 2012, he moved to Huddersfield Town, where he again gained promotion from League One via the play-offs, beating Sheffield United in the final.

In February 2013, Grayson became the new manager of Preston North End, winning promotion from League One to the Championship with them in 2014–15, and later had short spells in charge of Sunderland, Bradford City, Blackpool again and Fleetwood Town.

He started playing football for Bedale FC after going through high school at Bedale High School.