Mark McGregor
Encyclopedia
Mark Dale Thomas McGregor (born 16 February 1977 in Chester
, Cheshire
) is an English
football defender
, who is now player-manager at Welsh Premier League club Gap Connah's Quay. He has played over 500 games for various clubs in the Football League
, mostly in the lower two tiers.
He started his career at Wrexham in 1995, and made 288 league and cup appearances in his six years for the Welsh club, before he signed with Burnley
. In 2004 he moved from Burnley to Blackpool
. In 2006 he transferred to Port Vale
, before joined Conference side Altrincham
in 2008. He stayed in Altrincham for one season, before becoming player-manager at Gap Connah's Quay. He led the club to promotion in his second season in charge.
with the Welsh
club he racked up 288 appearances in league and cup, playing between 41 and 56 games a season. 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 place, to the benefit of Burnley.
Despite verbally agreeing a new contract with Wrexham, he moved to First Division
Burnley
on a free transfer in July 2001. He made just two appearances in the 2001–02 season, but became a regular first team player for his final two seasons with the club, despite having surgery on his knee at the start of the 2003–04 campaign.
He moved on to League One
Blackpool
in July 2004, after manager Colin Hendry
offered him twelve month deal. He made 59 appearances for Blackpool, scoring once in the Football League Trophy
against former club Wrexham, before slipping down the pecking order.
In January 2006 he decided to move on to Martin Foyle
's Port Vale
. He was a permanent feature in the first team at Vale, but was transfer listed by manager Lee Sinnott
in January 2008, before Sinnott released him from the club three months later.
McGregor had an unsuccessful trial with Mansfield Town
in July 2008, before he eventually dropped out of the Football League to sign for Conference
club Altrincham
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.
ended in relegation to the Cymru Alliance
in 14th place, as a restructuring of the Welsh league
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
season, he managed his side to the Cymru Alliance title and promotion back into the Premier League.
|1995–96||Wrexham||Second Division
||33||1||4||0||0||0||41||1
|-
|1996–97||Wrexham||Second Division
||38||1||5||0||1||0||44||1
|-
|1997–98||Wrexham||Second Division
||42||2||3||0||2||0||48||2
|-
|1998–99||Wrexham||Second Division
||43||1||5||0||2||0||56||1
|-
|1999–2000||Wrexham||Second Division
||45||1||5||0||2||0||52||1
|-
|2000–01||Wrexham||Second Division
||43||5||1||0||2||0||47||5
|-
|2001–02||Burnley
||First Division
||1||0||0||0||1||1||2||1
|-
|2002–03||Burnley
||First Division
||30||1||4||0||3||0||37||1
|-
|2003–04||Burnley
||First Division
||23||1||3||0||0||0||26||1
|-
|2004–05||Blackpool
||League One
||38||0||4||0||1||0||44||0
|-
|2005–06||Blackpool
||League One
||21||0||1||0||2||0||25||1
|-
|2005–06
||Port Vale
||League One
||14||0||0||0||0||0||14||0
|-
|2006–07
||Port Vale
||League One
||32||0||1||0||2||0||35||0
|-
|2007–08
||Port Vale
||League One
||20||0||2||0||1||0||23||0
|-
|2008–09||Altrincham
||Conference National
||42||1||2||0||0||0||44||1
|-
465||14||40||0||19||1||538||14
465||14||40||0||19||1||538||14
Notes:
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
) is an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
football defender
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
, who is now player-manager at Welsh Premier League club Gap Connah's Quay. He has played over 500 games for various clubs in the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
, mostly in the lower two tiers.
He started his career at Wrexham in 1995, and made 288 league and cup appearances in his six years for the Welsh club, before he signed with Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
. In 2004 he moved from Burnley to Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
. In 2006 he transferred to Port Vale
Port Vale F.C.
Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...
, before joined Conference side Altrincham
Altrincham F.C.
Altrincham Football Club is an English association football club from Altrincham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Conference North, having been relegated from the Conference National at the end of the 2010–11 season.-History:...
in 2008. He stayed in Altrincham for one season, before becoming player-manager at Gap Connah's Quay. He led the club to promotion in his second season in charge.
Playing career
McGregor started off as a trainee for Wrexham, signing a professional contract for the first time in July 1995. In six years in the Second DivisionFootball League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
with the Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
club he racked up 288 appearances in league and cup, playing between 41 and 56 games a season. On the last day of the 1999–2000 season he put a speculative long range effort past Gillingham
Gillingham F.C.
Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...
's Vince Bartram
Vince Bartram
Vincent Lee Bartram is an English former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper. He is now goalkeeping coach at Southampton F.C.-Career:...
, costing the Gills an automatic promotion place, to the benefit of Burnley.
Despite verbally agreeing a new contract with Wrexham, he moved to First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
on a free transfer in July 2001. He made just two appearances in the 2001–02 season, but became a regular first team player for his final two seasons with the club, despite having surgery on his knee at the start of the 2003–04 campaign.
He moved on to League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
in July 2004, after manager Colin Hendry
Colin Hendry
Edward Colin Hendry is a retired Scottish footballer and manager, who played as a defender. Hendry started his career with Dundee in 1983 and spent spells at Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Rangers, Coventry City, Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool...
offered him twelve month deal. He made 59 appearances for Blackpool, scoring once in the Football League Trophy
Football League Trophy
The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...
against former club Wrexham, before slipping down the pecking order.
In January 2006 he decided to move on to Martin Foyle
Martin Foyle
Martin John Foyle is an English former footballer, turned football manager. In his 20 year playing career he played 533 League games, scoring 155 goals...
's Port Vale
Port Vale F.C.
Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...
. He was a permanent feature in the first team at Vale, but was transfer listed by manager Lee Sinnott
Lee Sinnott
Lee Sinnott is an English former professional footballer turned football manager, who is in charge at Conference North side Altrincham....
in January 2008, before Sinnott released him from the club three months later.
McGregor had an unsuccessful trial with Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town F.C.
Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...
in July 2008, before he eventually dropped out of the Football League to sign for Conference
Conference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
club Altrincham
Altrincham F.C.
Altrincham Football Club is an English association football club from Altrincham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Conference North, having been relegated from the Conference National at the end of the 2010–11 season.-History:...
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.
Management career
In August 2009, he was appointed player-manager at Welsh Premier League side Gap Connah's Quay. The 2009–102009–10 Welsh Premier League
The 2009–10 Welsh Premier League was the 18th season of the Welsh Premier League since its establishment in 1992 as the League of Wales. It began on 14 August 2009 and ended on 24 April 2010. Rhyl were the defending champions.-Teams:...
ended in relegation to the Cymru Alliance
Cymru Alliance
The Huws Gray Alliance is a football league and forms the second level of the Welsh football league system in north and central Wales....
in 14th place, as a restructuring of the Welsh league
Welsh football league system
The Welsh football league system is a series of football leagues with regular promotion and relegation between them.-Structure of Welsh football:...
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
2010–11 Cymru Alliance
The 2010–11 Huws Gray Alliance season began on 13 August 2010 and was originally scheduled to end on 2 April 2011. Due to adverse weather conditions, no league games took place between 12 December and the beginning of January, causing a lot of fixtures to be rearranged and creating the possibility...
season, he managed his side to the Cymru Alliance title and promotion back into the Premier League.
Statistics
|-|1995–96||Wrexham||Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
||33||1||4||0||0||0||41||1
|-
|1996–97||Wrexham||Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
||38||1||5||0||1||0||44||1
|-
|1997–98||Wrexham||Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
||42||2||3||0||2||0||48||2
|-
|1998–99||Wrexham||Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
||43||1||5||0||2||0||56||1
|-
|1999–2000||Wrexham||Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
||45||1||5||0||2||0||52||1
|-
|2000–01||Wrexham||Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
||43||5||1||0||2||0||47||5
|-
|2001–02||Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
||First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||1||0||0||0||1||1||2||1
|-
|2002–03||Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
||First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||30||1||4||0||3||0||37||1
|-
|2003–04||Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
||First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||23||1||3||0||0||0||26||1
|-
|2004–05||Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
||League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
||38||0||4||0||1||0||44||0
|-
|2005–06||Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
||League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
||21||0||1||0||2||0||25||1
|-
|2005–06
2005–06 Port Vale F.C. season
The 2005–06 season was Port Vale's ninety-fourth season of football in the Football League, and second successive season in League One. They finished in mid-table, and exited the League Cup at the First Round and the League Trophy at the Second Round. In the FA Cup, Vale made it to the Fourth...
||Port Vale
Port Vale F.C.
Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...
||League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
||14||0||0||0||0||0||14||0
|-
|2006–07
2006–07 Port Vale F.C. season
The 2006–07 season was Port Vale's ninety-fifth season of football in the Football League, and third successive season in League One. Martin Foyle's side again finished in mid-table, whilst exiting the FA Cup and the League Trophy at the Second Round...
||Port Vale
Port Vale F.C.
Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...
||League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
||32||0||1||0||2||0||35||0
|-
|2007–08
2007–08 Port Vale F.C. season
The 2007–08 season was Port Vale's ninety-sixth season of football in the Football League, and fourth successive season in League One. Vale finished second-from-bottom, and were relegated, some twelve points from safety. Manager Martin Foyle left the club in September, and Lee Sinnott failed to...
||Port Vale
Port Vale F.C.
Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...
||League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
||20||0||2||0||1||0||23||0
|-
|2008–09||Altrincham
Altrincham F.C.
Altrincham Football Club is an English association football club from Altrincham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Conference North, having been relegated from the Conference National at the end of the 2010–11 season.-History:...
||Conference National
Conference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
||42||1||2||0||0||0||44||1
|-
465||14||40||0||19||1||538||14
465||14||40||0||19||1||538||14
Notes:
- Football League TrophyFootball League TrophyThe Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...
results included in totals.
as a player-manager
with Connah's Quay Nomads- Cymru AllianceCymru AllianceThe Huws Gray Alliance is a football league and forms the second level of the Welsh football league system in north and central Wales....
champion: 2010–112010–11 Cymru AllianceThe 2010–11 Huws Gray Alliance season began on 13 August 2010 and was originally scheduled to end on 2 April 2011. Due to adverse weather conditions, no league games took place between 12 December and the beginning of January, causing a lot of fixtures to be rearranged and creating the possibility...