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Greg Strong

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Greg Strong
Personal information
Full name Gregory Strong[1]
Date of birth (1975-09-05) 5 September 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth Bolton, England
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1995 Wigan Athletic 35 (3)
1995–2000 Bolton Wanderers 12 (1)
1997–1998 → Blackpool (loan) 11 (1)
1999 → Stoke City (loan) 5 (1)
2000 → Motherwell (loan) 10 (0)
2000–2002 Motherwell 64 (3)
2002–2004 Hull City 3 (0)
2003 → Cheltenham Town (loan) 4 (0)
2003 → Scunthorpe United (loan) 7 (0)
2003 → Bury (loan) 10 (0)
2004–2005 Boston United 9 (0)
2004–2005 → Macclesfield Town (loan) 4 (0)
2005–2006 Livingston 39 (1)
2006–2007 Dundee 16 (1)
2007 Halifax Town 8 (1)
2007–2008 Northwich Victoria 17 (0)
2008 Droylsden 14 (0)
2008–2015 Rhyl 64 (10)
Total 332 (22)
Managerial career
2009–2015 Rhyl (player-manager)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 May 2010

Gregory Strong (born 5 September 1975) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. He was the manager of Rhyl from 2009 until 2015, and chief scout of Plymouth Argyle between 2015 and 2018. He is currently the Head of Recruitment at Ross County FC.[2]

Strong had a 20-year-long career in professional football where he was a typical journeyman playing for a large number of clubs. Strong played for Wigan Athletic, Bolton Wanderers, Blackpool, Stoke City, Motherwell, Hull City, Cheltenham Town, Scunthorpe United, Bury, Boston United, Macclesfield Town, Livingston, Dundee, Halifax Town, Northwich Victoria, Droylsden and Rhyl.

Playing career

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Strong was born in Bolton and started his footballing career with Wigan Athletic in 1992 after playing for England schoolboys and youth international. He played two seasons with Wigan and then moved to his hometown club Bolton Wanderers in August 1995. He struggled to establish himself at Bolton making just 22 appearances for the club in four seasons. During that time he was loaned out to Blackpool where he made 12 appearances scoring one goal and Stoke City where he played five times in 1998–99 scoring once against his former club Wigan Athletic. He then moved to Scottish side Motherwell in the summer of 1999 where he became a popular player in two seasons at Fir Park.[3]

He returned to England in 2002 when he was signed up by Hull City.[4] After struggling to get games with Hull, Strong had loan spells with Cheltenham Town,[5] Scunthorpe United,[6] and Bury before moving on to Boston United.[7] He spent a short loan at Macclesfield Town before moving to Scotland again to sign for Livingston in 2005.[8]

After a season and a half at Livingston Strong joined Dundee in August 2006. However, he was released by Dundee in late 2006, and on 8 March 2007, he was signed by Conference side Halifax Town.[9] He scored a goal on his debut for the Shaymen after just four minutes, but was released by the club at the end of the season, joining league rivals Northwich Victoria.[10] Strong left Northwich in January 2008 joining Droylsden where he played for the rest of the season.

In the summer of 2008 he joined Welsh League side, Rhyl and he was appointed as player-manager at Rhyl in the summer of 2009.[11] In May 2015 Strong left Rhyl FC by "mutual consent".[12]

Post playing career

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In July 2016, after the appointment of former Motherwell teammate Derek Adams as manager, Strong joined Plymouth Argyle as chief scout.[13] He remained in the role until November 2018.[14]

Strong was appointed Chief Scout of Morecambe in 2022 after a spell with Salford City in a similar role.[15]

Career statistics

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Source:[16]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Wigan Athletic 1993–94 Third Division 18 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 20 1
1994–95 Third Division 17 2 1 0 4 0 3 0 25 2
Bolton Wanderers 1995–96 Premier League 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
1996–97 First Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1997–98 Premier League 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0
1998–99 First Division 5 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 9 1
1999–2000 First Division 6 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 10 0
Blackpool (loan) 1997–98 Second Division 11 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 12 1
Stoke City (loan) 1998–99 Second Division 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
Motherwell 1999–00 Scottish Premier League 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
2000–01 Scottish Premier League 32 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 34 2
2001–02 Scottish Premier League 32 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 33 2
Hull City 2002–03 Third Division 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
2003–04 Third Division 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0
Cheltenham Town (loan) 2002–03 Second Division 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Scunthorpe United (loan) 2002–03 Third Division 7 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 9 0
Bury (loan) 2003–04 Third Division 10 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 11 0
Boston United 2004–05 League Two 9 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 11 0
Macclesfield Town (loan) 2004–05 League Two 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Livingston 2004–05 Scottish Premier League 9 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 11 0
2005–06 Scottish Premier League 30 1 2 0 3 0 0 0 35 1
Dundee 2006–07 Scottish First Division 16 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 18 1
Halifax Town 2006–07 Conference National 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 1
Northwich Victoria 2007–08 Conference National 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 0
Droylsden 2007–08 Conference National 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0
Career Total 271 12 8 0 21 1 11 0 311 13
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy, Football League play-offs and Scottish Challenge Cup.

References

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  1. ^ "Greg Strong". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Greg Strong appointed as new Head of Recruitment". Ross County F.C. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Ex-Motherwell star Greg Strong: I know what Rangers players are going through.. facing administrator's axe was brutal". Daily Record. 21 February 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  4. ^ "Strong joins Hull". BBC Sport. 30 May 2002. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  5. ^ "Strong signs for Robins". BBC Sport. 4 February 2003. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  6. ^ "Laws wants Strong support". BBC Sport. 25 March 2003. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  7. ^ "Boston capture defender". BBC Sport. 10 March 2004. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  8. ^ "Livingston sign up two defenders". BBC Sport. 31 January 2005. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  9. ^ "Halifax snap up defender Strong". BBC Sport. 8 March 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  10. ^ "Northwich bag Strong and Maylett". BBC Sport. 16 July 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  11. ^ "Rhyl FC manager Greg Strong determined to reach Welsh Premier League". Daily Post. Retrieved 22 April 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  12. ^ "Greg Strong steps down as Rhyl FC boss after seven years at Corbett Sport Stadium". Daily Post. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  13. ^ Jones, Dave (9 July 2015). "Former Rhyl FC manager Greg Strong joins Plymouth Argyle as chief scout". Daily Post. North Wales. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  14. ^ Ball, Jak (23 November 2018). "Chief scout Strong quits Argyle ahead of January transfer window". Plymouth Herald. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  15. ^ "Greg Strong joins as Head of Recruitment". Morecambe FC. 1 June 2022.
  16. ^ Greg Strong at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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