Where is Simon Grayson now?
After spells playing in the Premier League with Aston Villa and Leicester City, Simon Grayson retired in 2006 after spending four years in the lower leagues with Blackpool.
As his playing career was winding down, Grayson moved into coaching with the Blackpool reserve team before stepping in as caretaker manager of the first team in November 2005 when Colin Hendry left the club. After successfully steering the club away from relegation he was appointed as full-time manager of the club in 2006.
Grayson enjoyed a couple of successful seasons at Blackpool winning promotion to the Championship and also reaching the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in 17 years.
Because of his managerial success at Blackpool, he was linked to many clubs including Leeds United with whom he started his playing career. When Gary McAllister was sacked, the Elland Road side approached Blackpool to speak to Grayson, which they subsequently refused.
He eventually handed in his resignation and joined Leeds as manager in 2008 with the two clubs settling the dispute for an undisclosed fee.
Grayson had a great start to his Leeds United managerial career equalling Don Revie’s back to back victory records, but poor away form saw his side finish in fourth place and a loss in the play-off semi-final.
The following season he led his side to a second-placed finish which meant automatic promotion to the Championship but after a promising start in their new league the side’s form dipped and they finished the season in seventh place. Unfortunately Grayson was sacked in February 2012 after a string of poor results.
He wasn’t out of work for long and joined Huddersfield Town just days after leaving Elland Road steering them to promotion to the Championship via the play-offs before getting the sack after a year after failing to win in 12 consecutive games.
Once again Grayson made an immediate return to football and joined Preston North End where he won promotion via the play-offs in his first full season at the club. In July 2017, he left after four years to join recently-relegated Sunderland as their new manager.
Unfortunately, his time on Tyneside was short-lived and he was sacked in October 2017 after managing just one win in 18 games during his tenure.
Next up was a short-term contract as manager of League One side Bradford City which made him the first manager to take charge of the three main West Yorkshire sides – Bradford City, Huddersfield Town and Leeds United. He left the Bantams at the end of the 2017-18 after deciding against renewing his contract.
He then spent seven months managing Blackpool before joining Fleetwood Town in January 2021 where he stayed until November 2021 when he was sacked after recording just three victories from 17 League One matches.
Grayson was back in football in June 2022 when he joined Indian Super League side Bengaluru FC in his current role as head coach.
Back to Aston Villa / Leicester City
Simon Grayson: Premier League Statistics
| Nationality | English |
| Position | Defender |
| Appearances | 118 |
| Goals | 0 |
| Yellow Cards | 15 |
| Red Cards | 1 |
| Premier League Teams Played for | Aston Villa, Leicester City |
Statistics courtesy of www.premierleague.com
Last Updated on 19 July 2023 by Admin