Ex-Files: Sean Gregan
Sean Gregan was born in Guisborough, a Market Town in the North East of England. He spent the first five years of his professional career at nearby Darlington before moving to Preston. During his spell with The Quakers, Gregan racked up over 140 appearances, during which he caught the eye of Preston manager Gary Peters. in November 1996 and £350,000 later, Gregan became a North End player and slotted straight into Peters' midfield as Preston went on to clinch the Division Three title. Gregan became an instrumental part of the Preston team and was nicknamed 'God' by many of the supporters. His no nonsense approach and tough tackling ability was something that Preston supporters felt was missing from the midfield and therefore cemented his place in the team for many seasons at Deepdale, despite a change of managers in 1998 when David Moyes was appointed.
Preston under Gregan's captaincy reached the Division Two play-offs in the 1998/1999 season only to be knocked out by Gillingham in the semis. Preston bounced back and went on to become Division Two champions the following season; again Gregan played a major role in the side, forging a superb partnership with Mark Rankine who seemed to complement each other perfectly.
In a bid to make it two successive promotions in a row, Preston reached the Division One Play-off final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in May 2001, a tremendous achievement in itself for a club who had just recently been promoted to that division. The nerves seemed to get the better of Preston who were thumped 3-0 by an assured looking Bolton Wanderers. That season will be a remember able one for Gregan, despite Preston not reaching the Premiership. Mainly because of that goal against Norwich in March 2001 - a speculative 45 yard chip that left stunned Carrow Road.
The following season proved to be Gregan's last at Deepdale as he was transferred to newly promoted West Bromwich Albion for £2m. Gary Megson saw Gregan as the ideal man to steer his side to Premiership survival but sadly for the Baggies, they were relegated to the First Division after just one season in the top flight. Gregan made his Premiership debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford on the opening day of the season and went on to make a further 35 Premiership appearances, scoring one goal. The Baggies bounced back in 2003/2004 and were promoted straight back up to the Premiership with Gregan playing a pivotal role for the club. Despite this, Gregan never got a second chance at the Premiership and joined Leeds United in September 2004 who were aiming for a quick return to the Premiership themselves.
Gregan's three year stint at Leeds was a somewhat mixed one; after failing to impress in his favoured midfield, he was shifted to centre back where he spent some of the latter part of his Deepdale tenure, making some impressive displays. In May 2005, it was time for Gregan to revisit his old stopping ground as Leeds faced Preston in the play-off semi finals. A 1-1 draw at Elland Road and a 2-0 win at Deepdale saw Leeds book their place in Cardiff for the Play-off final which meant Gregan visited the Cardiff Millennium Stadium for a second time, this time facing Watford. Unfortunately for him and Leeds, just like when he lined up for Preston in 2001, Leeds were convincingly beaten 3-0 and were condemned to another season in the Championship. Just one more season as it turned out as a disastrous start to the 2006/2007 campaign saw Leeds flirting with the relegation zone and were later relegated to League One. Due to stiff competition at centre back, Gregan found himself out of favour at Elland Road and sought after first team football.
Accordingly, Gregan joined League One outfit Oldham athletic and helped them reach the2006/2007 League One play-off semi finals. A defeat to Blackpool meant the Latics were staying exactly where they were. Looking to go one better, Gregan and Oldham focused their attention on reaching the play-offs but just like the previous year, they fell short. This season Gregan has featured 17 times for Oldham with his most recent performance being in the 4-1 win over Crewe on the last day of the 2007/2008 season.