Simon Grayson, English footballer and manager
Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English football former player and manager.
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. 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. His next piece of silverware came at Blackpool in 2003–04, when he lifted the Football League Trophy.
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 guided the club to promotion, via the playoffs, from League One to the Championship in 2006–07.
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.