Chris O'Grady

Christopher James O'Grady (born 25 January 1986) is an English footballer striker who last played for Bolton Wanderers.

Chris O'Grady
O'Grady playing for Brighton & Hove Albion in 2015
Personal information
Full name Christopher James O'Grady[1]
Date of birth (1986-01-25) 25 January 1986[1]
Place of birth Nottingham, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Nottingham Forest
2000–2003 Leicester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2007 Leicester City 24 (1)
2004–2005Notts County (loan) 9 (0)
2005–2006Rushden & Diamonds (loan) 22 (4)
2007–2008 Rotherham United 51 (13)
2008–2010 Oldham Athletic 13 (0)
2008Bury (loan) 6 (0)
2009Bradford City (loan) 2 (0)
2009Stockport County (loan) 18 (2)
2009–2010Rochdale (loan) 24 (15)
2010–2011 Rochdale 69 (19)
2011–2013 Sheffield Wednesday 53 (9)
2013Barnsley (loan) 16 (6)
2013–2014 Barnsley 40 (15)
2014–2017 Brighton & Hove Albion 31 (1)
2014Sheffield United (loan) 4 (1)
2015–2016Nottingham Forest (loan) 21 (2)
2016–2017Burton Albion (loan) 26 (1)
2017–2018 Chesterfield 35 (2)
2018–2019 Oldham Athletic 38 (7)
2019–2020 Bolton Wanderers 20 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:00, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Leicester City

Born in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire,[1] O'Grady originally caught the eye of former Leicester City boss Micky Adams as he was prolific in front of goal for the under 18s and reserves. O'Grady was handed his debut when coming off the bench in Leicester's 2–0 victory over Grimsby Town in April 2003, but failed to break through into the first team the following season.

He made 11 appearances during a loan spell at Notts County in late 2004, gaining some much needed league experience, and ended the 2004–05 campaign on a high, winning a place on the bench in City's final game of the season against Plymouth Argyle.

After scoring from the penalty spot against Inter Milan in pre-season, O'Grady had a successful spell on loan at Rushden & Diamonds at the end of 2005, before returning to Leicester to compete for a place in the first team line-up. He grabbed his first Championship goal at Luton Town in March 2006, a late strike which earned City a 2–1 away win.[2]

In his first start for Leicester City, he scored the first goal in a 2–0 win over Macclesfield Town in the League Cup first round.[3] His second start saw Leicester win 1–0 at home to Southend United.

Rotherham United

On 18 January 2007, O'Grady signed for Rotherham United on a two-and-a-half-year deal for £65,000. His first goal for Rotherham was a penalty against Huddersfield Town in February 2007. O'Grady altogether scored four goals in his first season with Rotherham.[4]

O'Grady (right) at Bury with teammates Ben Futcher and Glynn Hurst

Oldham Athletic

O'Grady transferred to Oldham Athletic for an undisclosed fee on 28 May 2008,[5] making his debut in the following season on 9 August in a 4–3 win over Millwall.[6] After ten appearances for the Latics without a goal, he was loaned out to Bury.[7]

O'Grady signed on loan for Bradford City on 2 January 2009 on a month's loan.[8] His debut for Bradford came the following day when he was a second-half substitute for Michael Boulding in a 0–0 draw with Shrewsbury Town.[9] O'Grady played just two games with Bradford,[10] before he returned to Oldham and immediately joining another League One side Stockport County on loan until the end of the 2008–09 season.[11] His debut for the Hatters came on 4 February, coming on at half-time in a 1–0 loss to Milton Keynes Dons.[12] O'Grady's first goal for Stockport was in his seventh game to give the side a 1–1 draw with Leicester City on 3 March 2009.[13]

Rochdale

O'Grady signed for Rochdale on loan on 21 August 2009 and impressed, scoring 12 league goals in 21 games. On 14 January 2010 O'Grady signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Rochdale for an undisclosed fee.[14]

On 23 January 2010 he scored his first hat-trick, against Cheltenham. In the same season he helped Rochdale gain promotion from League Two.

Sheffield Wednesday

O'Grady playing for Sheffield Wednesday in 2012

On 14 July 2011 Rochdale confirmed that a bid by Sheffield Wednesday for O'Grady had been rejected.[15] On 9 August 2011 Wednesday confirmed the signing of O'Grady from Rochdale for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £350,000,[16][17] with the striker putting pen to paper on a three-year contract at Hillsborough. Chris scored his first goal for the Owls in a 2–2 draw against fierce rivals Sheffield United. His next goal came away at Morecambe in the FA Cup. His third, a spectacular headed lob, came against local rivals and promotion candidates Huddersfield Town. He was considered the work horse of the Wednesday frontline by many an Owls fan. Despite having not scored many goals for the club, he cemented himself as first-choice forward alongside Gary Madine. O'Grady also formed a solid partnership with fellow frontman Ryan Lowe, when Madine was either suspended or out injured.

On 26 February 2012, O'Grady scored once again against derby rivals Sheffield United with a header from a Lewis Buxton cross in a 1–0 win for the Owls at Hillsborough.

At the start of the 2012–13 season, O'Grady scored three goals in two games, the first two against one of his previous clubs Oldham Athletic in the League Cup, and then, in the first league game, he scored a stunner against Derby County. He received the ball from Lewis Buxton, turned and smashed a shot with his left foot into the top left corner.

Loan at Barnsley

On January transfer deadline day in 2013, O'Grady joined Wednesday's South Yorkshire rivals Barnsley on loan for the remainder of the season.[18]

Barnsley

After a successful loan spell at Barnsley, O'Grady joined them on a permanent basis on 19 June 2013 from Sheffield Wednesday on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be around £300,000.[19]

Brighton & Hove Albion

Following Barnsley's relegation from the Championship at the end of the 2013–14 season, O'Grady transferred to Brighton & Hove Albion on 18 July 2014, signing a three-year contract for an undisclosed six figure fee believed to be £500,000.[20] He scored his first goal for Brighton in an FA Cup tie against Brentford 3 January 2015.[21]

Loan spells

On 27 November 2014 O'Grady went on loan to Sheffield United until the end of January 2015.[22] He scored once for Sheffield United; his goal coming in a 1–1 draw with Walsall.[23] On 29 December, Brighton & Hove recalled O'Grady from his loan spell at United due to a striker shortage.[24]

On 1 September 2015, O'Grady joined Nottingham Forest on loan for the remainder of the season.[25]

O'Grady joined Burton Albion in July 2016 on loan for the 2016–17 season.[26] He scored his first goal for Burton in a 2–1 win over former club Rotherham United on 29 December 2016.[27]

Chesterfield

In June 2017, O'Grady signed a two-year contract with EFL League Two side Chesterfield. Upon signing O'Grady told the club website, "It's the type of club and the type of project that is just perfect for me. The objective is to get the club back to where it belongs - in League One...I had other offers but Chesterfield were the first to come in for me and it just felt right."[28] At the end of Chesterfield's dismal league 2 campaign in 2017/18, O'Grady was ironically voted player of the season by disgruntled fans before the club decided to not award the 'honour' at all.[29]

Oldham Athletic

On 30 July 2018, O'Grady rejoined League Two club Oldham Athletic on a one-year deal.[30]

Bolton Wanderers

On 2 September 2019, O'Grady signed a contract until the end of the season with League One side Bolton Wanderers, following the termination of his contract at Oldham Athletic.[31] Due to injury, his debut didn't come until 19 October, when he came on as a late substitute in a 1–3 defeat against Rochdale[32] with his first start coming three days later, when he played the full 90 minutes in Bolton's first win of the season, a 2–0 away win against Bristol Rovers.[33] His first goals came on 29 October when he scored twice in a 3–1 win against Manchester City U21 in the EFL Trophy,[34] with his first league goal coming in Bolton's next match, as he opened the scoring against Fleetwood Town, Bolton winning 2–1, their third win in a row.[35] On 26 June it was announced O'Grady would be one of 14 senior players released at the end of his contract on 30 June.[36]

International career

O'Grady was capped by England at youth international level.[1]

Career statistics

As of match played 25 February 2020
Club statistics
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Leicester City 2002–03[37] Division One 10000010
2003–04[38] Premier League 00000000
2004–05[39] Championship 00000000
2005–06[40] Championship 1310000131
2006–07[41] Championship 1000011111
Total 2410011252
Notts County (loan) 2004–05[39] League Two 9010001[lower-alpha 1]0110
Rushden & Diamonds (loan) 2005–06[40] League Two 22400102[lower-alpha 1]0254
Rotherham United 2006–07[41] League One 134000000134
2007–08[41] League Two 38921101[lower-alpha 1]14211
Total 51132110115515
Oldham Athletic 2008–09[42] League One 13000201[lower-alpha 1]0160
2009–10[43] League One 0000100010
Total 130003010170
Bury (loan) 2008–09[42] League Two 6000000060
Bradford City (loan) 2008–09[42] League Two 2000000020
Stockport County (loan) 2008–09[43] League One 182000000182
Rochdale (loan)
2009–10[43]
League Two 24152000002615
Rochdale 197000000197
2010–11[44] League One 469102000499
2011–12[45] League One 1000000010
Total 90313020009531
Sheffield Wednesday 2011–12[45] League One 325420000367
2012–13[45] Championship 2141022246
Total 5395222006013
Barnsley (loan) 2012–13[45] Championship 1660000166
Barnsley 2013–14[45] Championship 401510204315
Total 562110205921
Brighton & Hove Albion 2014–15[45] Championship 2812230333
2015–16[45] Championship 30002050
Total 3112250383
Sheffield United (loan) 2014–15[45] League One 4100000041
Nottingham Forest (loan) 2015–16[45] Championship 2120000212
Burton Albion (loan) 2016–17[46] Championship 2610000---261
Chesterfield 2017–18[47] League Two 35210104[lower-alpha 1]1413
Oldham Athletic 2018–19[48] League Two 38741104[lower-alpha 1]0478
Bolton Wanderers 2019–20[49] League One 20210002[lower-alpha 1]2234
Career total 51889165183114572102
Notes
  1. Appearance(s) in the EFL Trophy.

Honours

Rochdale
Sheffield Wednesday

References

  1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 317. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  2. "Luton 1–2 Leicester". bbc.co.uk. 11 March 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  3. "Leicester 2–0 Macclesfield". bbc.co.uk. 22 August 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  4. "Rotherham snap up Foxes striker". bbc.co.uk. 18 January 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2007.
  5. "Millers' O'Grady makes Latics switch". oldhamathletic.premiumtv.co.uk. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
  6. "Oldham 4–3 Millwall". bbc.co.uk. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  7. "O'Grady Seals Shakers Switch". skysports.com. 17 October 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  8. "Bradford sign O'Grady from Oldham". bbc.co.uk. 2 January 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  9. "Bradford 0–0 Shrewsbury". bbc.co.uk. 3 January 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
  10. "Chris O'Grady". soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  11. "Hatters Land O'Grady". skysports.com. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  12. "Stockport 0–1 MK Dons". bbc.co.uk. 4 February 2009. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  13. "Leicester 1–1 Stockport". bbc.co.uk. 3 March 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  14. "O'Grady signs". rochdaleafc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  15. "Owls Fail with Striker Bid". skysports.com. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
  16. "O'Grady Deal Done". swfc.co.uk. 9 August 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  17. "Owls clinch striker deal". thestar.co.uk. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  18. "Barnsley 2-0 Leicester". bbc.co.uk. 1 April 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  19. "O'Grady signs for Barnsley". www.swfc.co.uk. 19 June 2013.
  20. "O'Grady signs for Albion". seagulls.co.uk. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  21. "Brentford 0–2 Brighton". bbc.co.uk. 3 January 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  22. "Chris O'Grady: Sheffield United bring in Brighton striker". bbc.co.uk. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  23. "Sheff Utd 1–1 Walsall". bbc.co.uk. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  24. "Sheffield United: Blades hope to re-sign O'Grady after Seagulls recall". thestar.co.uk. 30 December 2014. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  25. "O'Grady joins Forest". seagulls.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  26. "Chris O'Grady: Burton Albion sign Brighton striker on loan". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  27. "Rotherham 1–2 Burton". bbc.co.uk. 29 December 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  28. "Chris O'Grady: Chesterfield sign striker on two-year deal after Brighton exit". bbc.com. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  29. "Record wage earner agrees to leave the Proact". derbyshiretimes.co.uk. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  30. "Chris O'Grady and Sam Surridge: Oldham Athletic sign strikers". BBC Sport. 30 July 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  31. "O'Grady signs for Wanderers". Bolton Wanderers. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  32. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50024219
  33. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50051040
  34. https://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/2019/october/report-bolton-wanderers-3-1-manchester-city-u21s/
  35. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50190811
  36. theboltonnews "Bolton announce retained list with 14 players out of contract"
  37. "Games played by Chris O'Grady in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  38. "Games played by Chris O'Grady in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  39. "Games played by Chris O'Grady in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  40. "Games played by Chris O'Grady in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  41. "Games played by Chris O'Grady in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  42. "Games played by Chris O'Grady in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  43. "Games played by Chris O'Grady in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  44. "Games played by Chris O'Grady in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  45. "Games played by Chris O'Grady in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  46. "Games played by Chris O'Grady in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  47. "Games played by Chris O'Grady in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  48. "Games played by Chris O'Grady in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  49. "Games played by Chris O'Grady in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
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