Mike Gregory

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For the darts player see Mike Gregory (darts).

Mike Gregory

Personal information
Full name	Michael Keith Gregory
Date of birth	20 May 1964(1964-05-20)
Place of birth	Wigan, Lancashire, England
Date of death	19 November 2007 (aged 43)
Senior clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (points)
1982-1994	Warrington
Representative teams
	Great Britain	20+(?)
Professional clubs coached
1998-2001 2003-2005	Swinton Lions Wigan Warriors
Representative teams coached
1995 2002 2003	Welsh Dragons England Academy Scotland
* Professional club appearances and points counted for domestic first grade only.

Michael Keith "Mike" Gregory (20 May 1964 – 19 November 2007), was a rugby league player and later coach; the former head coach of Wigan and player for Warrington and Great Britain.

Contents 1 Playing Career 2 Coaching Career 3 Illness 3.1 Controversy 3.2 Death 4 External links 5 References

[edit] Playing Career

Mike had a distinguished playing career captaining both Warrington and Great Britain, gaining over 20 caps for the Lions. He captained a Great Britain tour to New Zealand. He made his Warrington debut on 05.09.1982 and playing his last game on 12.02.1994, Making 222 1st team starts and 24 substitute appearances and scoring 45 tries and a total points of 176.

[edit] Coaching Career

Gregory started his coaching career as assistant to Shaun McRae at St Helens. He spent three successful seasons at Saints between 1996-98, before taking the head coach job at Swinton. He later joined Wigan, taking charge of the Senior Academy in 2001. He led the youngsters to first place in the 2002 Academy Championship, before being promoted to assistant coach for the 2003 season.

Following the departure of head coach Stuart Raper in July 2003, Mike was appointed head coach until the end of the 2003 season. After Raper's announcement, Gregory had announced his intention to run for the job permanently. He spent three months as caretaker coach, remaining unbeaten for 11 matches and guiding Wigan into the Grand Final - becoming the first side from outside the top two to make it all the way - before being awarded the job full time on a 2 year contract. It was the first time since Colin Clarke, in 1985, that a Wigan-born man has coached Wigan.

Gregory has international coaching experience with Wales in the 1995 World Cup. He also guided the England Academy team to a historic series victory against the Australian Schoolboys in 2002. He was assistant coach of the Lancashire Origin squad for 2003 and was also appointed as head coach of Scotland for the 2003 European Nations' Cup.

[edit] Illness

In 2004, it was revealed that Gregory had been suffering from progressive muscular atrophy, a form of motor neurone disease affecting his nerves and muscles which he had possibly contracted as early as 2001. The illness blocks signals from the brain getting to muscles, causing weight-loss and affecting speech. Gregory went to the USA for a week in May 2004 to receive specialist treatment. Ian Millward was appointed as head coach of Wigan while Mike was still recovering from his illness. It is believed that during rugby league duties in Australia in 2003, when Mike was a coach, he was bitten by a tic which was carrying an infection known as Borrelia. Though Mike was totally unaware of the bite, he later developed a large red-ring rash, unbeknown to him at the time that this rash was the hallmark for Borrelia (the causative agent of Lymes Disease) – and ushered in the beginning of the biggest fight of his life.

[edit] Controversy

In September 2004 there were reports that Mike's illness would prevent him from returning to his job at Wigan. Maurice Lindsay said that Wigan would continue to employ and pay Mike while he was on sick leave and then wait on advice from medical advisers.^[1]

Mike felt that during 2004, he was able to return but the club blocked his return to work. This resulted in Mike taking Wigan and the club's owner Dave Whelan to court claiming that Wigan should have done more to help him carry on. The case was settled by the two parties out of court with Wigan agreeing to pay Gregory £17,500. After the settlement Mike Gregory said:

“

I feel robbed of a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am Wigan-born and bred and I was very proud to be head coach of my home town team. As it is for players, it is for coaches, to represent your home town is a special privilege. The support of the players and fans has been exceptional throughout and this has been shown in many ways. If it had not been for them, I do not believe I would have been chosen for the head coach in the first place. This was my dream job. I was proud to lead my team out into two finals. The supporters had belief in me and the team. I would never have betrayed this loyalty by returning to the job, if I felt incapable of doing it. My health was no different when I wanted to return to work than it had been at the Challenge Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium. However, I was ‘frozen out’ from that then on. I feel the management of the club failed to do their duty as a good employer. Never once did I feel they were trying to aid my return to work. The continuing support of the fans and the players has made a horrific experience bearable and I thank you all.

”

[edit] Death

Having been confined to a wheelchair for the past year, Gregory died from the disease on 19 November 2007 with wife Erica, parents Joan and Keith, sister Christine and brother Philip by his side. Mike will live for ever in the hearts of thousands he is a ture legend and will always remain a much loved icon. ^[2]

[edit] External links

• Mike Gregory website
• Obituary in The Times, 28 November 2007

[edit] References

Preceded by Stuart Raper

Coach Wigan Warriors 2003-2005

Succeeded by Denis Betts

Wigan Warriors Rugby League Football Club
Wigan Warriors
History • Records • Stadium • Players • Honours
Seasons
2006 • 2007 • 2008
Stadiums
Folly Field (1872-1877) • Prescott Street (1877-1901) • Springfield Park (1901-1902) • Central Park (1902-1999) • JJB Stadium (1999-)
Captains
Andrew Farrell (1998-2005) • Sean O'Loughlin (2006-)
Coaches
Andy Goodway • John Monie (1995-1997) • Frank Endacott (1999-2001) • Stuart Raper (2001-2003) • Mike Gregory (2003-2005) Denis Betts (2004-2005) • Ian Millward (2005-2006) • Brian Noble (2006-present)