Chris O'Grady

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Chris O'Grady

O'Grady warming up for Bury in 2008
Personal information
Full nameChristopher James O'Grady[1]
Date of birth (1986-01-25) 25 January 1986[1]
Place of birthNottingham, England
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1]
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current clubBarnsley
Number10
Youth career
2000–2003Leicester City
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2003–2007Leicester City24(1)
2004–2005→ Notts County (loan)9(0)
2005–2006→ Rushden & Diamonds (loan)22(4)
2007–2008Rotherham United51(13)
2008–2009Oldham Athletic13(0)
2008→ Bury (loan)6(0)
2009→ Bradford City (loan)2(0)
2009→ Stockport County (loan)18(2)
2009–2010→ Rochdale (loan)24(15)
2010–2011Rochdale75(19)
2011–2013Sheffield Wednesday51(9)
2013→ Barnsley (loan)16(6)
2013–Barnsley20(10)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:30, 28 January 2014 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).

Christopher James "Chris" O'Grady (born 25 January 1986) is an English footballer who plays for Barnsley as a striker.

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.

Sheffield Wednesday

O'Grady playing for Sheffield Wednesday in 2012

On 14 July 2011 Rochdale confirmed that a bid for O'Grady had been rejected from Sheffield Wednesday.[15] On 9 August 2011 Wednesday confirmed the signing of Chris 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 Morcambe in the FA Cup. His third, a spectacular headed lob, came against local rivals and promotion candidates Huddersfield Town. He is considered the work horse of the Wednesday frontline by many an Owls fan. Despite having not scored many goals for his new club, he has cemented himself as first-choice forward alongside Gary Madine. O'Grady has 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 against fierce 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]

International career

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

Honours

Rochdale
Sheffield Wednesday

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 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. 11 March 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2014. 
  3. ↑ "Leicester 2-0 Macclesfield". BBC. 22 August 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2014. 
  4. ↑ "Rotherham snap up Foxes striker". BBC Sport. 18 January 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2007. 
  5. ↑ "Millers' O'Grady makes Latics switch". Oldham Athletic. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008. 
  6. ↑ "Oldham 4–3 Millwall". BBC Sport. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2009. 
  7. ↑ "O'Grady seals Shakers switch". Sky Sports. 17 October 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2009. 
  8. ↑ "Bradford sign O'Grady from Oldham". BBC Sport. 2 January 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2009. 
  9. ↑ "Bradford 0–0 Shrewsbury". BBC Sport. 3 January 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2009. 
  10. ↑ "Chris O'Grady". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2 February 2009. 
  11. ↑ "Hatters land O'Grady". Sky Sports. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009. 
  12. ↑ "Stockport 0–1 MK Dons". BBC Sport. 4 February 2009. Retrieved 4 February 2009. 
  13. ↑ "Leicester 1–1 Stockport". BBC Sport. 3 March 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2009. 
  14. ↑ "O'Grady signs". Rochdale AFC official website. 14 January 2010. 
  15. ↑ "Owls Fail with Striker Bid". Sky Sports. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2011. 
  16. ↑ "O'Grady deal done". Sheffield Wednesday. 9 August 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2011. 
  17. ↑ "Owls clinch striker deal". www.thestar.co.uk. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2011. 
  18. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21921394
  19. ↑ "O'Grady signs for Barnsley". www.swfc.co.uk. 19 June 2013. 

External links

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