Grant Hanley

Grant Hanley
Personal information
Full nameGrant Campbell Hanley[1]
Date of birth20 November 1991
Place of birthDumfries, Scotland
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Playing positionCentre Back
Club information
Current team
Blackburn Rovers
Number5
Youth career
Queen of the South
2004–2006Crewe Alexandra
2006–2008Rangers
2008–2010Blackburn Rovers
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2010–Blackburn Rovers139(6)
National team‡
2010–2011Scotland U197(0)
2010Scotland U211(0)
2011–Scotland17(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:19, 5 March 2015 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2014

Grant Campbell Hanley (born 20 November 1991) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a defender for Blackburn Rovers and the Scotland national football team.

Early years

Hanley was born in Dumfries, Scotland. He was involved at youth level with local club Queen of the South, Crewe Alexandra and with Rangers before he joined Blackburn Rovers as a 16-year-old in 2008.[3][4]

Blackburn Rovers

At Rovers, Hanley was captain of the under-18 team.[4]

He was given his first team début for Blackburn by Sam Allardyce when starting in the Premier League 1–0 victory at Aston Villa on the final day of the season on 9 May 2010.[5][6] Hanley committed his future when he signed a new five-year deal with Blackburn on 21 July 2010.[7]

Five days after Allardyce's departure, on 18 December 2010 Hanley made his first appearance of season 2010–11 by new manager Steve Kean as a 67th minute substitute for Phil Jones in a 1–1 Premier League draw at home to West Ham United. This marked the beginning of his first period of appearing in the first team with some regularity.[8] He made his FA Cup début on 8 January 2011, against Queens Park Rangers in the third round in a 1–0 victory at Ewood Park.[9] On 5 March 2011, Hanley scored his first goal for Rovers in a 3–2 defeat against Fulham at Craven Cottage.[10] That was the last of his nine Blackburn first team appearances that season although he was to make his international debut at the end of the season. On 31 December 2011, he started and played the full 90 minutes alongside Christopher Samba and headed in the winning goal in the 80th minute after being punched by David De Gea in a 3–2 away win against Manchester United at Old Trafford.[11][12] This win lifted Blackburn off the bottom of the table.[13] On 14 January 2012, Hanley started and played the full 90 minutes alongside Gael Givet in a 3–1 win over Fulham at Ewood Park. On 14 April 2012, he started the Premier League fixture with Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium and suffered ankle ligament damage and subsequently had to leave the field at half-time for Argentine Mauro Formica, the game finished 3–0 to Swansea City. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Hanley made 28 appearances and scored 1 goal in all competitions for Rovers. Ever since the departure of star defender Christopher Samba, Hanley has received more opportunities to play for Blackburn. In April 2012, Hanley was linked with a move to Manchester United after manager Alex Ferguson praised his performance following a 2–0 loss, where he could follow former youngsters Phil Jones but manager Steve Kean insisted Hanley isn't for sale.[14]

He will play the 2012–13 season in the Championship after the club was relegated to the Championship, ending 11 years stay in the Premier League. Hanley maintain his first team place in the center back and formed a partnership with Scott Dann despite a series of changing management. In a match against Leeds United on 1 September 2012, Hanley set up a goal for Rubén Rochina to score Blackburn's third goal in a match to keep both side a draw and two weeks on, he scored his first goal of the season in a 2–1 loss against Middlesbrough, in Kean's last game as manager. One month later, Hanley scored the only goal in the game in a 1–0 win over Sheffield Wednesday.[15] At the end of the 2012–13 season, Hanley then signed a five-year contract with the club.[16]

After Dann left for Crystal Palace in January 2014, Hanley was appointed as the new captain of the club. Manager Gary Bowyer said, "We spoke the other day about it, a lot of people think he'll be a future captain of Scotland and we see him being the captain here. He has took to the job well second time around and I'm delighted for the captain that he has scored his first goal of the season."[17]

International career

Hanley has captained Scotland at under-19 level.[4] On 17 November 2010, he played for Scotland under-21s when aged 18 in a 3–1 win against Northern Ireland at Firhill.[18]

On 1 February 2011, Hanley was called up to the senior Scotland squad for the first time ahead of the game against Northern Ireland in the Nations Cup.[19] He made his full international début as an 84th minute substitute on 25 May 2011 coming on for Gary Caldwell against Wales in the Nations Cup in Dublin.[20] Four days later his second full international was his first as a starter. He played against the Republic of Ireland in the final game of the 2011 Nations Cup, with the Republic of Ireland winning 1–0.[21]

His third full international cap was his debut at home. This was a late substitute appearance in the 2–1 win against Denmark on 10 August 2011. His first Scotland goal was in his fifth full international when he opened the scoring in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier at home against Wales on 22 March 2013 at Hampden Park.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 24 February 2015.
Club statistics
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Blackburn Rovers 2009–10[22] Premier League 100000—10
2010–11[23] Premier League 702000—90
2011–12[24] Premier League 2311040—281
2012–13[25] Championship 3925110—453
2013–14[26] Championship 3812000—401
2014–15[27] Championship 3110000—311
Career total 139510150—1546

International

As of match played 18 November 2014.[28]
International statistics
National team Year Apps Goals
Scotland 2011 3 0
2012 1 0
2013 8 1
2014 5 0
Total 17 1

References

  1. ↑ Brown, Tony; Joyce, Michael; Longbottom, David, eds. (2013). English National Football Archive Yearbook 2013. Tony Brown. ISBN 978-1-905891-62-7.
  2. ↑ "Player Profile – Grant Hanley". Blackburn Rovers official site. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  3. ↑ Muirhead's career built on solid bricks Scottish Football League, 14 January 2011
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 I can be the new Colin Hendry for Scotland & Blackburn, vows Scots under 19 skipper Grant Hanley Daily Record, 24 May 2010
  5. ↑ "Grant Hanley first team profile". Rovers.co.uk. Blackburn Rovers FC. Archived from the original on 5 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
  6. ↑ "Aston Villa 0 – 1 Blackburn". Sky Sports. 9 May 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
  7. ↑ Blackburn Rovers defender Hanley pens five-year contract Lancashire Telegraph, 22 July 2010
  8. ↑ Junior Stanislas rescues a deserved point for West Ham at Blackburn The Observer, 18 December 2010
  9. ↑ Blackburn Rovers v QPR Match facts guardian.co.uk, 8 January 2011
  10. ↑ Fulham 3 – 2 Blackburn BBC Sport, 5 March 2011
  11. ↑ Match winner Grant Hanley hails Blackburn Rovers youth BBC Sport, 31 December 2011
  12. ↑ Blackburn stun United, Spurs and Chelsea slip up Reuters, 31 December 2011
  13. ↑ Man Utd 2 – 3 Blackburn BBC Sport, 31 December 2011
  14. ↑ "Hands off Hanley, Fergie". The Sun. 6 April 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  15. ↑ "Dave Jones cursed Sheffield Wednesday's wasteful finishing after 1–0 defeat by Blackburn". Sky Sports. 25 October 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  16. ↑ "Transfer news: Blackburn give Grant Hanley long-term contract at Ewood Park". Sky Sports. 4 June 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  17. ↑ "Delighted for the captain". Blackburn Rovers F.C. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  18. ↑ Under-21s defeat Northern Ireland Scottish FA, 17 November 2010
  19. ↑ "Hanley nets first Scots call-up". BBC Sport. 1 February 2011.
  20. ↑ Doonhamer internationalists Queen of the South FC, 25 May 2011
  21. ↑ "Scotland miss out on Carling Nations Cup trophy" 29 May 2011 www.scottishfa.co.uk
  22. ↑ "Games played by Grant Hanley in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  23. ↑ "Games played by Grant Hanley in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  24. ↑ "Games played by Grant Hanley in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  25. ↑ "Games played by Grant Hanley in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  26. ↑ "Games played by Grant Hanley in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  27. ↑ "Games played by Grant Hanley in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  28. ↑ "Grant Hanley". National Football Teams. Retrieved 12 March 2015.

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Scott Dann		 Blackburn Rovers captain
2014-present 		Incumbent