Billy Greulich-Smith (born 24 April 1991) is an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays for

Shildon Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...

Playing career

Greulich had a varied career as a youth player. He was at the academies of Watford,

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. During his time at Middlesbrough he was part of the successful U13 team tha
won the prestigious Cascais Tournament in Portugal
Following his release from Sunderland he signed as a youth team player with

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

but was unfortunate to see his contract cancelled when Luton went into Administration He ended up at

Northern Football League The Northern League is a British men's association football, football league in North East England, north east England. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the English Footb ...

side Brandon United before the end of his teenage years. After a trial with

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

in summer 2009, he made it into

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

, signing his first professional contract with the club in August 2009. He made his debut in a 1–0 home win over

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

on 24 October 2009, replacing

Adam Boyd Adam Mark Boyd (born 25 May 1982) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. During his studies at Hartlepool Manor School of Technology, he played for Hartlepool ...

in the 73rd minute. Greulich made a further three substitute appearances over the following six weeks, following an injury crisis at the club. Having gained first-team experience, he signed a new contract at the end of the season. In May 2011 Greulich was not offered a new contract by the club, along with nine other players, and was released. Moving back into non-league football, Greulich joined Durham City, of the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

for the 2011–12 season; by the time of his transfer to

in January 2012, he had scored 4 goals in 24 league appearances for Durham. He joined

early in 2012, and enjoyed a more prolific second half of the season than his first, scoring 6 goals in 14 appearances for the club.

Career statistics

:''(Correct as of 15 May 2012)'' *Listed in the "Other" column are one appearance, without scoring, for Durham City in the 2011–12 League Challenge Cup; 4 appearances and one goal for Durham in the

2011–12 FA Trophy The 2011–12 FA Trophy is the 42nd season of the FA Trophy, the Football Association's cup competition for teams at levels 5–8 of the English football league system. A total of 266 clubs entered the competition. The competition was won for th ...

and a further goalless appearance in the 2011–12 Durham Senior Cup.

References

External links

Profile
at the Official Hartlepool United site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Greulich, Billy 1991 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Middlesbrough F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Watford F.C. players Brandon United F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Durham City A.F.C. players Shildon A.F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players Footballers from the London Borough of Barnet People from Hendon 21st-century English sportsmen