Colin Anthony Greenall (born 30 December 1963) is an English former professional

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 ...

who made over 600

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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

appearances between 1980 and 1999. Starting his career at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

as an apprentice, Greenall had spells at Gillingham, Oxford United, Bury,

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...

, Chester City and Lincoln City before finishing his career at his hometown club,

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

Playing career

Blackpool

Billinge-born Greenall made his professional debut with

on 23 September 1980, at the age of 16 years and 237 days, becoming the club's then-youngest-ever league player (a record broken by Trevor Sinclair in 1989). Three days later, he appeared in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

game against Everton at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpo ...

. Greenall was one of a host of young players brought to Blackpool by Alan Ball during his short managerial reign at the club. Unlike most of the others, however, he remained at the club for years and developed into a dependable defender. He eventually took over the central role, combining with captain

Steve Hetzke Stephen Edward Richard Hetzke (born 3 June 1955 in Marlborough, Wiltshire) is an English former professional footballer. He played as a defender. Career Hetzke began his career with Reading, where he twice won promotion from Division Four, ...

and Mike Conroy to form a successful defensive partnership. Greenall won England Youth honours and, at 20, was voted the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

's Player of the Year by the PFA.

Gillingham

After 183 league appearances in just over five years, Greenall had a contractual dispute with Blackpool, and in September 1986 he moved to

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

Gillingham for £40,000.

Oxford United

Greenall joined Oxford United in February 1988 for £235,000, and the U's soon made him skipper following the departure of Tommy Caton, as he enjoyed a brief taste of top-flight football before they were relegated at the end of the season.

Bury and Preston North End

In July 1990, he moved to Bury for £100,000 after an initial loan spell at

Gigg Lane Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gig ...

, before departing for

during 1991–92 – a move in his favour as Preston narrowly beat the drop from Division Three while Bury were relegated. Preston would follow suit 12 months later, however.

Latter years

After a year at Chester City, where he won promotion and player of the season in 1993–94, and a spell with Lincoln City, Greenall joined

in 1995. At Wigan, he helped guide the team to Third Division success as an ever-present captain in 1997. After coming out of retirement, Greenall made his

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

debut in 1999 when he defied his advancing years to help Wigan beat

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, ea ...

1–0 to win the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

. As of 2021, Greenall summarises for football commentaries on BBC Radio Lancashire.Staff
– Lancashire FA

Coaching career

In 2001, Greenall became

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

of Wigan for six games, losing only once, but he did not get the job permanently and lost his coaching job at Wigan shortly afterwards. He returned to playing with

Rossendale United Rossendale United Football Club was a semi-professional football club based in the village of Newchurch within the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, England. The club was founded in 1898. Nicknamed the Stags, they had a long and eventful run wh ...

while searching for new coaching opportunities. In June 2002 he was appointed Head of Youth Development at Rochdale and in June 2004 Director of the Centre of Excellence at Rochdale. In August 2005 he was appointed to the role of Coach Education Manager at the Lancashire FA.

Honours

Blackpool * PFA Fourth Division Player of the Year: 1980–81 Chester City *Player of the Season: 1993–94. Wigan Athletic *

Football League Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

(IV) champions: 1996–97. *

winners: 1998–99.

References

External links

Colin Greenall: Latics Legends. Wigan Athletic Official Club SiteColin Greenall's career stats at Soccerbase
● Playfair football annuals 1981-82 to 1999-2000 {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenall, Colin 1963 births Living people People from Billinge, Merseyside English footballers English football managers Footballers from Wigan Blackpool F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Bury F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. managers English Football League players Association football defenders