David MacGregor (born 9 June 1981) is a Scottish former

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 is currently U20s assistant manager at Stranraer. MacGregor started his career with home town club

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...

at the age of 14, before moving to Stranraer in 2011, and finishing his career with Queen's Park.

Playing career

Morton

Born in

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of ...

, MacGregor progressed through

's youth ranks to become a dependable first team player. He was a product of the Peter Weir youth side; a side that ran Celtic so close in the

Scottish Youth Cup The Scottish Youth Cup (also known as the SFA Youth Cup) is an annual Scottish football competition run by the Scottish Football Association for under-18 teams,

semi-final at

Parkhead Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necrop ...

in 1999. David's progress was rapid and as a result he made his first team debut in season 1999–2000 at 18 years old. It could be argued that his progress was somewhat accelerated by Morton's mismanagement by then owner and chairman Hugh Scott. MacGregor started out as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

but also proved his versatility when he easily adapted to play at right back. However his career took a significant turn for the worse in 2001. Towards the end of the 2000–01 season Hugh Scott put Morton into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

. As a result of ongoing cash flow problems administrator Graham Martin was forced to release all of Morton's first team players. Unfortunately MacGregor was one of them. After chairman Douglas Rae stepped in to save the club from folding the team advertised for players to come for trials. MacGregor appeared at these trials and subsequently re-signed for the club. 2001–02 was his first season back at Cappielow. However this ended in relegation from the

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...

. The next season was much better as Morton won the

Scottish Third Division The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013. History The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) f ...

Championship. The joy of a winners medal was not as sweet as it should have been for MacGregor. The reason being that in the 5th from last game of the season he suffered a broken leg and was ruled out of the game for a year. MacGregor was Morton's longest serving player having played for the club for 11 years. During that period his dedication was rewarded by chairman Douglas Rae when he gave David a three-year contract extension (when he was out injured) in 2003. He established himself as a defender in the squad. He is first and foremost a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

but he, more often than not, played at

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Jim McInally James Edward McInally (born 19 February 1964) is a Scottish football manager and former player. He played for Dundee United for 10 seasons in which he won the 1993–94 Scottish Cup and played in the 1987 UEFA Cup Final. At United he was also ...

, even though he is predominantly right footed. At the end of the 2007–08 season, MacGregor required a

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the groin. Groin hern ...

operation after the away game in April against

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an ol ...

. He was out after this operation he was out for approximately six months before making his return to the first team against

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a to ...

in Morton's first win of the season on 18 October 2008. When MacGregor came back into the side in October 2008, he was played in the right back berth, which earlier in the season was filled by Alex Walker. Despite being injured for most of the 2008–09 season, MacGregor was given a contract extension by

Davie Irons David John Irons (born 18 July 1961 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former football player and coach. Irons' playing career spanned 26 years as a central defender or midfielder for a host of clubs, most notably for Ayr United, Clydebank, Dunfermline ...

until August 2009 to prove his fitness ahead of the next season. After receiving the extension, which was until 15 August 2009, MacGregor managed to regain the ability to run in June 2009 ahead of the season to give him hope of gaining a contract extension for the rest of the season. On 17 August, MacGregor signed a new one-year deal to take him until the end of 2009–10 season. As with the end of the previous season, at the end of the 2009–10 season MacGregor was ''again'' injured. He was offered the summer to prove his fitness, to see if he merited a contract extension under new manager

Allan Moore Allan Moore (born 25 December 1964) is a Scottish football player and manager. Playing career During his playing career he turned out for several Scottish clubs including Dumbarton, Heart of Midlothian, St Johnstone, Partick Thistle and Mor ...

. Once again he received a further year on 19 July 2010.

Stranraer

MacGregor was released by Morton in May 2011, and signed with Stranraer after playing in a couple of trial matches. After playing in seven league matches, MacGregor was signed until the end of the season. In June 2012, MacGregor signed another extension for a further season at

Stair Park Stair Park is a public park and football stadium in the town of Stranraer, Scotland and is the home of Stranraer F.C. It is owned by Dumfries and Galloway Council and is situated next to the London Road and the railway line in the town. The pa ...

Queen's Park

On 27 June 2014, MacGregor signed for

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was ...

club Queen's Park. On 28 July 2015, he left Queen's Park, the club agreeing to release him due to work commitments.

Coaching career

In May 2017, MacGregor was appointed assistant to U20s manager Stuart Wild at Stranraer.

Honours

Greenock Morton *

Scottish Football League Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (S ...

: 2006–07 *

Scottish Football League Third Division The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013. History The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) f ...

: 2002–03

References

External links

* (not very accurate, missing many games) * (misspelt, with some Morton and Stranraer games) {{DEFAULTSORT:Macgregor, David 1981 births Living people Greenock Morton F.C. players Scottish men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Stranraer F.C. players Queen's Park F.C. players Footballers from Greenock Scottish Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Greenock Morton F.C. non-playing staff