Joseph Nicholas Grayson (born 26 March 1999) is an English 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 lea ...

who plays as a defender or

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

. Having come through the youth academy at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, he spent time on loan with

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

and

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

before signing a permanent contract with Barrow in 2021. He has since played for both

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

on loan. After leaving Barrow, Grayson joined

, with whom he won the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

with at

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 the London Borou ...

Early and personal life

His father is

Simon Grayson Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who is head coach of National League (division), National League club Hartlepool ...

. He attended Moorland School.

Career

Blackburn Rovers

Grayson joined

in the 2014, turning professional in July 2017. He made his senior debut on 28 August 2018, in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

, in a 4–1 home victory against Lincoln City. In doing so him and his father became the third father-son duo to both play for Blackburn Rovers. He moved on loan to

in January 2019 for the rest of the season. On 1 February 2021, Grayson joined

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

side

on loan until the end of the season. On 13 May 2021, Grayson announced on social media that he was being released by Rovers at the end of the 2020–21 season.

Barrow

On 23 June 2021, it was announced that Grayson would join League Two side Barrow on a two-year contract following his release from Blackburn. He was injured between December 2021 and April 2022. On 9 August 2022, Grayson joined

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

side

on a season-long loan. He made his debut 3 days later in a home win over

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

. Grayson scored his first goal for Dundee against

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

on 17 September 2022. On 18 January 2023, Grayson returned to his parent club after his loan was terminated. On 1 February 2023, Grayson was confirmed to have joined

on loan until the end of the season, with the clubs having beaten the previous day's deadline. He was released by Barrow at the end of the 2022–23 season.

Gateshead

In July 2023, Grayson joined

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 ...

on trial. In August 2023 he signed for

. Grayson played in Gateshead's FA Trophy final victory over

Solihull Moors Solihull Moors Football Club is a professional association football club based in Solihull, England. The club currently competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, after achieving promotion from the Na ...

in May 2024. On 5 July 2024, Gateshead announced that Grayson had signed a two-year extension to his contract, keeping him with the ''Tynesiders'' until 2026. Grayson scored his first goal for Gateshead on 30 November in a league draw away to

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team of the ...

Style of play

Grayson was described by Blackburn Rovers as "a classy left-footed midfielder with a great delivery from set-plays". He can also play as a defender, and Grimsby Town manager

Michael Jolley Michael Jolley (born 30 March 1977) is an English professional football manager who was most recently in charge of Segunda Federación side Vélez CF. Jolley is a Cambridge University graduate with an MA in economics and also has a postgraduat ...

described him as somebody who "is versatile to play in several different positions and adds further strength, balance and competition to our squad".

Career statistics

Honours

Gateshead *

: 2023–24

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grayson, Joe 1999 births Living people English men's footballers Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Place of birth missing (living people) Gateshead F.C. players National League (English football) players 21st-century English sportsmen