Gregory Strong (born 5 September 1975) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. He was the manager of Rhyl from 2009 until 2015, and chief scout of Plymouth Argyle between 2015 and 2018. He is currently the Head of Recruitment at Oldham Athletic.
Strong had a 20-year-long career in professional football where he was a typical journeyman playing for a large number of clubs. Strong played for Wigan Athletic, Bolton Wanderers, Blackpool, Stoke City, Motherwell, Hull City, Cheltenham Town, Scunthorpe United, Bury, Boston United, Macclesfield Town, Livingston, Dundee, Halifax Town, Northwich Victoria, Droylsden and Rhyl.
Playing career Strong was born in Bolton and started his footballing career with Wigan Athletic in 1992 after playing for England schoolboys and youth international. He played two seasons with Wigan and then moved to his hometown club Bolton Wanderers in August 1995. He struggled to establish himself at Bolton making just 22 appearances for the club in four seasons. During that time he was loaned out to Blackpool where he made 12 appearances scoring one goal and Stoke City where he played five times in 1998–99 scoring once against his former club Wigan Athletic. He then moved to Scottish side Motherwell in the summer of 1999 where he became a popular player in two seasons at Fir Park.
He returned to England in 2002 when he was signed up by Hull City. After struggling to get games with Hull, Strong had loan spells with Cheltenham Town, Scunthorpe United, and Bury before moving on to Boston United. He spent a short loan at Macclesfield Town before moving to Scotland again to sign for Livingston in 2005.
After a season and a half at Livingston Strong joined Dundee in August 2006. However, he was released by Dundee in late 2006, and on 8 March 2007, he was signed by Conference side Halifax Town. He scored a goal on his debut for the Shaymen after just four minutes, but was released by the club at the end of the season, joining league rivals Northwich Victoria. Strong left Northwich in January 2008 joining Droylsden where he played for the rest of the season.
In the summer of 2008 he joined Welsh League side, Rhyl and he was appointed as player-manager at Rhyl in the summer of 2009. In May 2015 Strong left Rhyl FC by "mutual consent".
Post-playing career In July 2016, after the appointment of former Motherwell teammate Derek Adams as manager, Strong joined Plymouth Argyle as chief scout. He remained in the role until November 2018.
Strong was appointed Chief Scout of Morecambe in 2022 after a spell with Salford City in a similar role.
Between 2024 and 2026 he was the Head of Recruitment at Scottish club Ross County.
In June 2026, he was appointed by EFL League Two side Oldham Athletic as their Head of Recruitment.
Career statistics + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsWigan Athletic1993–94Third Division1810010102011994–95Third Division172104030252Total353105040453Bolton Wanderers1995–96Premier League10000000101996–97First Division00000000001997–98Premier League00002000201998–99First Division51004000911999–2000First Division60004000100Total1210010000221Blackpool (loan)1997–98Second Division111000010121Stoke City (loan)1998–99Second Division5100000051Motherwell1999–00Scottish Premier League1000000001002000–01Scottish Premier League3211011003422001–02Scottish Premier League322100000332Total743201100774Hull City2002–03Third Division30000000302003–04Third Division3000002050Total6000002080Cheltenham Town (loan)2002–03Second Division4000000040Scunthorpe United (loan)2002–03Third Division7000002090Bury (loan)2003–04Third Division100001000110Boston United2004–05League Two90100010110Macclesfield Town (loan)2004–05League Two4000000040Livingston2004–05Scottish Premier League902000001102005–06Scottish Premier League301203000351Total391403000461Dundee2006–07Scottish First Division161001010181Halifax Town2006–07Conference National8100000081Northwich Victoria2007–08Conference National170000000170Droylsden2007–08Conference National140000000140Career Total271128021111031113
A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy, Football League play-offs and Scottish Challenge Cup.
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