Christian Hargreaves (born 12 May 1972) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward and a midfielder from 1989 until 2010. He subsequently managed Torquay United from January 2014 until June 2015, and Yeovil Town from May until October 2022.
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Christian Hargreaves[1] | ||
Date of birth | (1972-05-12) 12 May 1972 (age 50)[1] | ||
Place of birth | Cleethorpes, England | ||
Position(s) | Striker, midfielder | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1989–1993 | Grimsby Town | 51 | (5) |
1993 | → Scarborough (loan) | 3 | (0) |
1993–1995 | Hull City | 49 | (0) |
1995–1996 | West Bromwich Albion | 1 | (0) |
1996 | → Hereford United (loan) | 17 | (2) |
1996–1998 | Hereford United | 82 | (8) |
1998–2000 | Plymouth Argyle | 76 | (5) |
2000–2004 | Northampton Town | 151 | (6) |
2004–2005 | Brentford | 30 | (2) |
2005–2007 | Oxford United | 73 | (6) |
2007–2010 | Torquay United | 105 | (10) |
2010 | Oxford United | 11 | (0) |
Total | 646 | (43) | |
Teams managed | |||
2014–2015 | Torquay United | ||
2022 | Yeovil Town | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Hargreaves began as a youth team player at Everton[2] but came back to his home town club Grimsby Town as a trainee with June 1988, turning professional in December 1989.[3] He had a loan spell with Scarborough in March 1993, before leaving Grimsby to join Hull City in July 1993 for a fee of £50,000.[3]
He moved to West Bromwich Albion on a free transfer in July 1995, but made just two first team appearances for the Baggies (both as a substitute). He joined Hereford United on loan in February 1996 until the end of the season when he moved to Hereford on a free transfer. His next move was in July 1998 when he joined Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer. He was a regular in the Argyle side, leaving to join Northampton Town on a free transfer in June 2000.[4] He was Northampton's player of the year in the 2001–02 season, signing a new two-year contract in July 2002.[5]
Hargreaves made over 150 league appearances for Northampton, leaving to join Brentford in June 2004.[6] Hargreaves joined Oxford United on free transfer in July 2005,[7] remaining with Oxford after their relegation to the Conference in 2006. He was released by Oxford in May 2007,[8] signing for newly relegated Torquay United the following month.[9] On 17 May 2009, he scored Torquay's first goal as he captained them in a 2–0 victory over Cambridge United in the Conference National play-off final at Wembley. The victory earned them promotion to the Football League.
In January 2010 Hargreaves completed a return to Oxford United,[10] where he won promotion out of the Conference for the second successive season.
On 6 January 2014, Hargreaves was appointed as Torquay United manager.[11] Hargreaves was unable to keep Torquay in the Football League despite an upturn in form and performances.[citation needed] He was placed on gardening leave on 14 June 2015 after rejecting a pay cut.[12] In September 2016, Hargreaves was appointed under-21 coach at Bristol Rovers.[13] Hargreaves left his role with Rovers by mutual consent in February 2022 having seen a number of his Development Squad players progress into the first team picture including Alfie Kilgour, Luca Hoole and Jed Ward.[14]
On 18 May 2022, Hargreaves was appointed as manager of National League club Yeovil Town, signing a two-year contract.[15] Following a poor start to the season, Hargreaves was sacked on 27 October 2022 with the club sitting in the relegation zone, one point from safety.[16]
Hargreaves was born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire,[1] and went to school at Lindsey School in Cleethorpes. His son Cameron is a professional footballer.[citation needed]
Team | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
Torquay United | 6 January 2014 | 14 June 2015 | 74 | 27 | 14 | 33 | 036.5 | [11][12][17] |
Yeovil Town | 18 May 2022 | 27 October 2022 | 17 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 011.8 | [18] |
Total | 91 | 29 | 22 | 40 | 031.9 | — |
| |
---|---|
|
Managerial positions | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
General | |
---|---|
National libraries | |
Other |