Chris O’Grady

Chris O’Grady

Born 25 January 1986 (Age 19 at debut)

Position: Forward

(Diamonds player #214)

Total appearances 25 – 4 goals

(22 League, 1 League Cup, 2 League Trophy)

Debut:

20 August 2005 (Home Chester City)

Final game:

31 December 2005 (Away Torquay United)

Chris started out as a trainee at Leicester City and broke into the first team in April 2003 making his Championship debut in a 2-0 win over Grimsby Town. He went out on a three month loan to Notts County in September 2004, before returning to Leicester. Chris came to Nene Park on a half season loan from Leicester City on 12 August 2005 and scored on his debut in the 1-1 draw against Chester City. He also scored in his final game at Torquay.

He returned again to Leicester City on 1 January 2006 and made several appearances for the Foxes, mainly off the bench. After a limited number of outings the following season, Chris signed for Rotherham United in January 2007 for £65,000. He went on to score 15 times in 55 appearances over the next season and a half. Although he still had a year left on his contract with Rotherham, he was sold to Oldham Athletic on 28 May 2008 for an undisclosed fee after declining a “wage referral”. He failed to get a regular first team place, and went out on several loans (Bury October 2008 one month), Bradford City (January 2009 one month), Stockport County (February 2009 three months). On 21 August 2009, Chris went on a half season loan to League Two side Rochdale, and the move was made permanent on 14 January 2010, when Oldham agreed a fee, allowing him to sign a two and a half year contract. On 9 August 2011, Chris joined League One side Sheffield Wednesday for a reported £350,000 transfer fee on a three year deal, helping the side to promotion to the Championship. On 31 January 2013, Chris joined fellow Championship side Barnsley on a loan deal until the end of the season. He scored 6 goals in 16 appearances, and scored a vital goal for the Tykes on the last day of the season to help them avoid relegation. Although he returned to Hillsborough at the end of the season, he agreed a two year deal with Barnsley on 19 June 2013, for an undisclosed fee. Chris scored 15 goals in 40 appearances for the Tykes, but was sold to Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion on 19 July 2014, agreeing a three year deal for an undisclosed fee.

After a number of loan spells whilst at Brighton he joined Chesterfield in June 2017. From there he signed for Oldham Athletic in the summer of 2018. His playing career ended with a spell at Bolton Wanderers in the 2019/20 season. His Wikipedia page is here.

Appearances

2005/2006 – squad number 19