Ross Greenwood (footballer)

Ross Michael Greenwood (born 1 November 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Ross Greenwood
Greenwood playing for York City in 2007
Personal information
Full name Ross Michael Greenwood[1]
Date of birth (1985-11-01) 1 November 1985[1]
Place of birth York, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Position(s) Defender / Midfielder
Youth career
York City
Manchester United
0000–2004 Sheffield Wednesday
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2005 Sheffield Wednesday 2 (0)
2005–2006 Stockport County 22 (0)
2006–2008 York City 19 (0)
2008 → Gainsborough Trinity (loan) 18 (0)
2008–2009 Gainsborough Trinity 29 (0)
Total 90 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life

Greenwood was born in York, North Yorkshire[1] and grew up in the village of Copmanthorpe. He attended Copmanthorpe primary school and then went on to Tadcaster Grammar School.

Career

Youth

Greenwood was playing for Copmanthorpe when he joined York City's Centre of Excellence.[2] He soon joined the under-11s and was coached by City's Colin Sanderson and then progressed into the under-12s, where he was coached by John Stockton and Garry Naylor. He spent two years with York City in total and also played regularly for Copmanthorpe and for York School Boys.

At only 12 years of age, Greenwood was contacted by Nottingham Forest and was asked to join them for a two-week trial period. Greenwood was set to travel to Nottingham, when out of the blue, he received a call from Manchester United urging him to join them instead. Although Greenwood's father is a Leeds United fan and disliked the prospect of his son joining Manchester United, he put all sense of rivalry behind him and recognised his son could not miss out on this opportunity.

Manchester United

He joined the Manchester United under-13s side as a right-back and occasional centre-back and played in the same team as Chris Eagles and Phil Picken, as well as training with older players such as Kieran Richardson. His coach at the time was Paul McGuinness, the son of former York manager and Manchester United player, Wilf McGuinness and Greenwood would regularly train at Manchester United's Carrington training ground where he would see many of the first team players preparing for Premier League games. Greenwood was not accepted on Manchester United's youth trainee programme and was released by the club. However, soon after Greenwood received offers from 23 clubs including Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers.

Sheffield Wednesday

Yorkshire club Sheffield Wednesday was the most persistent and Greenwood felt this was the right move for him. He was signed by academy director, Jimmy Shoulder and the first team manager at the time was Terry Yorath. Greenwood had to wait until Wednesday 22 September 2004 for his first professional start. He played at right-back in a League Cup 1–0 defeat to Coventry City who were a division above Wednesday. Assistant manager Mark Smith singled him out for praise for dealing with opponents who were recently in the Premier League. After this impressive start, Greenwood only made two more substitute appearances before being deemed not good enough by new manager Paul Sturrock.

Stockport County

He then moved to Stockport County on 15 July 2005 for the 2005–06 season,[3] appearing for the club 25 (22 times in the league), while with the club he played in defence although he is normally a midfield player.

York City

A move back to Yorkshire and his hometown came 17 July 2006 as he was signed by Conference National side York City.[4] Greenwood was offered a new contract by York at the end of the 2006–07 season on 16 May 2007.[5]

Gainsborough Trinity

He joined Gainsborough Trinity on loan in January 2008.[6] He was released by York in April 2008,[7] after which he set up a plastering and tiling business with former York teammate Chaz Wrigley whilst playing part-time for Gainsborough.[8]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sheffield Wednesday 2004–05[9] League One 2000101[lower-alpha 1]040
Stockport County 2005–06[10] League Two 22020101[lower-alpha 1]0260
York City 2006–07[11] Conference National 12010—1[lower-alpha 2]0140
2007–08[12] Conference National 7000—0070
Total 19010—10210
Gainsborough Trinity (loan) 2007–08[13] Conference North 180———180
Gainsborough Trinity 2008–09[14] Conference North 29000—2[lower-alpha 3]0310
Total 47000—20490
Career total 9003020501000
  1. Appearance in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearance in FA Trophy
  3. One appearance in Conference League Cup, one in FA Trophy

References
  1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2006). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2006–07. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-84596-111-4.
  2. Hughes, Claire (9 August 2006). "Season preview: Local talent returns to strengthen City". The Press. York. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  3. "Greenwood makes Stockport move". BBC Sport. 15 July 2005. Retrieved 28 June 2007.
  4. "Midfielder Greenwood joins York". BBC Sport. 17 July 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2007.
  5. "York boss releases eight players". BBC Sport. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2007.
  6. "Greenwood out to Gainsborough". BBC Sport. 18 January 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
  7. Flett, Dave (26 April 2008). "Panther packed off". The Press. York. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
  8. Flett, Dave (9 May 2008). "Ex-City duo team up for tiling and plastering work". The Press. York. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  9. "Games played by Ross Greenwood in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  10. "Games played by Ross Greenwood in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  11. Batters, David (2008). York City: The Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. pp. 408–409, 420–421. ISBN 978-1-85983-633-0.
  12. Batters. York City: The Complete Record. pp. 410–411.
  13. Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2008). Non-League Club Directory 2009. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 216–217. ISBN 978-1-869833-59-6.
  14. Williams, Tony; Wright, James, eds. (2009). Non-League Club Directory 2010. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 218–219. ISBN 978-1-869833-66-4.
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