Greg Halford

Gregory Halford (born 8 December 1984) is an English footballer who plays for Isthmian League Premier Division club Hashtag United.

He is naturally a right-back or centre-back but can play in numerous positions including central midfield, right midfield and even as a striker.

He started his football career in July 2001 when he joined Colchester United's youth team.

He signed a professional contract on 1 August 2002, made his first-team debut in a 5–0 home defeat to Luton Town on 21 April 2003, and scored his first senior goal in a 2–1 defeat at home to Hartlepool United in March 2004.

In the second half of the 2002–03 season, he spent time on loan at Braintree Town and Aylesbury United.

Halford continued his progress at Colchester: he picked up the club's Young Player of the Year award for the 2004–05 season, and was named in the Professional Footballers' Association's 2005–06 League One Team of the Year as Colchester finished as runners-up in League One and gained promotion to the Championship.

In over 150 games in five years for the Layer Road first team, he gained the reputation of being a utility man, having played in defence, midfield and attack for club and country.

His last manager, Geraint Williams, preferred to play him at right back.

He also had a reputation for a long throw, with a high percentage of Colchester's goals in the 2005–06 season coming from Halford's long throw.

He said "I tried measuring it one time – it was half the pitch, 50 yards."

Keen to prove himself at a higher level, Halford handed in a transfer request in August 2006 after interest from several Premier League clubs.

According to the player, a "big offer" from Sheffield United was rejected.

Born in Chelmsford, Halford began his career with Colchester United where he came through the youth system before moving to Reading in 2007.

His stay at Reading was a short one and Halford transferred to Sunderland later the same year.

He was linked with a number of other Premier League clubs, but on 30 January 2007, Reading completed the signing of Halford for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in excess of the club's previous record of £2.25 million, on a contract that would keep him at Reading until June 2010.

His debut for Reading came as a substitute appearance in their 0–0 home draw with Portsmouth on 17 March 2007, where he played for the last few minutes on the left wing.

He made his full debut in Reading's 1–0 defeat away to Tottenham Hotspur on 1 April 2007, where he conceded a penalty in a controversial handball decision.

Halford failed to establish himself at Reading, and played only once more.

Director of Football Nicky Hammond said that although Halford had not made the impact desired by both club and player, that was no reflection on him personally or professionally, and that "sometimes in football, players do move on quite quickly if it's felt that the fit isn't quite right".

Halford signed a four-year contract with Premier League club Sunderland on 11 June 2007.

The fee was variously reported as £2.5 million rising to £3m depending on appearances, or as £3.5m.

Hammond said it was an excellent deal for Reading financially, and Sunderland manager Roy Keane was "delighted" that Halford had joined.

He made his debut for Sunderland on 15 August 2007 in a 2–2 draw with Birmingham City at St Andrew's, and played in the next three matches, but was sent off in the third, a 3–0 League Cup defeat to Luton Town.

He made three more appearances, and was again sent off.

In January 2008, following reported interest in him from Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic, Keane confirmed that Sunderland would listen to offers.

He was not sold, but instead joined Charlton on loan for the rest of the season.

He played regularly in the Championship, and scored twice, against West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Halford spent the 2008–09 season on loan to Championship club Sheffield United.

He made his debut in the opening game of the season, at Birmingham City, scored his first goal a fortnight later, against Blackpool, and went on to play regularly throughout the season, appearing in 49 of the club's 56 fixtures.

He scored eight goals altogether, including the only goal of the semi-final against Preston North End that took Sheffield United through to the 2008–09 play-off final.

After failing to hold down a regular place with Sunderland, he moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2009 and later to Portsmouth in 2010, Nottingham Forest in 2012, and Rotherham United in 2015.

Halford signed for newly promoted Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers on 3 July 2009 in a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

He made his debut on 15 August against West Ham United, and went on to make 17 Premier League appearances for Wolves, along with 3 in cup competitions.

He mostly played on the right of midfield or at right back.

As with earlier in his career, long throw-ins were a strong feature of his game.

Unable to stake a claim to regular football at Molineux, Halford joined Championship club Portsmouth in October 2010 on a month's loan.

He made his debut in a victory over Millwall, and his first goal, on 23 October, secured a 2–1 win at Hull City.

He signed for Cardiff City in January 2017, where he went on to achieve promotion to the Premier League the following season by finishing second in the Championship.

Halford has also played for Charlton Athletic, Sheffield United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Birmingham City on loan at various points in his career, as well as representing England at under-20 level.

Halford was born in Chelmsford, Essex.