Greg Tansey

Gregory James Tansey (born 21 November 1988) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Tansey started his career at Stockport County, progressing through the youth system before making his first-team debut in 2006.

Tansey progressed through the Centre of Excellence at Stockport County after joining them at age thirteen, and made his first-team debut in a 1–0 away win against Macclesfield Town in the Football League Trophy in October 2006.

After making his debut, he said: "Making my debut at Stockport is obviously a good memory."

He went on to make five appearances during the 2006–07 season, including his first league appearance, starting in a 2–1 home defeat to Milton Keynes Dons.

Ahead of the following season, Tansey, along with fellow Stockport player Ryan Crowther, were invited to travel to Milan with Liverpool's youth team to play in an arranged youth tournament.

Liverpool agreed a deal with Stockport for both players, subject to satisfactory performances at the tournament.

After the tournament, Liverpool wished to sign both players, although Tansey declined Liverpool's contract offer as he stated he wished to develop playing first-team football, as opposed to playing in Liverpool's youth side on a weekly basis.

He was loaned out to Conference National side Altrincham towards the latter stages of the 2007–08 season.

He was also strongly linked with a move to Charlton Athletic, but eventually signed a new two-year deal with Stockport in August 2007.

He made 16 appearances for the club during the 2007–08 season, before joining Conference National side Altrincham on loan in March 2008.

This deal ran until the end of the season.

He made his Altrincham debut in a 1–1 draw against promoting-chasing Torquay United a day after joining the club, and went on to make five appearances before returning to Stockport.

Tansey struggled for first-team opportunities during the first half of the 2008–09 season, with Stockport now plying their trade in League One following their promotion the previous season.

His first appearance of the season came as a 60th-minute substitute in a 5–0 win over Yeovil Town in the FA Cup in November 2008.

He featured thirteen times during the season, scoring his first professional goal, a 25-yard free-kick, in a 2–1 home defeat against Walsall on 13 April 2009.

The 2009–10 campaign turned out to be Tansey's first season of regular football, playing 37 times in all competitions, and scoring twice — including a "stunning 30-yard drive" in a 2–1 win over Leyton Orient.

Financial difficulties at the club meant that Stockport were forced to sell a lot of players throughout the season, and the club were ultimately relegated back to League Two.

Tansey spent six years at Stockport, becoming a permanent fixture in the side, as well as finishing as the club's top goalscorer during the 2010–11 campaign.

Despite the wholesale changes over the summer, Tansey remained at Stockport for the 2010–11 season, playing in the club's first match of the campaign, a 1–1 draw against Southend United.

He scored his first goal of the season in an FA Cup tie away at Peterborough United in November 2010, hitting a late consolation strike from 30-yards as Stockport lost 4–1.

Four days later, on 20 November, he scored a late 25-yard equaliser against Torquay United at Edgeley Park.

This was followed by successive braces in December 2010; with Tansey scoring twice to salvage a point against Crewe Alexandra, and then netting two late goals as Stockport beat relegation rivals Barnet at Underhill.

His impressive performances throughout the month meant that he won the League Two Player of the Month Award.

He went on to score a further five times in the club's last nine league games, although he could not prevent the club's relegation to the Conference National.

He finished the season as Stockport's top goalscorer with eleven goals in 41 games.

He also scored Stockport's last goal in the Football League, a penalty in the tenth minute of added time in a 1–1 home draw with Cheltenham Town.

During his six years at Stockport, Tansey made 112 appearances, scoring fourteen times.

He left Stockport in June 2011, joining Scottish Premier League side Inverness Caledonian Thistle on a free transfer.

Despite being offered a new one-year deal at Stockport, Tansey left the club in favour of a move to SPL side Inverness Caledonian Thistle, officially signing on a free transfer in June 2011.

He made his debut against Motherwell at Fir Park on 23 July 2011, playing the whole match in a 3–0 loss.

Tansey opened his goalscoring account for Inverness two weeks later, on 6 August 2011, netting twice as Inverness drew 3–3 away at Dunfermline Athletic.

In November 2011, Tansey was sent-off in a 2–0 home loss against Celtic.

He was "controversially ordered off for leading with an arm in an aerial challenge", but contact was described as "minimal".

The decision left Inverness manager Terry Butcher "furious" — "There's no way it's a red card. If anything it is assault by fingernail".

Inverness opted to appeal against the sending off, and the red card was later rescinded with referee Stephen O'Reilly admitting he had "made a mistake".

He went on to score in games against Dunfermline and Hibernian respectively, taking his league goal tally for the season to four.

Tansey scored a free-kick on the last day of the season, in a 2–0 home victory over Hibernian, in what was ultimately his last game for the club.

During his one season at Inverness, he played 39 times, scoring five goals.

After one season at Inverness, Tansey joined Football League One club Stevenage in May 2012, before returning to Inverness in 2014.