Sean Rigg

Sean Michael Rigg (born 1 October 1988) is an English former professional footballer who played on the wing or as a striker.

In a 13-year career in the English Football League and National League he scored 57 goals in 477 league and cup appearances.

Rigg joined the Bristol Rovers-backed Bristol Academy of Sport at Filton College in 2004, and earned his first professional contract in the summer of 2006.

Having graduated through the Bristol Academy of Sport, his professional career began at Bristol Rovers in 2006.

He recovered from a broken jaw sustained in November 2006 to become a first-team regular in 2006–07, also appearing in the club's play-off final victory.

He made his league debut on 19 August 2006, coming on as a substitute in the second half against Milton Keynes Dons.

On 11 November 2006, he suffered a double fracture of the jaw after being punched in an FA Cup first-round match by Barrow defender James Cotterill.

The match and incident were televised.

Rigg had to drink through a straw and eat with a teaspoon following the attack.

Cotterill was later jailed for four months for the assault, and suspended from football by The FA, having pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm.

Rigg managed to recover to match fitness within six weeks, having had a plate put in to help speed up the healing process.

"'I didn't aggravate Cotterill in any way for him to react like that. But it happened and he broke my jaw in two places.'"

He returned to the first-team by January, and helped Rovers to a play-off place.

He then scored against Lincoln City in a 7–4 aggregate win at the play-off semi-final, and made an appearance as a substitute against Shrewsbury Town in the final; the game was won 3–1, and Rovers were promoted into League One.

He retained his place in the club's subsequent 2007–08 League One campaign, though he lost his place in 2008–09, and was instead sent out on loan at Conference club Grays Athletic.

A regular in the 2007–08 season, he scored his first senior goal in a 1–1 home draw with Northampton Town on 12 March, and finished the campaign with 38 appearances to his name.

The next month he signed a new deal to keep him at Rovers until summer 2008.

Rigg joined Conference National side Grays Athletic on a one-month loan in September 2008.

He played six games at the New Recreation Ground.

At the end of the season Paul Trollope placed Rigg on the transfer list, having used Rigg only ten times in 2008–09.

He started the 2009–10 season on loan at Conference side Forest Green Rovers, before he joined Port Vale on a loan deal that was made permanent in January 2010.

In August 2009, Rigg signed for Forest Green Rovers, a club where he had spent some time as a youth player, on a one-month loan.

He scored six minutes into his debut for Forest Green against Rushden & Diamonds.

The loan was extended for a further month and Rigg enjoyed a rich vein of scoring form, scoring seven goals in nineteen games.

In November 2009, he signed on loan to Port Vale until January 2010, joining "Pirates" teammate Lewis Haldane.

Along with fourteen other players, he was released by Rovers at the end of the 2009–10 season.

His opener at Grimsby Town gave manager Micky Adams food for thought over whether to sign Rigg permanently in the January 2010 transfer window.

He returned to Rovers in January, though later in the month he returned to Vale Park on loan until the end of the season, where he and Marc Richards began to develop a lethal strike partnership.

In all he scored three goals in 26 appearances for the club.

Attempting to keep the "nucleus" of his side together, Adams offered Rigg a permanent two-year deal at Vale Park at the end of the season.

"'I like playing up the middle, but I also like to come deep to get the ball and try to create things.'"

He was offered a full contract at Port Vale, and became the seventh player to commit his future to Port Vale in May 2010, his contract expiring in the summer of 2012.

For the 2010–11 season he set himself a target of 20 goals.

However, Adams started using the young striker as a winger, and Rigg adapted well to the position.

He ended the season with five goals in 33 appearances, falling short of his pre-season target of twenty goals.

He started 2011–12 in fine form, bagging two against Barnet at Underhill, the first of which, a long-range effort, he described as the best of his career.

He switched to Oxford United in May 2012, where he stayed for two seasons.

He signed with AFC Wimbledon in May 2014, but was released a day after he was an unused substitute in the club's League Two play-off final victory in May 2016.

He joined Newport County in June 2016, and stayed with the club for one-and-a-half seasons.

He joined part-time club Bath City in February 2018 in order to pursue a new career as a tattoo artist and retired from football completely in May 2019.