Brett Ormerod

Brett Ryan Ormerod (born 18 October 1976) is an English retired professional footballer.

A forward, he made 340 appearances in the Football League, including 215 for Blackpool, for whom he is the only player to have scored in all of the top four divisions of English football for the same club.

In his 20-year-long playing career, Ormerod played for Accrington Stanley, Southampton, Leeds United, Wigan Athletic, Preston North End, Nottingham Forest, Oldham Athletic, Rochdale, Wrexham, Padiham and Bamber Bridge.

Ormerod went to school at Norden High School where he met Lisa Standring, who later became his wife.

He was released after their Premier League victory in 1995, having missed his final half-season of youth football following a double hernia operation.

He then signed for Accrington Stanley, playing semi-professionally in ther Northern Premier League while working in a cotton mill to supplement playing part-time in non-League football.

He made 54 league appearances, scoring 32 goals.

Ormerod signed for Blackpool, who were then in Division Two, on 21 March 1997 for £50,000, making his debut as an 82nd-minute substitute on 29 March in a 0–0 draw with Chesterfield at Saltergate.

His first league goal came the following season in a 1–1 draw with Carlisle United on 26 December 1997 at Brunton Park.

He became a regular first-team player in the 1998–99 season, when he made 40 league appearances and scored eight goals.

He spent four years with Blackpool, however he suffered a badly broken leg, breaking his tibia and fibula, in October 1999 that kept him out of the team in the 1999–2000 season when the club were relegated to the Third Division, something Ormerod would later describe as, "probably the lowest point of my career".

He made his return the following season, and after signing a contract extension in January 2001, he helped the club to promotion through the play-offs.

He scored the club's fourth goal in their 4–2 win over Leyton Orient in the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on 26 May 2001.

Ormerod made a blistering start to the 2001–02 season, and he was linked with a move to Wigan Athletic in November 2001, who were reported to have bid £1.5m for him.

They were one of four clubs to have made an approach for Ormerod, with Premier League club Southampton having had a £1m bid rejected.

Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston said on the club's official website: "We don't have to sell Brett and we don't need to sell him. It's testament to the club's achievements and how the team are playing that other clubs are looking at players at this club."

However, despite this, Ormerod was signed by Southampton for £1.75m on 7 December 2001.

Southampton manager Gordon Strachan had been monitoring Ormerod while he was out of work, and vowed that when he was back in work he would immediately sign the player from Blackpool.

He had made a total of 150 appearances for The Seasiders, scoring 62 goals in all competitions.

21 games 13 goals had come in the 2001–02 campaign.

Ormerod made his debut for The Saints on 15 December 2001 as an 84th-minute substitute in a 2–0 home victory over Sunderland.

After a number of substitute appearances, he finally made his full debut on 2 March 2002, when he also scored his first goal for the club, in a 3–1 win over Ipswich Town at Portman Road.

He did not score again though until the following season, when he scored five goals in two games.

On 2 October, he grabbed a hat-trick as The Saints beat Tranmere Rovers 6–1 in the second round of the 2002–03 Football League Cup.

He followed that up three days later by scoring both goals as Southampton beat Manchester City 2–0 at St Mary's Stadium.

They married on her 24th birthday in June 2003 at the parish church in Rishton, Lancashire; their son was two years old at the time.

On 13 April 2003, after enduring a 24-game goalless drought Ormerod scored one goal and laid up another as Southampton beat Watford 2–1 in the semi-final of the 2002–03 FA Cup at Villa Park.

Ormerod found first-team opportunities limited at Southampton and on 19 September 2004, in an attempt to secure some first-team football, he joined Leeds United on a one-month loan deal.

Ormerod missed a penalty on his Leeds debut, making six appearances.

After Southampton finished bottom of the Premier League in 2004–05 and were relegated to the Championship, he was able to play more often after the sale of several teammates who had been keeping him out of the team.

Ormerod said of his time with the club, "I had some of the best years of my career at Southampton. It's a big club with great supporters. If I had my time again I would do exactly the same again, particularly as I got to play in a cup final."

On 18 March 2005 he joined Wigan Athletic on loan for one month with a view to a permanent move.

The move was intended to last until the end of the season and he made six appearances, scoring two goals in their 2–0 win against Leicester City at the Walkers Stadium on 16 April, before being recalled by Southampton manager Harry Redknapp on 26 April following an injury to Peter Crouch.

On 27 January 2006, Ormerod was snapped up on a free transfer by Preston North End, the arch-rivals of his former club Blackpool.

After signing a three-and-a-half year contract, he said of the move, "It's a new start for me. Preston are a good team and I'm just really happy to be here."

Four days later he scored just thirteen minutes into his debut as they beat Crystal Palace 2–0 at Deepdale.

As of 2015, his wife is a Subway franchisee.

Ormerod worked at Hall and Letts textile factory in Great Harwood where he said he earned £130 a week.

Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, Ormerod was a youth team player at hometown club, Blackburn Rovers, but could not find his way into the first team that included Alan Shearer and Kevin Gallacher up front.

Ormerod then appeared in the FA Cup final on 17 May at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, which Southampton lost 1–0 to a Robert Pires goal in the 37th minute.