PAUL MCGREGOR

Born: 17 December 1974

Came from: Nottingham Forest   Went to: Northampton Town

First game: 07 August 1999   Last game: 07 April 2001

Appearances: 90 (86/4)   Goals: 24

Born in Liverpool, McGregor played football as a youth on the streets and parks of Bootle and Chilwell before his family moved to Nottingham. Spotted playing locally in his new home city he became a product of Nottingham Forest's youth system, joining at 15-years-old under the old YTS (Youth Training Scheme) before signing a professional contract in 1991 under Brian Clough, no less.

Playing as a striker he enjoyed a career as a professional footballer from 1991 to 2003, playing in the Premier League and European competition, for Forest. He burst onto the scene during their 1995-96 UEFA Cup campaign. Forest were the last remaining English team in Europe that season and had already beaten Malmo and Auxerre and faced Lyon for a place in the quarter-final, in a televised game. Bought on by manager Frank Clark for the second half, Forest were awarded a penalty and the normally reliable Stuart Pearce took it. The Lyon 'keeper saved the spot-kick but couldn’t hold on to the ball and after a scramble McGregor scored the rebound putting Forest through to the next round and an attractive tie against Bayern Munich. He followed this up with a goal against Manchester United the following Saturday but then an injury impeded progress and meant he was back in the reserves as he attempted a comeback. Further first team chances were also limited by Forest signing more forwards, notably Dean Saunders and Pierre van Hooijdonk.

Hardly surprisingly with his 'mod-rocker' hairstyle, whilst on the books at Forest he was also the lead singer of a Britpop band called Merc, who had played gigs at Rock City, in Nottingham and also had a Twitter account as 'The Britpop Footballer', although initially that was a moniker he really disliked.

After his initial breakthrough at Forest he was then sent out on loan and had spells with Carlisle United (1997-98) playing 10 times and scoring three goals, and Preston North End (1998-99) where he played four times without scoring.

He was released by Forest in 1999 under Ron Atkinson, after eight years at the club, after Atkinson proclaimed he "didn't want a rockstar" in his team, having previously wrote a 'one to watch' type article on players for a newspaper, which included McGregor! In total he had made 30 appearances and scored three goals in his time at the club. Atkinson's loss enabled him to join Argyle, under Kevin Hodges. Becoming somewhat of a mercurial genius at Home Park, he scored 16 goals in his first season with the club, including two hat-tricks - at home to Barnet in a 4-1 win in November 1999 and more famously in a 0-4 'Devon Derby' win at Plainmoor in March 2000. His third goal against Torquay came via a pass from his former Forest team-mate Steve Guinan and resulted in McGregor 'megging' the Torquay 'keeper Stuart Jones, and audibly calling "megs" whilst doing so, as he completed his hat-trick, putting the ball through his legs. Pandemonium ensued in the drenched away end but there was contention by some of the Torquay players, not least the 'keeper! Unusually, such was his performance that day, even Torquay's own corporate match sponsors for the game, gave him 'Man of the Match' - which obviously invariably goes to a home player. He was also voted as the club's Player of the Season for 1999-2000 and topped the club's goalscoring charts. In July 2019, he was also voted 24th in the forwards section of the 'Top 25 Greatest Pilgrims' vote by supporters.

McGregor transitioned through the club's temporary stewardship under Kevin Summerfield, once Kevin Hodges had been relieved of his duties and ending up playing under new manager Paul Sturrock. However chances in his second season dried up as he played 31 times scoring eight goals. Injuries played a part and Sturrock decided not to keep him on. His last goal for Argyle, by coincidence, was against the same opponent as his first, Hull City, in March 2001.

McGregor then moved to Northampton Town, where he spent two injury-disrupted seasons, which tested his love of the game - though he was still able to make 71 appearances and score seven goals.

Early in June 2003 he decided not to risk his long-term health and decided to retire from professional football, aged 29. In a twelve-year career he had played just under 200 games and scored 30 goals, appearing in all four divisions of the English Football League.

After leaving Northampton he spent some time coaching Chilwell Vipers, a Nottingham youth team, and then in 2006 formed a new band, Ulterior. Paul was now nicknamed ‘Honey’ and was the lead singer, and formed a four-piece, post-Punk band with his brother Benn. They achieved good levels of success, touring Europe with The Sisters of Mercy in early 2009 and have also supported Echo and The Bunnymen.

In later years he set-up the Paul McGregor Foundation, to help football at grass-roots level, with a focus around Nottingham-based junior club, Riverside, with view to forming a community hub and building a clubhouse.