- Mike Gregory
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For the darts player, see Mike Gregory (darts player).
Mike Gregory Personal information Full name Michael Keith Gregory Born 20 May 1964
Wigan, Lancashire, EnglandDied 19 November 2007 (aged 43) Playing information Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1982–1994 Warrington 222+24 45 176 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P Great Britain 20+(?) 20+(?) Coaching information Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 1998–2001 Swinton Lions 2003–2004 Wigan Warriors Total 0 0 0 0 Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 1995 Welsh Dragons 2002 England Academy 2003 Scotland Michael Keith "Mike" Gregory (20 May 1964 – 19 November 2007), was a rugby league player and later coach; the former head coach of Wigan and player for Warrington and Great Britain.
Contents
Playing career
Mike had a distinguished playing career captaining both Warrington and Great Britain, gaining over 20 caps for the Lions. He captained a Great Britain tour to New Zealand. He made his Warrington début on 5 September 1982 and playing his last game on 12 February 1994, Making 222 1st team starts and 24 substitute appearances and scoring 45 tries and a total points of 176.
Testimonial match
Mike Gregory's Testimonial match at Warrington took place in 1994.
Coaching career
Gregory started his coaching career as assistant to Shaun McRae at St. Helens. He spent three successful seasons at Saints between 1996–98, before taking the head coach job at Swinton. He later joined Wigan, taking charge of the Senior Academy in 2001. He led the youngsters to first place in the 2002 Academy Championship, before being promoted to assistant coach for the 2003 season.
Following the departure of head coach Stuart Raper in July 2003, Mike was appointed head coach until the end of the 2003 season. After Raper's announcement, Gregory had announced his intention to run for the job permanently. He spent three months as caretaker coach, remaining unbeaten for 11 matches and guiding Wigan into the Grand Final - becoming the first side from outside the top two to make it all the way - before being awarded the job full time on a 2 year contract. It was the first time since Colin Clarke, in 1985, that a Wigan-born man has coached Wigan.
Gregory has international coaching experience with Wales in the 1995 World Cup. He also guided the England Academy team to a historic series victory against the Australian Schoolboys in 2002. He was assistant coach of the Lancashire Origin squad for 2003 and was also appointed as head coach of Scotland for the 2003 European Nations' Cup.
Illness
In 2004, it was revealed that Gregory had been suffering from progressive muscular atrophy, a form of motor neurone disease affecting his nerves and muscles which he had possibly contracted as early as 2001. The illness blocks signals from the brain getting to muscles, causing weight-loss and affecting speech. Gregory went to the USA for a week in May 2004 to receive specialist treatment. Ian Millward was appointed as head coach of Wigan while Mike was still recovering from his illness. It is believed that during rugby league duties in Australia in 2003, when Mike was a coach, he was bitten by a tick which was carrying an infection known as Borrelia. Though Mike was totally unaware of the bite, he later developed a large red-ring rash, unbeknown to him at the time that this rash was the hallmark for Borrelia (the causative agent of Lymes Disease) – and ushered in the beginning of the biggest fight of his life.
Controversy
In September 2004 there were reports that Mike's illness would prevent him from returning to his job at Wigan. Maurice Lindsay said that Wigan would continue to employ and pay Mike while he was on sick leave and then wait on advice from medical advisers.[1]
Mike felt that during 2004, he was able to return but the club blocked his return to work. This resulted in Mike taking Wigan and the club's owner Dave Whelan to court claiming that Wigan should have done more to help him carry on. The case was settled by the two parties out of court with Wigan agreeing to pay Gregory £17,500. After the settlement Mike Gregory said:
“ I feel robbed of a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am Wigan-born and bred and I was very proud to be head coach of my home town team. As it is for players, it is for coaches, to represent your home town is a special privilege. The support of the players and fans has been exceptional throughout and this has been shown in many ways. If it had not been for them, I do not believe I would have been chosen for the head coach in the first place. This was my dream job. I was proud to lead my team out into two finals. The supporters had belief in me and the team. I would never have betrayed this loyalty by returning to the job, if I felt incapable of doing it. My health was no different when I wanted to return to work than it had been at the Challenge Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium. However, I was 'frozen out' from that then on.
I feel the management of the club failed to do their duty as a good employer. Never once did I feel they were trying to aid my return to work. The continuing support of the fans and the players has made a horrific experience bearable and I thank you all.
” Death
Having used a wheelchair for the past year, Gregory died from the disease on 19 November 2007 with wife Erica, parents Joan and Keith, sister Christine and brother Philip by his side.[2]
References
- ^ Warriors deny Gregory exit BBC Sport - 3 September 2004
- ^ Former Lions skipper Gregory dies BBC Sport - 19 November 2007
External links
- Mike Gregory website
- Obituary in The Times, 28 November 2007
- Mike Gregory Wigan Coaching Career Page on the Wigan RL Fansite.
- Hall of Fame at Wire2Wolves.com
- Statistics at englandrl.co.uk
- Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
- Warrington's World Cup heroes – Mike Gregory
- Online Book of Condolence
Preceded by
Stuart RaperCoach
Wigan Warriors
2003–2005Succeeded by
Denis BettsWigan Warriors Seasons 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011Stadiums Folly Field (1872–1877; 1879–1886) • Prescott Street (1877–1879; 1886–1901) • Springfield Park (1901–1902) • Central Park (1902–1999) • DW Stadium (1999–present)Head Coaches Jim Sullivan (1932–1952; 1961) • Maurice Hughes (1952–1953) • Ted Ward (1953–1956) • Joe Egan (1956–1961) • Johnny Lawrenson (1961) • Griff Jenkins (1961–1963) • Eric Ashton (1963–1973) • Graham Starkey (1973–1974) • Edward "Ted" Toohey (1974–1975) • Joe Coan (1975–1976) • Vince Karalius (1976–1979) • Kel Coslett (1979–1980) • George Fairbairn (1980–1981) • Maurice Bamford (1981–1982) • Alex Murphy (1982–1984) • Colin Clarke/Alan McInnes (1984–1986) • Graham Lowe (1986–1989) • John Monie (1989–1993; 1997–1999) • John Dorahy (1993–1994) • Graeme West (1994–1997) • Eric Hughes (1997) • Andy Goodway (1999) • Frank Endacott (1999–2001) • Stuart Raper (2001–2003) • Mike Gregory (2003–2004) • Denis Betts (2004–2005) • Ian Millward (2005–2006) • Brian Noble (2006–2009) • Michael Maguire (2009–2011) • Shaun Wane (2012–)Captains Andy Farrell (1998–2005) • Sean O'Loughlin (2006–2009) • Sean O'Loughlin, Andy Coley, Thomas Leuluai, Phil Bailey, George Carmont (Leadership team 2010) • Sean O'Loughlin (2011-present)Categories:- 1964 births
- 2007 deaths
- Deaths from motor neurone disease
- English rugby league coaches
- English rugby league players
- Great Britain national rugby league team players
- People from Wigan
- Rugby league locks
- Rugby league second-rows
- Swinton Lions coaches
- Warrington Wolves players
- Wigan Warriors coaches
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