3/1 To Win
The March edition of The Rampage features an interview with Derby County's on-loan striker Lee Gregory which you can read exclusively in the magazine from Thursday 11th March.
In the seven-page interview, Gregory discussed his journey from non-league football and working as an electrician,after being released from Sheffield United Academy, to catching the attention of Championship sides.
As ever, the 100-page magazine is also jam-packed full of club centric content, including an interview with Assistant Manager Liam Rosenior, a behind-the-scenes look at how transfer deadline day unfolded, while RamsTV presenter Owen Bradley hears tales from the Derby County press bench.
We also celebrate International Women’s Day which falls on March 8th and the diversity in the workplace at Derby County by hearing from Assistant Communications Officer Livvi Sefton and Analyst Sara Cullis who both work in typically male-dominated roles in football.
Here is an extract from the interview with the forward that you can read exclusively in The Rampage from 11th March…
***
But while he was finding his feet again playing football in non-league, Gregory also needed to earn a living and have a plan in place to be able to support himself for the future. By the time he moved to Staveley Miners Welfare, he was well on his way to becoming a fully qualified electrician. His determination not to give up on his dream meant long days of a laborious job only to finish the working day and head straight back out for training.
“I went to college straight from school and my brother-in-law was an electrician and I got in at his company,” Gregory explained. “I went through my apprenticeship with them while playing football at night with my friends.
“I can only talk about myself and talk about what I think and what I have done, and the way I see it is that I am more motivated now than I have ever been because I know what it’s like coming from work, getting up at six in the morning, getting back at six at night then going to training at seven. I understand how hard it can be and thinking about that all the time just motivates me more.”
Clearly, work-ethic is no issue for Gregory and while he was grafting during the day, on the pitch he continued to go from strength-to-strength. In 2009, the striker made the move to Mansfield Town. Though he didn’t break into the first team regularly at Field Mill, various loan-spells came and, in particular, he flourished at FC Halifax Town where he quickly helped the Shaymen to the Northern Premier League Division One North title.
A permanent move to Halifax soon followed and, playing alongside Jamie Vardy, Gregory supplied plenty of goals to earn back-to-back promotions. During the 2013/14 season, his goalscoring exploits saw him finish second in the Conference Premier’s goalscoring charts with 29 goals in 36 games, behind Andre Gray – who has since gone on to play in the Premier League and currently plays for Watford.
His impressive stats also caught the eye of a Championship manager’s wife and from there, at 25 years old in the summer of 2014, Gregory’s dreams of playing professional football were realised.
For the full article and other exclusive content, CLICK HERE to purchase your copy of The Rampage.
