Grégory Vignal
Grégory Vignal (born 19 July 1981) is a French football coach and former professional player. A former left full back or midfielder, Vignal played in the top division in five countries – England, France, Spain, Scotland and Greece – and in the second tier in a sixth, Germany, though never played in more than 30 league games for any club. At international level, he represented France at under-20 level in the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship and has also been capped at under-21 level. He was head coach of Scottish Women's Premier League club Rangers until 2020, and worked  in Olympique de Marseille's academy before returning to Scotland as an under-18s coach at Dundee. Playing career. Liverpool and loans. Born in Montpellier, Vignal began his career at his home-town club, Montpellier. He soon established a reputation as a promising young player, and was signed by Liverpool in September 2000 for £500,000. He immediately impressed in his first reserve team outings and made his first team debut against Rotherham United in the FA Cup. He went on to make a further six appearances during the 2000–01 season. Vignal returned for the following season having featured in the  World Youth Championship with the France Under-18 squad, and staked his claim for the left-back spot with some impressive performances at the start of the 2001–02 season. However, he found it hard to displace the reliable and experienced John Arne Riise. He went on to make nine appearances that season. He made just four appearances during the first half of the 2002–03 season and was loaned to Bastia for the remainder of the campaign in mid-January 2003. During the 2003–04 campaign Vignal was again loaned out to Rennes for the first half of the season, and to Espanyol  for the latter half. Vignal had a season in Scotland at Rangers as the club regained the Scottish Premier League title, playing 42 games and picking up a Scottish League Cup winner's medal as well as the league title. Portsmouth. At the end of the 2004–05 season Vignal's Liverpool contract expired, and with him available on a free transfer Rangers wanted him to sign a permanent contract with them; however, he failed to agree terms, instead opting to move to Portsmouth. He was then released from Portsmouth after failing to impress Harry Redknapp on his return in the  2005–06 season. RC Lens and loans. Vignal then moved to Lens on a free transfer and was loaned out to FC Kaiserslautern for the second half of the season in January 2007. After a trial with the club, Vignal joined Southampton on a season-long loan on 27 July 2007. He scored his first goal for Southampton with a free kick in a 2–0 win over Leicester City in the FA Cup, and his first league goal came from a penalty against Scunthorpe United while playing with a broken arm. He scored another penalty in the 2–2 draw with Wolverhampton  Wanderers before being sent off for an off-the-ball incident. However, he later won an appeal against the card. He scored four goals from 23 appearances in the 2007–08 season. During the summer of 2009, Vignal had a trial with Queens Park Rangers which did not bring the offer of a contract. Birmingham City and later career. Vignal then played in a friendly match against Sporting Gijón as part of a trial with Birmingham City, newly promoted to the Premier League. After producing what manager Alex McLeish described as a "strong performance", Vignal signed a one-year contract with  the club, with an option for a further year, subject to medical examination. Injury disrupted his season, which combined with the form of Liam Ridgewell at left-back restricted the player to just nine first-team appearances. The club chose not to take up the option of a second year. In July 2010, Vignal had trials with Sheffield United and Cardiff City. In September 2010, he joined Atromitos. He then left the Athens club in December 2010. On 12 September 2012, Vignal signed a contract with Scottish Premier League club Dundee United until January 2013, but left in November without  having made a first-team appearance. He returned to France, where he signed for CFA (fourth-tier) club AS Béziers ahead of the 2013–14 season. Coaching career. After a period working with Rangers as a coach for their youth academy teams, in July 2019 Vignal was appointed head coach of the club's senior women's team with the incumbent Amy McDonald moving to a role as the overall women's section manager. He left Rangers in August 2020 for a seven-month spell with Olympique de Marseille's academy, and then returned to Scotland where, in November 2021, he  was working as an assistant under-18s coach with Dundee. Honours. Club. Liverpool Rangers Lens International. France