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Birthdate:
19.07.1981
Birthplace: Montpellier, France
Other clubs: Montpellier, Bastia (loan), Rennes (loan), Espanyol (loan), Rangers (loan), Portsmouth, Lens, Southampton (loan), Birmingham
Bought from: Montpellier
Signed for LFC: £500000 22.09.2000
International caps: France u-21
Liverpool debut:
06.01.2001
Last appearance: 01.01.2003
Contract expiry: 01.07.2005
LFC league games/goals: 11 / 0
Total LFC games/goals: 20 / 0
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Player Notes:
Vignal finally got an extended run in the side as a left-back in the beginning of the 2001/2002 season. He linked up well with Riise in front of him and reminded many of Alan Kennedy the way he attacked. Unfortunately he fractured his foot when Liverpool got dumped out of the Worthington cup by Grimsby and after that it was a 'stop-start' Liverpool career for the Frenchman. He made some appearances for the side in the 2002-2003 season, but he was clearly far away from being match fit. Vignal was henceforth loaned to Bastia in his native France and was again loaned out in the 2003-2004 season, first to Rennes in France, next to Espanyol in Spain and then Glasgow Rangers in Scotland. He eventually joined Portsmouth after he was released from his Liverpool contract a year early in the summer of 2005.
Gregory actually made more league appearances for Portsmouth (14) in the 2005-06 season than he had made in the whole of his Liverpool career (11). However, he left Portsmouth on a free transfer in the summer of 2006 and again returned to France, this time to represent Lens. But Lens then loaned him out to German club Kaiserslautern for the second half of the 2006-07 season.
In July, 2007 the 26-year old was again to be found in English football, this time undergoing a one-week trial with Southampton, a successful trial that led to a season-long loan deal being agreed. As Southampton attempted, unsuccessfully as it turned out, to return to the Premier League, Vignal appeared in 20 of their league matches in The Championship in 2007-08, scoring three goals (all penalties). He also scored for the Saints in their F.A. cup victory over Leicester City. Vignal is now back at 2nd division Lens.
On the 7th of August 2009 Gregory Vignal joined Birmingham City on trial and played at left-back in their pre-season friendly against Sporting Gijon at St. Andrew's the following day. Just before the start of a new Premier League season the 28-year old Frenchman signed a one-year contract with Birmingham City, with an option for a further year.
Injury restricted Gregory to just 8 Premier League appearances for Birmingham in the 2009-10 season, at the end of which the Midlands club decided not to take up the option of an additional year on the player's contract. |
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