Tony Gallimore
Encyclopedia
Anthony Mark "Tony" Gallimore (born 21 February 1972 in Nantwich
) is an English former professional footballer who made more than 500 appearances in the Football League
between 1990 and 2006, playing for Stoke City
, Carlisle United
, Grimsby Town
, Barnsley
and Rochdale
. The major part of his career was spent at Carlisle United and Grimsby Town. His primary position was as a left back
, but he could also play in central defence.
as a youngster and progressed into the clubs first team setup in 1990 after several seasons in the youth system. He struggled to cement a place in the team and was twice loaned out to Carlisle United
in 1991 and again in 1992, making 8 appearances for United each time round.
. He went on to make over 150 appearances in all competitions for United and was an integral part of the first team. This in turn would sound the alerts of bigger teams, and in March 1996, he made a £125,000 move to Grimsby Town
who at the time were playing their football in the First Division.
he would turn out to be the clubs long term replacement for departing left back Gary Croft
who had left Grimsby in a multi million pound deal to join Blackburn Rovers
. After playing out the last few games of the 1995-1996 campaign, 'Gally' would prepare himself for a tough first full season, with The Mariners losing their first division status, and suffering a relegation, this spelled the end of an era at the club and important key players such as John Oster
and Clive Mendonca
moved on to new clubs. In the 1997-1998 season, Gallimore would play an important role in the clubs sudden return to the first division, whilst beating Northampton Town
at Wembley Stadium
in the play-offs, the club also defeated Bournemouth
in the Football League Trophy
at the same venue. Gallimore along with fellow defenders John McDermott, Peter Handyside
and Mark Lever
as well as goalkeeper Aidan Davison
were noted as the strongest defensive line up in the Second Division that year, and one of the strongest in the whole country. Gallimore went on to play the next five seasons at Grimsby and featured as the clubs main choice left back until his departure at the end of the 2002-2003 season, when Grimsby were to lose their first division status once more. Injury had troubled Gallimore in parts of his last couple of seasons with Grimsby, and his place had been contested by youngster Ben Chapman
and also with the arrival of Darren Barnard
in 2002, Gallimore had struggled to hold his place down in the team. With the club relegated, Grimsby opted not to renew his contract and he left the club after featuring in seven different seasons for The Mariners.
along with former team mate Peter Handyside. He went on to feature in just over 20 games for the club as yet again, injury blighted his season. At the end of the season, Gallimore was released again and dropped down another league to join Rochdale
in August 2004.
, who previously managed Gallimore at Barnsley. He featured regularly for the club before being released at the end of the 2005-06 season.
in June 2006, but found it hard to break into the side and was transfer listed a few months later. He then made a loan move to Conference North side Hucknall Town
in January 2007, where he spent two months before being recalled by Rochdale in March 2007. Gallimore retired from professional football in May 2007 following the close of the 2006-2007 campaign.
.
In December 2009, Gallimore signed for Grimsby and Cleethorpes Sunday League side Aston Estates.
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
) is an English former professional footballer who made more than 500 appearances in the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
between 1990 and 2006, playing for Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
, Carlisle United
Carlisle United F.C.
Carlisle United F.C. is an English football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they play at Brunton Park. Formed in 1904, the club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system....
, Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...
, Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...
and Rochdale
Rochdale A.F.C.
Rochdale Association Football Club is an English professional football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. They play their home matches at Spotland Stadium. Formed in 1907, they were accepted into the Football League in 1921...
. The major part of his career was spent at Carlisle United and Grimsby Town. His primary position was as a left back
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
, but he could also play in central defence.
Stoke City
Gallimore joined Stoke CityStoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
as a youngster and progressed into the clubs first team setup in 1990 after several seasons in the youth system. He struggled to cement a place in the team and was twice loaned out to Carlisle United
Carlisle United F.C.
Carlisle United F.C. is an English football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they play at Brunton Park. Formed in 1904, the club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system....
in 1991 and again in 1992, making 8 appearances for United each time round.
Carlisle United
In March 1993, Carlisle paid £15,000 for Gallimore to register the left back as a permanent player at Brunton ParkBrunton Park
Brunton Park is a football stadium and the home of Carlisle United F.C. It is situated in the city of Carlisle, Cumbria and has a certified capacity for the 2011/2012 season of 18,202. The ground opened in 1909...
. He went on to make over 150 appearances in all competitions for United and was an integral part of the first team. This in turn would sound the alerts of bigger teams, and in March 1996, he made a £125,000 move to Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...
who at the time were playing their football in the First Division.
Grimsby Town
At Blundell ParkBlundell Park
Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1898, but only one of the original stands remain. The current capacity of the ground is 9546, though with the introduction of all seating in the late...
he would turn out to be the clubs long term replacement for departing left back Gary Croft
Gary Croft
Gary Croft is a former English football player who played as a left back. He played as a professional between 1992 and 2008 notably for Grimsby Town, Blackburn Rovers and Ipswich Town, having also had spells with Wigan Athletic, Cardiff City and Lincoln City...
who had left Grimsby in a multi million pound deal to join Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....
. After playing out the last few games of the 1995-1996 campaign, 'Gally' would prepare himself for a tough first full season, with The Mariners losing their first division status, and suffering a relegation, this spelled the end of an era at the club and important key players such as John Oster
John Oster
John Morgan Oster is an English born Welsh international footballer, who plays as a midfielder for Football League Championship club Doncaster Rovers. Oster progressed through the youth ranks at Grimsby Town before moving on to Premier League Everton...
and Clive Mendonca
Clive Mendonca
Clive Paul Mendonca is an English former professional footballer, who played as a striker between 1986 and 2002 notably for Grimsby Town and Charlton Athletic...
moved on to new clubs. In the 1997-1998 season, Gallimore would play an important role in the clubs sudden return to the first division, whilst beating Northampton Town
Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...
at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
in the play-offs, the club also defeated Bournemouth
A.F.C. Bournemouth
A.F.C. Bournemouth is an English football club currently playing in Football League One. The club plays at Dean Court in Kings Park, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset and have been in existence since 1899....
in the Football League Trophy
Football League Trophy
The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...
at the same venue. Gallimore along with fellow defenders John McDermott, Peter Handyside
Peter Handyside
Peter David Handyside is a former Scottish professional footballer who played his entire professional career in England between 1992 and 2007...
and Mark Lever
Mark Lever
Mark Lever is a former English footballer who played as a defender from 1988 until 2005 notably for Grimsby Town where he spent the first 12 years of his career...
as well as goalkeeper Aidan Davison
Aidan Davison
Aidan John Davison is an English-born Northern Irish former footballer and football coach who is Head Coach of American side FC JAX Destroyers.As a player he played as a goalkeeper from 1987 until 2008...
were noted as the strongest defensive line up in the Second Division that year, and one of the strongest in the whole country. Gallimore went on to play the next five seasons at Grimsby and featured as the clubs main choice left back until his departure at the end of the 2002-2003 season, when Grimsby were to lose their first division status once more. Injury had troubled Gallimore in parts of his last couple of seasons with Grimsby, and his place had been contested by youngster Ben Chapman
Ben Chapman (footballer)
Benjamin "Ben" Chapman is an English footballer who plays as a left sided defender. He is currently playing for Hall Road Rangers. He played professionally for Grimsby Town and Boston United.-Grimsby Town:...
and also with the arrival of Darren Barnard
Darren Barnard
Darren Sean Barnard ,is a former professional footballer and Welsh international, playing 22 times for Wales between 1998 and 2004. He is currently joint-manager of Camberley Town and is also the club's Director of football and notably played for Chelsea and Barnsley...
in 2002, Gallimore had struggled to hold his place down in the team. With the club relegated, Grimsby opted not to renew his contract and he left the club after featuring in seven different seasons for The Mariners.
Barnsley
In August 2003 he signed a one year deal with Grimsby's rivals BarnsleyBarnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...
along with former team mate Peter Handyside. He went on to feature in just over 20 games for the club as yet again, injury blighted his season. At the end of the season, Gallimore was released again and dropped down another league to join Rochdale
Rochdale A.F.C.
Rochdale Association Football Club is an English professional football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. They play their home matches at Spotland Stadium. Formed in 1907, they were accepted into the Football League in 1921...
in August 2004.
Rochdale
Dale at that time were managed by Steve ParkinSteve Parkin
Stephen John "Steve" Parkin is an English former footballer and manager, currently working as assistant manager at Bradford City.-Mansfield Town:...
, who previously managed Gallimore at Barnsley. He featured regularly for the club before being released at the end of the 2005-06 season.
Northwich Victoria
Gallimore joined Conference side Northwich VictoriaNorthwich Victoria F.C.
Northwich Victoria Football Club are an English football club who play at the Victoria Stadium in Wincham, Northwich, Cheshire in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of the English football league system.Northwich are an old club, founded in 1874 and named in honour of...
in June 2006, but found it hard to break into the side and was transfer listed a few months later. He then made a loan move to Conference North side Hucknall Town
Hucknall Town F.C.
Hucknall Town F.C. are an English football club based in the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. The club are members of the Northern Premier League Premier Division and play at Watnall Road.-History:...
in January 2007, where he spent two months before being recalled by Rochdale in March 2007. Gallimore retired from professional football in May 2007 following the close of the 2006-2007 campaign.
After Football
After retiring from Football in 2007, Gallimore went on to work for a scaffolding firm based in GrimsbyGrimsby
Grimsby is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996...
.
In December 2009, Gallimore signed for Grimsby and Cleethorpes Sunday League side Aston Estates.
Grimsby Town
- Second DivisionFootball League Second DivisionFrom 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
play-off winner: 1997-981997-98 in English footballThe 1997-1998 season was the 118th season of competitive football in England.-Premier League:Arsenal overhauled Manchester United's lead during the final weeks of the season to win the Premiership title... - Auto Windscreens ShieldFootball League TrophyThe Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...
winner: 1997-981997-98 in English footballThe 1997-1998 season was the 118th season of competitive football in England.-Premier League:Arsenal overhauled Manchester United's lead during the final weeks of the season to win the Premiership title...