john leslie mcgreal born 2 june 1972 in liverpool merseyside england is an english footballer who is an experienced central defender he was educated in liverpool at the allboys de la salle school home to other famous names such as olympian steve smith brian reade francis jeffers wayne rooney with his best mates tony stewart michael morgan tony simpsonhe began his career at tranmere rovers rising through the clubs youth system to become a regular first team player making 195 league appearances by the summer of 1999 he was one of the highest rated defenders in the first division which led to ipswich town signing him for 650000 at ipswich him became the linchpin of ipswich towns defense as george burley led the club back to the premiership via the play offs and subsequently to a 5th place finish in the next season during that season he memorably scored the first goal at the gwladys street end in a famous 30 rout of everton at goodison park the following season he also scored an important winner against tottenham hotspur also during that season he helped the club to the 3rd round of the uefa cup before losing to inter milan injuries impacted he later years with ipswich and he was released at the end of the 200304 seasonmcgreal joined burnley in 2004 and proved to be an excellent signing and was a key figure in improving the teams defensive record in the 200405 season he played alongside gary cahill on loan from aston villa and was key in the young centraldefenders growth and development mcgreal is known for his aerial ability commanding nature and tough nononsense attitude despite his attributes he was pushed out of the burnley first team towards the end of the 200506 season by mike duff a combination of injuries and strength in depth in burnleys squad at centreback saw mcgreal used less frequently in the 200607 season he was not offered a contract at the end of the 200607 season and was released on 8 may 2007 he scored once during his spell at burnley his goal coming in a 30 win over crewe alexandra on 11 september 2004 after he was released he went on trial with championship team colchester united however manager geraint williams did not offer him a contract subsequently he returned to ipswich town to study for a uefa b licence after it was suggested to him by town manager and exteammate jim magilton this led to speculation that he would joining clubs backroom staff but they proved unfounded he was later recruited by former town coach tony humes to become a professional development coach at colchester united alongside fellow exipswich coach richard hall