| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Peter Gray | ||
| Date of birth | (1988-05-04)4 May 1988 (age 37) | ||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Right-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Hibernian (head coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2004 | Heart of Midlothian | ||
| 2004–2006 | Manchester United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2010 | Manchester United | 0 | (0) |
| 2007 | →Royal Antwerp (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2007 | →Crewe Alexandra (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2009 | →Plymouth Argyle (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 2009 | →Plymouth Argyle (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 2010–2012 | Preston North End | 45 | (0) |
| 2012–2014 | Stevenage | 53 | (0) |
| 2014 | Burton Albion | 12 | (0) |
| 2014–2021 | Hibernian | 126 | (7) |
| Total | 264 | (7) | |
| International career | |||
| 2006 | Scotland U19 | 2 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Scotland U21 | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2021 | Hibernian (caretaker) | ||
| 2022 | Hibernian (caretaker) | ||
| 2023 | Hibernian (caretaker) | ||
| 2024– | Hibernian | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
David Peter Gray (born 4 May 1988) is a Scottishfootball coach and former player who is the head coach ofScottish Premiership clubHibernian.
Gray progressed throughHeart of Midlothian's youth system, before joiningManchester United for a fee of £50,000 in 2004. He spent six years at Manchester United, making one first-team appearance in aLeague Cup fixture in 2006. During his six-year tenure with the club, Gray was loaned on four occasions; spending time atRoyal Antwerp,Crewe Alexandra, as well as two loan spells atPlymouth Argyle. Gray was released by Manchester United in 2010 and then signed forPreston North End. Gray spent two seasons at Preston, before being released at the end of the2011–12 season.
He then had spells atStevenage andBurton Albion before signing for Hibs in 2014. Prior to his second season at the club, Gray was given the captain's armband by Hibs managerAlan Stubbs, taking over fromLiam Craig. Gray scored the winning goal in the2016 Scottish Cup final for Hibs againstRangers, their firstScottish Cup win since 1902.
Gray represented Scotland at bothunder-19 andunder-21 level.
He retired from playing in June 2021 and became a first-team coach at Hibs. After three stints as caretaker manager of Hibs, Gray was appointed head coach on a permanent basis in June 2024.
Gray began his career in theHeart of Midlothian youth academy. He was selected for theLothian Schools XI in 2002 while a pupil at Beeslack High School inPenicuik, along with other Hearts youngstersJohn Armstrong,Jason Thomson andAndrew Driver.[3] Gray progressed through theyouth ranks up until the age of 16,[4] when he attracted the interest ofManchester United, and signed for the club for a fee of £50,000 in 2004.[4] Gray was signed by the club as awinger, although Manchester United's coaching staff felt he was better suited as afull-back, and subsequently deployed him in the right-back position for the majority of the club's reserve games during the2005–06 season.[5] After impressing during his first full season in the reserve side, Gray made his first-team debut for Manchester United during the2006–07 season, playing the first 77 minutes in the club's 2–1 victory overCrewe Alexandra in theLeague Cup in October 2006.[6] It ultimately turned out to be Gray's only first-team appearance for the club.[7] Three months after making his first-team debut, in January 2007, he was sent out on loan to Belgian clubRoyal Antwerp, to gain match experience. However, after just two games he suffered an injury, which ultimately sidelined him for the rest of the season, and he returned to his parent club in May 2007.[5]
In November 2007, Gray was loaned to Crewe Alexandra on a one-month deal to provide cover for the club's injured players.[8][9] He made one appearance during his brief loan spell, playing 80 minutes in Crewe's 2–0 away defeat toNottingham Forest.[10] He returned to Manchester United in December that year, and spent the remainder of the2007–08 season playing for the reserve side.[5] Gray was to enjoy his first spell of first-team football during the2008–09 campaign, with the player signing forChampionship sidePlymouth Argyle on loan in January 2009 until the remainder of the season.[11][12][13] He made his Plymouth debut in a 3–1 away defeat toArsenal in theFA Cup two days after signing,[14] and went on to make 15 appearances in all competitions during his loan spell.[15] Gray rejoined Plymouth for a second loan spell in September 2009,[16][17] featuring regularly once again, making 12 league appearances for the club before returning toOld Trafford in December 2009 at the end of his loan agreement.[18] Although both Plymouth and Manchester United discussed Gray's move toHome Park being made permanent in January 2010,[19] no transfer materialised and the player remained at Manchester United, captainingthe reserve side on a number of occasions during the latter stages of the2009–10 season.[20]
Gray's Manchester United contract expired at the end of the 2009–10 season, and although he was offered a one-year contract extension with the club,[4] he opted to joinPreston North End on a two-year contract on 16 July 2010.[21][22][23] Gray started the2010–11 season as a regular inDarren Ferguson's side, making his debut in a 2–0 home loss toDoncaster Rovers on the first day of the campaign.[24] He was ever-present during the first three months of the season,[25] before suffering an injury in November 2010 that ultimately ruled him out of first-team action for three months. He returned to the first-team in a 1–0 away defeat toHull City on 12 February 2011,[26] although would suffer an even bigger injury setback a month later after breaking his leg in a 1–1 draw againstNorwich City atCarrow Road.[20][27][28] The injury ruled Gray out for the remainder of the season, as Preston were ultimately relegated toLeague One.[20][29] During his first season with the club, he made 25 appearances in all competitions.[25]
Ahead of the2011–12 season, in June 2011, Gray was given permission by a specialist to begin training, just three months after he broke his leg.[30][31] As expected, he missed the first month of the new campaign as a result of his delayed start to pre-season training,[30] but eventually made his comeback appearance as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 defeat toSouthampton in the League Cup on 21 September 2011.[32] He went on to make 27 appearances for Preston during the season.[33] Gray's contract at Preston expired at the end of the season, and he was released by the club in May 2012.[34]
In June 2012, Gray signed for League One sideStevenage on a free transfer.[35] He made his debut for the club on the opening day of the2012–13 season, playing the whole match in a 3–1 home win againstAFC Wimbledon in theLeague Cup.[36] Gray played regularly at right-back throughout the season, making 46 appearances in all competitions.[37] He was placed on the transfer list in May 2013.[38] With Gray entering the final year of his contract at Stevenage, new managerGraham Westley felt he would not play as much as he would have liked, and therefore it was "better for all" that Gray "move on to develop his career".[38]
Gray signed forBurton Albion in January 2014 on a contract until the end of the 2013–14 season.[39] He made 12 appearances in2013–14 Football League Two for Burton.
Gray signed a two-year contract withScottish Championship clubHibernian in July 2014.[40] He scored his first ever professional goal on 29 September 2014, in a 3–1 win overRangers. In total, Gray made 34 appearances and scored three goals for Hibs in the 2014–15 season.[41] Gray was appointed captain at the end of the season, after the departure ofLiam Craig, and also extended his contract until 2017.[41] At the end of the season, Gray wrote himself into Hibernian folklore by becoming the captain of the first Hibs side to win theScottish Cup in 114 years, scoring the stoppage-time winner againstRangers in the2016 final.[42]
Gray scored in a 3–0 win againstQueen of the South on 15 April 2017, on the day when Hibernian clinched theScottish Championship title, sealing promotion to theScottish Premiership after a three-year absence.[43] He signed a two-year contract with Hibs in May 2017.[44] Gray suffered an achilles tendon injury during a friendly game againstWillem II in January 2018,[45] which meant that he did not make another first-team appearance in the 2017–18 season.[46]
Gray returned to the Hibs first team in July 2018, and he scored five goals during the early part of the 2018–19 season.[47] In April 2019, Hibs and Gray agreed a new contract that was due to run until 2023.[48] Gray played infrequently for Hibs over the next two seasons, after which he retired from playing.[49] He was granted atestimonial match, played against aManchester United team on 15 October 2023.[50]
Gray played for the Scotland schoolboys team in 2003[51] and represented theScotland under-19 side on two occasions in 2006. In 2008, he was called up to theScotland under-21 team to play in a friendly againstNorthern Ireland,[52] making his debut during the match.[53] In March 2009, Gray was called up for two2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers later that month,[54] although he was an unused substitute for both games.[55][56] He was called up once again later that year,[57] and was an unused substitute in a 1–0 defeat toAustria.[58] A month later, he made his second appearance for the U21 side, playing 67 minutes of a 1–0 home victory againstBelarus.[59]
Gray retired from playing in June 2021, and became a first-team coach at Hibs.[49] Following the release ofJack Ross from the role of manager, Gray was appointed caretaker manager of Hibs on 9 December 2021.[60] He held this position for three games, including a League Cup final defeat byCeltic, until the appointment ofShaun Maloney on 20 December.[61] He again became caretaker manager in April 2022,[62][63] August 2023 and May 2024 following the sackings of Maloney,Lee Johnson andNick Montgomery respectively.[64][65]
Following that fourth stint as caretaker manager, Gray was appointed head coach on a three-year contract in June 2024.[66] Hibs had a bad start to the 2024–25 season and sat bottom of the table in late November, which led to speculation that he could be sacked.[67] Gray changed theirtactical formation to a back three system and the team then enjoyed a remarkable upturn in form, which resulted in Gray winning the manager of the month awards for December, February, and March.[68] He signed a new contract with Hibs in April 2025,[69] and in the following month they finished third in the league and qualified for European competition.[70]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
| Hibernian (caretaker) |  | 9 December 2021 | 20 December 2021 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | +0 | 033.33 | — |
| Hibernian (caretaker) | | 19 April 2022 | 19 May 2022 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 040.00 | — |
| Hibernian (caretaker) | | 27 August 2023 | 11 September 2023 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 050.00 | — |
| Hibernian[note 3] | | 14 May 2024 | present | 69 | 28 | 22 | 19 | 120 | 86 | +34 | 040.58 | — |
| Total | 79 | 32 | 24 | 23 | 132 | 94 | +38 | 040.51 | — | |||