Gareth Griffiths

Gareth John Griffiths (born 10 April 1970) is an English former footballer. A defender, he played 337 league games in a 13-year career in the English Football League.

Starting his career with Welsh club Rhyl, he made the move to the English professional game in 1993 with Port Vale. After around 100 games in five years for the club, he transferred to Wigan Athletic in 1998. In another three years, he moved on to Rochdale. A constant first-team player at 'Dale, he made 184 league appearances in five years with the club. In 2006, he joined non-League Northwich Victoria, where he spent one season before retiring.

Career Early career Griffiths spent three and a half years with Crewe Alexandra until he left at 14. He joined Rhyl at the age of 21 and played in the League of Wales. Manager John Rudge had previously found great success in signing Andy Jones from Rhyl.

Wigan Athletic He signed a three-year deal with Wigan Athletic in June 1998. He played 29 games in League Two in 2005–06, before announcing his retirement from professional football in May 2006. He then moved out of the Football League and joined Steve Burr's Northwich Victoria in July 2006, and played 27 Conference National games before leaving at the end of the 2006–07 season.

Post-retirement For the last four years of his playing career, he served on the Management Committee of the Professional Footballers' Association, reporting directly to chief executive Gordon Taylor and other senior members of the management board. Whilst playing, he obtained a first-class honours degree and a post-graduate marketing certificate and qualified as a financial consultant. Following his retirement from football, he began working in the financial services industry. He became a trustee at the PFA and co-founded Pro Sport Wealth Management LLP, a Chartered firm of Independent Financial Advisers who specialise in bespoke planning for both individual and corporate sports professionals.