Grégory Vignal

Early life Grégory Vignal was born on 19 July 1981 in Montpellier, Hérault.

Playing career Liverpool and loans Vignal began his career in the youth system of his home-town club, Montpellier. He soon established a reputation as a promising young player, and was signed by Liverpool in September 2000 for £500,000. He immediately impressed in his first reserve team outings and made his first team debut against Rotherham United in the FA Cup. He made a further six appearances during the 2000–01 season.

Vignal returned for the following season having featured in the World Youth Championship with the France Under-18 squad,

During the 2003–04 campaign Vignal was again loaned out to Rennes for the first half of the season, and to Espanyol for the latter half.

Vignal had a season in Scotland at Rangers as the club regained the Scottish Premier League title, playing 42 games in all competitions and picking up a Scottish League Cup winner's medal as well as the league title.

After a trial, Vignal joined Southampton on a season-long loan on 27 July 2007. He scored his first goal for Southampton with a free kick in a 2–0 win over Leicester City in the FA Cup, and scored a penalty against Scunthorpe United in the Championship while playing with a broken arm in a cast. He scored another penalty in a 2–2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers before being sent off for an off-the-ball incident; the red card was rescinded on appeal. He scored four goals from 23 appearances in the 2007–08 season.

Birmingham City and later career A trial with another Championship club, Queens Park Rangers, in the summer of 2009 did not result in a contract, but a strong performance for Birmingham Citynewly promoted to the Premier League under the management of Alex McLeish, who had remained in contact with Vignal since they worked together at Rangers earned him a one-year contract with an option for a further year. However, injuries and the return to fitness and form of Liam Ridgewell at left-back restricted Vignal to just nine first-team appearances, and Birmingham chose not to take up the option of a second year.

In July 2010, Vignal had trials with Sheffield United and Cardiff City. In September, he joined Greek Super League club Atromitos, but left again after three months and four appearances.

In January 2011, while on trial with AC Arles-Avignon, Vignal injured a knee. It still gave him trouble years later after three operations, and despite a two-month spell with Scottish Premier League club Dundee United in late 2012 and a season with CFA (fourth-tier) club AS Béziers, he never played again at professional level.

Later career In June 2013, Vignal took over the presidency of amateur club CE Palavas, based in the seaside commune of Palavas-les-Flots where his parents lived. Under his presidency, the team achieved three consecutive promotions

Having spent the 2016–17 season as an assistant reserve coach at Montpellier, Vignal returned to Rangers in January 2018 as an academy coach, initially working with the under-14s and under-17s, and then with the under-18 team that won the 2018–19 SPFL Reserve League and Scottish Youth Cup. He also formed part of new first-team manager Steven Gerrard's support staff, Malky Thomson came in to work alongside Vignal as joint head coach in January 2020, and Vignal left Rangers when his contract expired in June, having, according to the club, "played a pivotal role in the creation of the new full-time women's professional team ... [and] ensured a smooth transition for the Women's programme".

Vignal spent seven months with Olympique Marseille's academy, before returning to Scotland in 2021, initially as an assistant under-18s coach with Dundee under Gordon Strachan's management. He went on to take charge of the under-18s,

Already a holder of the UEFA A Licence, Vignal successfully completed the UEFA Pro Licence programme run by the French Football Federation from their Clairefontaine Football Training Institute in the 2022–23 season. He was appointed assistant to Laurent Peyrelade, manager of Championnat National club Versailles, ahead of the 2023–24 season, and took over the senior role after Peyrelade's dismissal in November, but lasted only ten matches before he himself was dismissed.

On 10 November 2025, Vignal joined Blackburn Rovers as under 21 head coach.

Honours Liverpool FA Cup: 2000–01 UEFA Cup: 2000–01 UEFA Super Cup: 2001

Rangers Scottish League Cup: 2004–05 Scottish Premier League: 2004–05