During the close season we will be catching up with a few former Blues players to talk about their careers and find out what they're up to now. Next up is Nigel Gleghorn.

Nigel Gleghorn only got his break into professional football at the relatively late age of 23 but he wasted little time in making a big impression.

After learning the ropes at Ipswich, he went on to enjoy great success at Manchester City, Blues and Stoke, helping all three clubs win promotion in the space of five years.

And by scoring the goal that sealed promotion for both of Blues and Stoke he gained himself cult status amongst both sets of those fans.

That was all a far cry from a few years earlier when Gleghorn had been working as a fireman and turning out in front of a few dozen people for hometown Durham side Seaham Red Star.

"To be quite honest I thought my chance had gone of becoming a professional," he admits.

"I loved playing football and it was a decent standard at Seaham so I was happy.

"I think that paid off because I had a good job in the fire brigade and there was no pressure on me to play for anyone in particular so I just enjoyed myself and it went from there.

"I played well and people took to me and I ended up signing for Ipswich after going there for a few trials."

Within the space of a few weeks in 1985 Gleghorn went from playing in the Northern League Division Two to the equivalent of today's Premiership.

It was a storyline that would have been considered too far fetched for Roy of the Rovers, the popular comic book of that era, but Gleghorn made the transition and was soon walking out for his Ipswich debut away to Arsenal.

He recalls: "It was a great place to make my first appearance; the marbled halls of Highbury.

"To go from non-league football to step out against Arsenal was the stuff of dreams.

"I scored my first goal in my third match against Luton, when they had the likes of Brian Stein and Ricky Hill playing.

"We got relegated in my first season which was hard to take and then in my second season we made the play-offs.

"We were beaten over two legs by Charlton but I learned a lot from taking those knocks."
Gleghorn moved on to Manchester City in August 1988 after falling out of favour with new Ipswich boss John Duncan.

He only spent just over a season at Maine Road but it was to prove the start of an enjoyable time in the midfielder's career.

"City didn't have a great deal of money to spend but Mel Machin had built a very good side and he got City promoted," continues Gleghorn.

"That one season at Maine Road was a valuable experience for me because it's a massive club.

"Our promotion campaign ended up going to the last five minutes of the final game when we scored against Bradford to make sure we went up with Crystal Palace hot on our tails.

"We needed a point and went 1-0 down. We plugged away but didn't score until the very end of the game.

"But that's Man City for you, they don't make anything easy!"

It was during his time at Maine Road that Gleghorn first donned the gloves as an emergency goalkeeper - a role that he also filled on a couple of occasions for Blues.

"I went in goal at Walsall and the third to last game of the season we played against Palace," he remembers.

"I scored at one end after eight minutes and I went in goal again at half-time and Ian Wright scored past me in the second half!

"I did the job for Blues as well against Wolves and Chester.

"I actually went for trials as a goalkeeper when I was at school because I didn't think I'd get a place playing out.

"I would say I was a wicket keeper as a goalkeeper!"

Despite playing well in City's first game back in the top flight at Anfield and then scoring in the second match against Southampton, Gleghorn found himself dropped for the next match.

And when Birmingham City came in with a £175,000 bid, the Maine Road board saw an opportunity to rake in some much-needed cash.

Blues had just dropped into the third echelon of English football and some people, notably one local radio broadcaster, queried the club's decision to spend such a big sum on one player.

But Gleghorn was to prove an excellent value-for-money acquisition as he served the club for over three years and helped the club to a Wembley final and promotion back to the league's second tier.

"I remember my debut at Shrewsbury when we lost 2-0," says Gleghorn.

"I didn't play particularly well on that day but on the radio after the game Tom Ross questioned why Birmingham would pay £175,000 for me - but then what does he know about football anyway!"

Gleghorn looks back with great fondness on his spell at St. Andrew's.

"There was something about the place," he continues.

"My old manager Bobby Ferguson was there, the manager Dave Mackay and the Kumars had taken over and were looking to do something with the club.

"Once I got there I realised we had quite a few good young players with the likes of John Frain, Ian Clarkson, Paul Tait and Dean Peer who were all proper Blues boys.

"Then there was Vince Overson. He and I had something of a love-hate relationship borne out of a desire to win football matches.

"But we had a mutual respect for each other's commitment and abilities.

"We became a very good side after Lou Macari came in and whipped us into shape.

"And it was absolutely unbelievable to walk out of the tunnel at Wembley in the 1991 Leyland Daf Cup final and see 45,000 Blues fans there.

"It was a special day and something that no one can take away from me.

"I had three good years at Blues when I played some of my best football and scored quite a few goals."

More than half of those goals came during the 1991/92 season when Terry Cooper's Blues clinched promotion from the old Division Three and Gleghorn finished top scorer with 22.
He reveals: "Ian Atkins (Blues' assistant manager) gave me a couple of little tips about attacking at the far post and that stayed with me.

"Lou (Macari) had also instilled in me that you can't just play football with talent alone, you also need to work hard.

"I got fitter and got into the box more often but I was naturally a good finisher and didn't miss many chances."

Undoubtedly the most memorable and important of those 22 goals came in the final home game of the season when Blues needed a win against Shrewsbury to secure automatic promotion.

"I scored the winner that day and I can still remember the goal," says Gleghorn.

"Ian Rodgerson played a one-two with Simon Sturridge and then put in a great cross and I came in and nodded it in at the far post.

"Dodge was very good at crossing from areas like that and it was there on a plate for me.
"It summed up the season because we played some good football and it was a nice feeling to finish it all off in front of the Blues fans." A move to Stoke in October 1992 saw Gleghorn link up again with Macari and his incredible run of promotions continued as the Potteries club finished top of Division Two.

"We beat Plymouth 1-0 at home which sealed promotion and I scored the winner," he recalls.
"We also played four derby games against Port Vale so there was plenty of going on that year.

"I had four good years at Stoke and during my time there I switched to central midfield which was a position that I much preferred because I could influence the game and get on the ball more."

After finishing his playing career with two years at Burnley, Gleghorn moved into management at Witton Albion, Nantwich Town and, up until recently, Newcastle Town.

"I enjoy managing and coaching but non-league football is the same as any other level of the game, it's results-based and if you're not getting results then your job is on the line," concludes Gleghorn, who is a qualified A licence coach and works full time as a lecturer at South Trafford College in Altrincham.

"We finished third and sixth in the league at Witton, then I had three good years at Nantwich but they were restructuring and wanted me to go full-time and I couldn't as I had a job.

"Then at Newcastle Town we finished second and sixth in my first two seasons.

"This season I was changing the club around and trying to get some younger players but results weren't going right so they got rid.

"I'm having a break from management at the moment but I'm still heavily involved in football.

"I do courses for the Cheshire FA, I'm a Talent Identification Scout for the FA up to under-21s and I have a college team to run as well."