Player Database: Peter Beagrie

By: Mike Gray
Date: 03/06/2007

No introductions are needed for the veteran of professional football. A hated figure among fans of Grimsby Town for his loyal service to local rivals Scunthorpe United, Beagrie was a shock signing by Graham Rodger in June 2006. The 41-year-old ex-Premiership midfielder left the position as Player/Coach at Glanford Park and took up the same role with the Mariners on a part time basis, due to his media work for Sky Sports.

Beags started his professional career at Middlesbrough at the start of the 1983/1984 season. He stayed with his home town club until moving to Yorkshire with Sheffield United in June 1986 for £35,000. After a successful stay at Bramall Lane, Beagrie moved to Stoke City for £210,000 where he played for 16 months before stepping up into the top tier of the English game signing for Everton in 1989 for £750,000. Peter went on to make over 100 appearances for The Toffees playing alongside the likes of Peter Beardsley, Neville Southall and fellow Sky Sports TV pundit Tony Cottee.

Following a brief loan spell with Sunderland, Beags moved to Manchester City for £1.1 million midway through the 1993/1994 Premiership season. Beagrie played his part on the wing at Maine Road but was part of the same City squad under Alan Ball that saw the demise of the club as they were relegated out of the Premiership in 1995/1996. Beags stayed on but fortunes did not change and City barely managed to keep afloat in the First Division. Beagrie left at the end of the 1996/1997 season to join fellow first division side Bradford City for a fee of £200,000.

Peter was to play an integral part of the best few seasons in the history of The Bantams, with 97/98 being a consolidation season which saw Beags return to the Premiership spending 2 months on loan with former club Everton; the following season Bradford powered their way up through the First Division and into the Premiership.

Beagrie was joined at Bradford with an array of has-beens such as Gary Walsh, Lee Sharpe, Stan Collymore and David Wetherall. City struggled in the league but thanks to a David Wetherall header that beat Liverpool 1-0, the Bantams stayed up and Wimbledon, Sheffield Wednesday and Watford were relegated. The following season Bradford struggled even more and they were doomed from the kick off. Following a loan spell at Wigan Athletic, Beagrie dropped 3 leagues from the Premiership to lowly Scunthorpe United on a free transfer.

Beags played for Scunny from June 2001 to June 2006 notching up around 200 appearances for The Iron and earning himself cult status. He played a large part in Scunthorpe's play-off push in 2002/2003 which was halted when the club were knocked out 6-3 on aggregate by Lincoln City, and also he was yet again in the team of the 04/05 season that finished second in League Two to earn promotion. Beagrie took up the roll as Player/Coach that same year and went on to do that job for two whole seasons before joining Grimsby.

A burnt out tired Beagrie made his debut in a friendly against Gainsborough Trinity, in which his cross assisted Isaiah Rankin's 73rd minute winner. Having played well against Boston United on the first day of the season, Beagrie was knocked down a little by some of the more fickle Grimsby fans who still hated him from his Scunthorpe days. After a few games of being an un-used sub, manager Graham Rodger along with the board and Beagrie himself cancelled his contract. Peter then officially retired to continue his media career, commentating mainly on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday.

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