Millwall FC struck gold with bold transfer in 2014, he's still smashing it at 36: View | OneFootball

Millwall signed Lee Gregory from Halifax Town in 2014 and it proved an excellent move

It's fair to say that not many Millwall supporters would have known who Lee Gregory was when his signing from Halifax Town was announced in 2014, but over the next five years he'd become a real fan favourite at The Den.

The striker had a spell with Sheffield United's academy as a youngster, but that was the closest he'd come to playing in the Football League, and prior to his move to South London, his senior career had seen him have a brief spell in the National League with Mansfield Town, before playing for the likes of Glapwell, Harrogate and Halifax Town.

This meant that when Championship side Millwall signed him from non-league in 2014, it did look like something of a strange move, but he took the opportunity with both hands and has been an EFL mainstay ever since.

A decade on from his move to the EFL, Gregory is still doing the business at the age of 36, and Millwall's decision to take a punt on him in 2014 has proved a shrewd one.

Millwall struck gold with 2014 Lee Gregory signing

It would have been understandable had Millwall supporters been a bit underwhelmed in the summer of 2014 when it was announced they were signing a 25-year-old from non-league Halifax Town, but Gregory made the step-up admirably.

He'd scored 31 goals for Halifax the previous season, and while he was never going to replicate that in the Championship, he had a decent first season in the second tier.

He couldn't have made a much better start to life as a Millwall player, registering an assist against rivals Leeds United in a 2-0 win on his debut, and while it was a disappointing season for the Lions as they were relegated, he scored eight league goals and registered three assists, a decent return all things considered.

However, it was in League One that Gregory really thrived, and he scored 26 goals in 53 appearances across all competitions during the 2015/16 season, showing that he was more than capable of scoring at EFL level, and while he couldn't quite help his side to promotion after losing the play-off final, better times were around the corner.

Gregory bagged another 18 goals the following season, registering eight assists, including one in the play-off final as Millwall went one better and won promotion to the Championship in 2017, and he was quickly becoming a fan favourite at The Den.

Millwall's aims for the 2017/18 season would have just been to remain in the division after being promoted the previous season, but Gregory's ten league goals helped them to an impressive eighth place finish, just missing out on the play-offs by three points.

The Sheffield-born striker would have his best Championship season during the 2018/19 season, scoring 12 goals in the league and 14 in all competitions, before his five-year stay at The Den came to an end in the summer of 2019, moving to Stoke City.

It speaks volumes about how much of a success his time was that he was signed as an unknown quantity from non-league and eventually sold to one of the division's biggest clubs just a year after being relegated from the Premier League.

In total, he played 238 games for Millwall, scoring 76 times, and it remains the most games he's played for one club.

Lee Gregory is still going strong at the age of 36

Gregory's time at Stoke wasn't as successful as his years at The Den, and he departed after just two seasons in the summer of 2021 after spending time on loan with Derby County, and he dropped to League One with Sheffield Wednesday for the 2021/22 season.

His first season at Hillsborough was an excellent one, and he scored 17 times in 39 appearances to help his side to the play-offs, also picking up the Player of the Month award for April 2022 after scoring a whopping six goals in two weeks.

Gregory experienced his second taste of League One promotion via the play-offs during the 2022/23 season, scoring 11 times in all competitions, including one in their dramatic play-off semi-final win, returning to the Championship after two seasons in League One.

With the Owls back in the Championship, Gregory struggled for playing time during the 2023/24 Championship season, playing just 13 games and scoring once, coming on the opening day of the season, and he departed Hillsborough at the end of the season, returning to Mansfield where he played prior to his move to the EFL.

However, while Mansfield were a non-league side when he last played for them, they're now in League One, and Gregory has rolled back the years to help his side make an excellent start to the season.

The 36-year-old has scored six league goals in eight appearances, making him the joint-top scorer in the division, above the likes of Alfie May and Jay Stansfield, a pretty incredible feat, all things considered.

Gregory may be 36, but he's still scoring goals on a regular basis, and Mansfield supporters are seeing the best of him, just like Millwall did when they brought him to The Den a decade ago.