led Huddersfield to play-off victory over Sheffield United, gaining promotion to the Championship. Grayson's first match in charge of Huddersfield in the Championship came on 17 August 2012, a 1–0 defeat away to Cardiff. His first Championship win as the club's manager was on 25 August 2012, a 2–0 home victory against Burnley. On 1 December 2012, Grayson managed Huddersfield against his former side Leeds for the first time, losing 4–2 at home. He was dismissed by Huddersfield on 24 January 2013, following a run of 12 consecutive matches without victory stretching back to 17 November 2012. Preston North End Simon Grayson was appointed manager of Preston North End on 18 February 2013 and went unbeaten in his first four games in charge. Grayson then went on to keep the club clear of relegation with four games to go. Safety was confirmed after a 2–0 home win against Oldham Athletic on 9 April 2013. In May 2014 Grayson guided Preston North End into the League One play off semi-final against Rotherham United. However, after drawing the first leg at Deepdale 1–1, North End lost the return leg 3–1 despite taking an early lead through Paul Gallagher. Twelve months later, Grayson guided Preston back to the second tier of English football after being absent for four years with a victory over Swindon Town in the League One play-off final. It was their first success in the play-offs in 10 attempts and was notable for Jermaine Beckford’s three goals, becoming only the third player to ever score a play-off final hat-trick at Wembley. Sunderland On 29 June 2017, Grayson was named as the new manager of newly relegated Championship club Sunderland, replacing David Moyes, on a three-year contract. His first league game as manager came on 4 August 2017, where his side drew 1–1 at the Stadium of Light against Derby County. In his following fixture, his team defeated Norwich City at Carrow Road, with the final result 3–1, Sunderland went on to record another draw, before commencing a four-game losing streak, until drawing one again. After a 2–1 defeat to Cardiff City, Sunderland dropped into relegation zone. On 26 September 2017, his team suffered a 5–2 loss to Ipswich Town at Portman Road, with them moving down to twenty-third place in their division. Grayson's team then recorded three consecutive draws, however, they did not move from their league position. He was