Manchester United in 2009 Simpson was born in
Eccles,
Greater Manchester, Simpson played for Parkwyddn JFC in
Eccles as a youth before being picked up by
Manchester United. He is a product of the
Manchester United youth system, having come up through the ranks into the reserve squad in 2005. In early January 2006, he was sent on loan, along with three other United youths, to the
Belgian Second Division club
Royal Antwerp for the remainder of the season, to gain match experience. Simpson also spent the first half of the 2006–07 season at Antwerp before returning to United in January 2007. On 25 January 2007, he joined
Sunderland on loan for the rest of the season. The loan move saw him link up with fellow Manchester United player
Jonny Evans. He won the Championship title with Sunderland that season. Simpson returned to United at the start of the
2007–08 season and signed a new contract in September 2007 that would keep him at the club until 2010. He made his first competitive appearance for United on 26 September 2007 in the 2–0
League Cup loss to
Coventry City, and soon after made his
Premier League debut on 6 October 2007 against
Wigan Athletic at
Old Trafford, coming on as a 30th-minute
substitute for the injured
John O'Shea. He set up the fourth goal with a well flighted cross for
Wayne Rooney. The match ended with a 4–0 win to United. His European debut came on 23 October 2007, when he came on as an 80th-minute substitute for
Ryan Giggs against
Dynamo Kyiv. His first European start was in the reverse fixture against Dynamo Kyiv on 7 November 2007; United won the game 4–0. On 21 March 2008, Simpson signed a loan deal with
Ipswich Town. With
Gary Neville on the verge of returning to the Manchester United first team, United manager
Alex Ferguson decided it was best for Simpson to get as much first team football as possible, something that would be quite hard to come by at Old Trafford with both Gary Neville and
Wes Brown ahead of Simpson in the pecking order. On 4 August 2008, Simpson signed for
Blackburn Rovers on a season-long loan deal. Simpson made his Blackburn debut on 27 August 2008, playing in Rovers' 4–1 win over
Grimsby Town in the
League Cup Second Round. His Premier League debut for Blackburn Rovers came almost three weeks later, on 13 September 2008, in a 4–0 defeat at home to
Arsenal. With the exception of Blackburn's League Cup Fifth Round defeat by Manchester United, which he was forced to miss because of a clause in his loan agreement, Simpson was ever-present for Blackburn during their League Cup and FA Cup campaigns. He also played in 11 out of the 14 league matches for which he was eligible prior to Christmas 2008, although he was named on the bench for the other three. After Christmas, Simpson only played in one further league match, another 4–0 defeat to Arsenal, and in early May 2009, with his first team opportunities limited at Blackburn, the loan agreement was terminated early and he returned to train with Manchester United.
Newcastle United in 2009 On 14 August 2009, Simpson joined
Newcastle United on loan until January 2010, making his debut in a 1–0 victory over
Sheffield Wednesday at St. James' Park. He scored his first goal for Newcastle against Peterborough United on 7 November 2009. Following the completion of the loan deal, Newcastle made a bid to keep Simpson on a permanent basis. An undisclosed fee, reported as being in the region of £750,000, was agreed between Newcastle and Manchester United and Simpson signed a three-and-a-half-year contract on 20 January 2010. He played a solid part in Newcastle's promotion to the Premier League, winning his second Championship title in the process, while forming a right flank partnership with January signing
Wayne Routledge. Towards the end of the season, he "played through the pain" with what he considered a small ankle injury. He only realised the full extent of the ankle injury at the end of the season, and he had an operation to correct it. He was out for three months, including the first month or so of Newcastle's season. Simpson returned to action from his injury lay off, playing two reserve games in October. He made his first start of the new season in Newcastle's 2–1 victory over
West Ham United, replacing
James Perch at right back. Simpson kept his right-back spot with consistently strong performances, forming a strong partnership with
Joey Barton on the right flank. On 20 September 2011, Simpson scored a curler in Newcastle's 4–3 win over
Championship side
Nottingham Forest in the third round of the
League Cup. On 10 December 2011, Simpson started alongside
James Perch at center back in place of the injured
Steven Taylor and
Fabricio Coloccini for Newcastle's 4–2 defeat at
Norwich City. He had played at right back for the beginning of the season.
Queens Park Rangers After his contract with Newcastle expired at the end of the 2012–13 season, Simpson signed a three-year deal with Championship club
Queens Park Rangers on 27 June 2013. He scored his first goal for QPR in a
League Cup tie against
Exeter City on 6 August 2013. He made 36 Championship appearances for QPR as they earned promotion via
the play-offs.
Leicester City On 30 August 2014 signed a three-year contract for fellow promoted team
Leicester City for an undisclosed fee. Simpson made his Leicester debut in a 2–0 defeat against
Crystal Palace off the bench on 27 September 2014. However, he didn't make his second appearance for the club until 7 December against
Aston Villa, as he often struggled to get into the side ahead of regular right back
Ritchie De Laet. Simpson made 14 appearances overall for Leicester in the 2014–15 season. In the
2015–16 season, under the new management of
Claudio Ranieri, De Laet was again preferred ahead of Simpson to begin with. However, following a 5–2 defeat by
Arsenal, Ranieri changed his full backs bringing Simpson in for De Laet helping to shore up Leicester's defence, as Simpson was considered a much more defensive full-back than De Laet and "rarely ventured forward". Leicester went on to win the
2015–16 Premier League title, and Simpson earned a winner's medal with 30 league appearances. In February and March 2021, Simpson began playing with the
Leicester City U23s squad in order to regain match fitness.
Huddersfield Town After being released by Leicester, Simpson signed a deal until the end of the 2019–20 season with
EFL Championship side
Huddersfield Town.
Bristol City On 26 March 2021, Simpson joined
Bristol City on a deal until the end of the season. The move reunited him with former Leicester manager
Nigel Pearson. On 23 June 2021, it was announced Simpson had signed a new one-year contract extension with the club. This was brought to an end early on 7 March 2022, when Simpson's contract was cancelled by mutual consent.
As a free agent Simpson began making appearances as a TV pundit in 2022. Despite this, he confirmed in a December 2022 interview, whilst launching a campaign to better support players' mental health at the end of their careers, that he was not yet retired, and was still training in the hope of finding a new club. As of May 2023, he was training with
Macclesfield. By October 2023, he had returned to Manchester United to study for his coaching badges whilst weighing up the next step in his career, alongside fellow ex-United player
Phil Jones.
Macclesfield In December 2023, Simpson was signed by
Northern Premier League Premier Division club
Macclesfield, making his debut on 5 December in the
Cheshire Senior Cup against
Tranmere Rovers. On 26 July 2024, Simpson announced his retirement from professional football. == Boxing career ==