Brian Graham (footballer)

Brian Graham

Graham playing for Greenock Morton
Personal information
Full name	Brian Graham [1]
Date of birth	(1987-11-23) 23 November 1987 (age 37) [2]
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Partick Thistle
Number	9
Youth career
	Hillington F.C.
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2011	Greenock Morton	65	(10)
2008–2009	→ East Stirlingshire (loan)	33	(15)
2011–2013	Raith Rovers	58	(29)
2013–2015	Dundee United	31	(6)
2014–2015	→ St Johnstone (loan)	24	(9)
2015–2016	Ross County	24	(6)
2016–2017	Hibernian	28	(4)
2017–2018	Cheltenham Town	27	(5)
2018–2020	Ross County	48	(12)
2020–	Partick Thistle	141	(70)
Managerial career
2020–	Partick Thistle W.F.C.
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 01:50, 11 January 2025 (UTC)

Brian Graham (born 23 November 1987) is a Scottish football striker and coach, who plays for Scottish Championship club Partick Thistle, ^[3] and is also the manager of Partick Thistle W.F.C. in the Scottish Women's Premier League.

A striker, Graham spent five years at Greenock Morton after joining the club from Hillington. Whilst at Morton he spent a season on loan at East Stirlingshire in the Third Division. He then played for Raith Rovers, moving from there to Dundee United in 2013. After spending most of the 2014–15 season on loan to St Johnstone, he joined Ross County in June 2015. Graham was released from Ross County and signed for Hibernian in August 2016. He helped Hibernian win the 2016–17 Scottish Championship, then moved to English club Cheltenham Town in August 2017. Graham returned to Ross County in August 2018 and subsequently joined Partick Thistle in 2020, going on to become team captain and one of the club's most prolific goal-scorers.

Playing career

Greenock Morton

Born in Glasgow, Graham made his senior début for Greenock Morton on 29 April 2006, at Station Park, Forfar against Forfar Athletic. He replaced that season, in order to come into contention for the first team, Allan Moore ordered him and Kevin Kelbie to lose weight (despite being one of the thinnest at the club). ^[4]

Raith Rovers

After leaving Morton at the end of the 2010–11 season, he signed for Raith Rovers in May 2011. ^[5] He scored 11 goals in his first season at Stark's Park, two behind top scorer John Baird. Graham went on to 28 times in his second season at the club as they finished 6th in the First Division.

Dundee United

Graham was unveiled as a Dundee United player before the SPL club's last game of the 2012–13 season against Celtic at Tannadice, signing a two-year deal as Jon Daly made an exit. ^[6] Graham was mainly used as a substitute in his first season, with 23 of his 36 appearances coming from the bench. He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–1 win over Partick Thistle, ^[7] and went on to finish the season with seven goals in total.

St Johnstone (loan)

In August 2014, Graham was loaned to St Johnstone for the rest of the 2014–15 season. ^[8] He scored the winning goal on his St Johnstone debut on 30 August 2014 in a 1–0 win away to Motherwell, in the 86th minute, having come on as a substitute. ^[9] On 20 December 2014, Graham scored from the penalty spot to give St Johnstone a 1–0 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle, with the penalty being awarded after he appeared to be fouled by Inverness goalkeeper Dean Brill; ^[10] however, in the days following the match, he was offered a two-match suspension by the Scottish Football Association's compliance officer after it had been alleged he had dived to win the penalty. St Johnstone accepted the two-match suspension. ^[11]

Ross County (first spell)

In April 2015, Dundee United announced Graham would be released when his contract expires at the end of the season. ^[12] It was announced by Ross County in May 2015 that Graham would be joining the club on a two-year contract. ^[13] He scored 11 goals in his first season at the club and started the 2016 Scottish League Cup Final victory over Hibernian, which gave County their first ever piece of silverware. ^[14]

Graham began the 2016–17 season in fine form, scoring in all four of Ross County's group stage matches in the reformatted League Cup. He scored the winner in a 1–0 win against Montrose, followed by a 75th-minute penalty against his former club, Raith Rovers to rescue a 1–1 draw the following week. He also netted in a 3–2 to Alloa, and despite scoring a hat-trick as County thrashed Cove Rangers 7–0 on 30 July, it proved to be not enough as the club finished third in their group and thus failed to qualify for the knockout round. A 3–1 defeat to Dundee on the opening day of the Scottish Premiership season proved to be Graham's last match for Ross County as he was released by the club on 19 August 2016, despite having a year left on his contract. ^[15]

Hibernian

He signed for Hibernian the next day on a free transfer, although County later received a fee as Hibs gained promotion to the Premiership. ^{[16] [17]}

Cheltenham Town

Graham signed for EFL League Two club Cheltenham Town in August 2017. ^{[18] [19]}

Ross County return

Graham rejoined Ross County on 2 August 2018 after leaving Cheltenham at the end of the 2017–18 season. ^[20]

Partick Thistle

Graham signed for Scottish Championship club Partick Thistle on a 2+1⁄2-year deal, knocking back offers from Premiership sides, Motherwell, Kilmarnock and St. Johnstone. ^[3] Graham scored on his debut in a 2–1 defeat away to Arbroath. ^[21] Scottish football was stopped in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, at which time Thistle were in last place in the Championship (two points behind 9th place Queen of the South, although Thistle had a game in hand). ^{[22] [23]} A vote was subsequently taken to curtail the Championship, League One and League Two seasons, which meant that Thistle were relegated to League One.

Graham remained at the club, ahead of the 2020–21 season in League One. After winning League One with Thistle and finishing as the club's top scorer with 11 goals, Graham signed a new contract adding an extra year to his deal, extending it until 2023. ^[24]

Graham scored his first hat-trick for Thistle in a 3–3 draw away to Inverness on 9 February 2022. ^[25]

After finishing the 2021–22 season with 18 goals, Graham signed a further one year extension to his contract in summer 2022, with his deal extended to the end of the 2023–2024 season ^[26]

The following season Graham scored 22 goals in all competitions for Thistle, becoming the first Thistle striker to hit 20 goals in all competitions since Mark Roberts. Graham was part of the Thistle squad that reached the Scottish Premiership promotion play off final. Following this Graham added an extra year to his Thistle deal until summer 2025. ^[27]

After another successful start to the 2023–24 season Graham once again extended his Thistle contract, adding an additional year until summer 2026. ^[28]

In the 2023–24 season Brian Graham won the PFA Scottish Championship player of the year, after finishing top scorer in the Scottish Championship with 20 league goals. ^[29] Graham ended the 2023–24 season on 26 goals in all competitions, the second highest return of his career in a single season.

Managerial career

In September 2020 Graham was appointed manager of Partick Thistle W.F.C. in the second tier of the Scottish Women's Premier League, heading a coaching team comprising three players from the club's men's team. ^[30] At the end of their first season Thistle were promoted to the Premier Division, and finished their first stint in the SWPL in the Top 6. The following season, Thistle again finished in the Top 6 and reached the final of the Sky Sports Cup, losing 4-1 to Rangers. ^[29]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 4 June 2023

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Greenock Morton	2005–06 [31]	Scottish Second Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2006–07 [32]	Scottish Second Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2007–08 [33]	Scottish First Division	13	1	1	0	1	0	3 [a]	2	18	3
	2008–09 [34]	Scottish First Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2009–10 [35]	Scottish First Division	22	2	1	0	2	0	1 [a]	0	26	2
	2010–11 [36]	Scottish First Division	28	7	3	2	0	0	0	0	31	9
	Total		65	10	5	2	3	0	4	2	77	14
East Stirling (loan)	2008–09 [34]	Scottish Third Division	33	15	2	1	1	1	3 [b]	1	39	18
Raith Rovers	2011–12 [37]	Scottish First Division	24	11	0	0	2	0	1 [a]	0	27	11
	2012–13 [38]	Scottish First Division	34	18	2	2	3	4	2 [a]	3	41	27
	Total		58	29	2	2	5	4	3	3	68	38
Dundee United	2013–14 [39]	Scottish Premiership	30	6	3	1	3	0	–		36	7
	2014–15 [40]	Scottish Premiership	1	0	0	0	0	0	–		1	0
	Total		31	6	3	1	3	0	0	0	37	7
St Johnstone (loan)	2014–15 [40]	Scottish Premiership	24	9	2	0	2	1	–		28	10
Ross County	2015–16 [41]	Scottish Premiership	23	6	4	4	4	1	–		31	11
	2016–17 [42]	Scottish Premiership	1	0	0	0	4	6	–		5	6
	Total		24	6	4	4	8	7	0	0	36	17
Hibernian	2016–17 [42]	Scottish Championship	28	4	4	0	0	0	1 [a]	1	33	5
	2017–18 [43]	Scottish Premiership	0	0	0	0	2	1	–		2	1
	Total		28	4	4	0	2	1	1	1	35	6
Cheltenham Town	2017–18 [43]	League Two	27	5	1	0	1	0	2 [c]	1	31	6
Ross County	2018–19 [44]	Scottish Championship	30	8	3	2	1	0	4 [a]	4	38	14
	2019–20 [45]	Scottish Premiership	18	4	1	0	4	2	–		23	6
	Total		48	12	4	2	5	2	4	4	61	20
Partick Thistle	2019–20 [45]	Scottish Championship	6	3	—				1 [a]	0	7	3
	2020–21 [46]	Scottish League One	19	11	2	0	3	0	—		24	11
	2021–22 [47]	Scottish Championship	32	13	2	1	4	4	2 [d]	0	40	18
	2022–23 [47]	Scottish Championship	31	14	2	1	6	2	6	5	45	22
	2023–24 [47]	Scottish Championship	33	20	3	1	5	3	4	2	47	26
	Total		121	61	9	3	18	9	13	6	163	80
Career total			426	137	33	14	43	22	26	15	528	190

1. Appearance(s) in Scottish Challenge Cup
2. One appearance in Scottish Challenge Cup, two appearances in Scottish Second Division play-offs
3. Appearances in EFL Trophy
4. appearances in Premiership play-offs

Honours

Ross County

• Scottish Championship: 2018–19 ^[48]
• Scottish League Cup: 2015–16 ^[14]
• Scottish Challenge Cup: 2018–19 ^[49]

Hibernian

• Scottish Championship: 2016–17 ^[17]

Partick Thistle

• Scottish League One: 2020–21 ^[50]

Individual

• SPFL Championship Player of the Month: April 2019 ^[51]

References

1. "EFL Released and Retained List 2017-18" (PDF). English Football League. p. 73. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
2. "Brian Graham". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
3. "Signing News: Brian Graham joins the club". Partick Thistle FC.
4. "Ton boss issues hefty threat to strikers". Evening Times. 17 September 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
5. "Brian Graham joins Raith". SPFL. 19 May 2011. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
6. "Dundee United: Brian Graham signs as Jon Daly exits". BBC Sport. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
7. Crawford, Kenny (23 November 2013). "Dundee United 4-1 Partick Thistle". BBC Sport . Retrieved 29 March 2016.
8. Brian Graham: St Johnstone sign Dundee United striker on loan, BBC Sport
9. Barnes, John (30 August 2014). "Motherwell 0-1 St Johnstone". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
10. Wilson, Richard (20 December 2014). "St Johnstone 1-0 Inverness CT". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
11. "St Johnstone accept two-match ban offered to Brian Graham for diving". STV Sport. STV. 24 December 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
12. "Dundee United to release trio at the end of the season". BBC Sport. BBC. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
13. "Ross County: New signing Brian Graham impressed by Jim McIntyre". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
14. Wilson, Richard. "Scottish League Cup final: Hibernian 1-2 Ross County". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
15. Hislop, John (20 August 2016). "Brian Graham poised to join Hibs after leaving Ross County". The Edinburgh Reporter. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
16. Dowden, Martin (20 August 2016). "Brian Graham: Hibs sign striker after Ross County exit". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
17. McLauchlin, Brian (15 April 2017). "Hibernian 3–0 Queen of the South". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
18. "GRAHAM JOINS CHELTENHAM TOWN". Hibernian FC. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
19. "Brian Graham: Cheltenham Town sign Hibernian striker on two-year deal". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
20. "Ross County: Brian Graham returns for second spell". BBC Sport. BBC. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
21. "Arbroath 2-1 Partick Thistle: Visitors slip to bottom spot - BBC Sport". Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
22. "Partick Thistle: Championship side 'will not accept' relegation". Bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
23. "Dundee Utd, Raith & Cove win titles and reconstruction talks start after Dundee vote". BBC Sport. BBC. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
24. "Brian Graham signs one-year contract extension". Partick Thistle FC.
25. "Inverness & Partick share six goals". BBC Sport.
26. "Brian Graham signs contract extension until 2024".
27. "Brian Graham signs contract extension until 2025".
28. "Brian Graham signs contract extension until 2026".
29. https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/13130276/partick-thistles-brian-graham-immensely-proud-to-win-scottish-championship-player-of-the-year-award#:~:text=This%20season's%20Scottish%20Championship%20top,player%20of%20the%20year%20award.
30. "Thistle striker named women's boss". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
31. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
32. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
33. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
34. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
35. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
36. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
37. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
38. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
39. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
40. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
41. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
42. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
43. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
44. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
45. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
46. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
47. "Games played by Brian Graham in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
48. "Ross County Secure title and promotion". BBC. 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
49. "Ross County lifted the Challenge Cup for a third time". BBC Sport. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
50. "Partick Thistle seal League 1 title". BBC Sport.
51. "APRIL AWARDS FOR ROSS COUNTY". Scottish Professional Football League. 4 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.

External links

• Brian Graham at Soccerbase