Frank Gray

Last updated

Frank Gray
Personal information
Full name Francis Tierney Gray [1]
Date of birth (1954-10-27) 27 October 1954 (age 69)
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) [2]
Position(s) Left-back
Youth career
1971–1973 Leeds United
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1972–1979 Leeds United 193 (17)
1979–1981 Nottingham Forest 81 (5)
1981–1985 Leeds United 139 (10)
1985–1989 Sunderland 146 (8)
1989–1992 Darlington 85 (8)
Total644(48)
International career
1976–1983 Scotland 32 (1)
Managerial career
1991–1992 Darlington
2005–2006 Farnborough Town
2006 Grays Athletic
2007–2008 Woking
2008–2012 Basingstoke Town
2012–2013 Bashley
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Francis Tierney Gray (born 27 October 1954) is a Scottish football manager and former player. He played for Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Darlington, while he also represented Scotland 32 times. He managed Darlington, Farnborough Town, Grays Athletic, Woking, Basingstoke Town and Bashley.

Contents

Club career

Leeds United

Gray was born in Glasgow and brought up in the city's Castlemilk district. [3] He was one of the new generation of Leeds United players of the mid-1970s charged with the task of maintaining the club's success after the Don Revie era.

Gray, younger brother of Eddie, joined the club under Revie as a 17-year-old left-winger and made his debut in 1973, scoring a goal in his first start. Revie had lost regular left back Terry Cooper to a broken leg the year before and needed to find replacements, and Gray was given his chance as a left-back as a result.

He did not stay in the side, with a reshuffled defence allowing Trevor Cherry to take the left back spot for the end of the season which consisted of two cup finals (the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup) both of which Leeds lost. Revie did invite Gray to travel with the squad to Wembley and he sat next to his manager during the defeat to Sunderland.

Gray was similarly spared regular football in the first team at such an early age the following year, with Cherry settled into the left back role. Leeds won the League championship thanks to an unbeaten start to the season of 29 games. Gray played only six times and did not qualify for a medal. [4]

The following season, he made 18 appearances in the League and usurped Cherry for the No. 3 shirt in the European Cup final in Paris, which Leeds lost 2–0 to Bayern Munich. As the Revie team disbanded due to age – Revie himself had quit for the England manager's job the year before – Gray found himself tagged as one of the bright young things who would maintain the work of the previous team, alongside Gordon McQueen and Joe Jordan.

Nottingham Forest

In 1979, Gray joined Nottingham Forest for £500,000. Forest were managed by Brian Clough, who had previously managed Gray at Leeds.

Gray slotted into the team and played in his second European Cup final in 1980, making him the first player to appear in the final for two different English clubs. This time he was successful as Forest won 1–0 against a Hamburg SV side which included Kevin Keegan. Gray also finished on the losing side earlier in the season when Forest were beaten in the League Cup final by Wolves, thanks to a single goal from unrelated fellow Scotsman Andy Gray.

Return to Elland Road

Despite his success with Forest, in 1981 Gray returned to Leeds, accepting an invitation from manager – and former teammate – Allan Clarke. It was a £300,000 deal which took Gray back to Elland Road, but in the first season of his return Leeds were relegated.

Clarke was sacked by Leeds after relegation and Gray's brother Eddie took over. The younger Gray played for four years under his brother's stewardship but Leeds could not gain promotion and Gray left for Sunderland in 1985. His tally for Leeds stood up at 396 appearances and 35 goals.

International career

Gray made his debut for Scotland in a 1–0 win over Switzerland in 1976, and won more caps in late 1978, having missed out on a place in the squad for that summer's World Cup in Argentina.

Gray was selected for Scotland's World Cup squad for the 1982 tournament in Spain, and he played in all three of the group games [5] against New Zealand, Brazil and the USSR, though Scotland did not progress further.

His international career ended in 1983 after 32 appearances and one goal.

Management career

During his second spell at Leeds, Gray coached Collingham Under 16s. After his second stint at Leeds, he helped Sunderland gain promotion from Division Three, then helped Darlington into the Football League as assistant to Brian Little in the 1990s and took Farnborough Town to the Nationwide Conference South play-offs in 2005–06. He moved to Grays Athletic with assistant Gerry Murphy to replace Mark Stimson, but his stay was short. He was brought to Woking by football technical director Colin Lippiatt in May 2007 with the aim of taking the club into the Football League.

Gray was appointed manager at Woking on 3 May 2007 on a two-year deal, replacing Glenn Cockerill. He departed by mutual consent on 8 April 2008.

He was appointed manager of Basingstoke Town in the Conference South, [6] but he left the club through mutual consent, and was succeeded by academy manager Jason Bristow on a temporary contract until the end of the season.

Gray was appointed on 31 May 2012 as manager at Evostik Premier Division South club side Bashley. On 19 June 2013 Gray and his sideman Murphy stepped down and were replaced by former Bashley players Paul Gazzard and Stewart Kearn.

Post-management career

Gray lives in Australia where he works as a pundit for Fox Sports Australia's Premier League coverage[ citation needed ]. In 2016, Gray worked in an advisory capacity for Manly United where he oversaw the Manly United junior programme and worked with women's teams across all grades. [7]

His son Andy Gray, a striker, came through the ranks at Leeds and later played for Nottingham Forest, Bury, Preston, Oldham Athletic, Bradford City, Sheffield United, Sunderland, Burnley, Charlton Athletic and Barnsley. He also won two full international caps for Scotland.

His nephew Stuart represented Celtic and Reading as a full-back.

His grandson, Archie Gray, son of Andy, is a midfielder at Tottenham Hotspur and plays internationally for England's youth teams.

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year [8]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Scotland 197610
197700
197820
197950
198020
198190
198291
198340
Total321

International goals

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Gray goal.
International goal scored by Frank Gray [9]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.23 March 1982 Hampden Park, Glasgow Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1–02–1 Friendly

Honours

As a player

Leeds United

Nottingham Forest

Sunderland

Darlington

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Clough</span> English football player and manager (1935–2004)

Brian Howard Clough was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the English league with two different clubs. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest managers of all time. Charismatic, outspoken and often controversial, his achievements with Derby and Forest, two clubs with little prior history of success, are rated among the greatest in football history. His teams were also noted for playing attractive football and for their good sportsmanship. Despite applying several times and being a popular choice for the job, he was never appointed England manager and has been dubbed the "greatest manager England never had".

EdwinGray is a Scottish former football player and coach. Gray was a cultured winger, who was an integral member of the legendary Leeds United team of the 1960s and 1970s, later twice becoming the club's manager. He is part of the Gray family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Revie</span> English footballer and manager (1927–1989)

Donald George Revie was an English footballer and manager. He is best known for managing Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, winning the Football League First Division twice and the FA Cup once, before being the England national football team manager for three years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Bremner</span> Scottish association football player and manager (1942–1997)

William John Bremner was a Scottish professional footballer who played for Leeds United, Hull City, and the Scotland national team. He also managed Doncaster Rovers (twice) and Leeds United. Regarded as one of football's great midfielders, Bremner combined precision passing skills with tenacious tackling and physical stamina. He played for Leeds United from 1959 to 1976, serving as captain from 1965 through the most successful period in the club's history, and winning two League Championship medals and one FA Cup-winners medal. In total, he played 773 games for Leeds, scoring 114 goals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Hunter (footballer)</span> English footballer (1943–2020)

Norman Hunter was an English professional footballer who played for Leeds United, Bristol City, Barnsley and the England national team. He also managed Barnsley and Rotherham United. A tough tackling centre-back and defensive midfielder, he won two League Championship medals and one FA Cup-winners medal with Leeds, for whom he played 726 games in total, scoring 21 goals.

Allan John Clarke, nicknamed "Sniffer", is a former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Walsall, Fulham, Leicester City, Leeds United and Barnsley, and won 19 international caps for England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Reaney</span> English footballer

Paul Reaney is an English former international footballer. He played primarily as a right-sided full-back. He made 745 first-team appearances at Leeds United from 1962 to 1978, winning seven major trophies under Don Revie's management. As a player of mixed race, Reaney became the 2nd non-white footballer to represent the men's senior England national football team in 1968, when he gained the first of his three senior caps. Later in his career, Reaney played for Bradford City and Newcastle KB United.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Cooper (footballer, born 1944)</span> English footballer and manager (1944–2021)

Terence Cooper was an English football player and manager. He was a left back in the Leeds United team of the 1960s and 1970s, and featured for England at the 1970 Mexico World Cup. He later went on to manage both of Bristol's football teams, Birmingham City and was twice manager of Exeter City.

The 1977–78 season was the 98th season of competitive football in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Gray (footballer, born 1977)</span> Scotland international footballer

Andrew David Gray is a former professional footballer. He is the son of the former Scotland defender Frank Gray and nephew of Leeds United legend Eddie Gray. His cousin Stuart Gray was also a pro footballer. His son Archie is a professional footballer at Tottenham Hotspur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John McGovern (footballer)</span> Scottish footballer and manager

John Prescott McGovern is a Scottish former association football midfielder and manager. McGovern is most famous for captaining the Nottingham Forest side that won the European Cup twice under the management of Brian Clough, whom he played under at four clubs, and Peter Taylor.

The 1974–75 season was the 95th season of competitive football in England.

The 1972–73 season was the 93rd season of competitive football in England.

Richard Asa Hartford is a Scottish former football player and coach. He started his professional career with West Bromwich Albion. His early progress led to a proposed transfer to Leeds United in November 1971, but this collapsed when a medical examination discovered a heart condition. Hartford instead moved to Manchester City in 1974. He helped City win the 1976 League Cup Final. After a brief spell with Nottingham Forest, Hartford moved to Everton in 1979 and then had a second spell with Manchester City. After playing for Fort Lauderdale Sun, Hartford joined Norwich City. His shot resulted in the only goal of the 1985 League Cup Final.

The history of Leeds United Football Club, a professional association football club based in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, dates back to 1919, when the club was established following the demise of Leeds City F.C.

John O'Hare is a Scottish former footballer. O'Hare's clubs included Sunderland, Derby County, Leeds United and also Nottingham Forest and was part of their European Cup victory in 1980, coming on as a substitute in the final. O'Hare also won thirteen caps for the Scotland national team, scoring five goals.

The 1971–72 season was the 73rd completed season of The Football League.

The 1973–74 season was the 75th completed season of The Football League.

The 1990–91 season was the 92nd completed season of The Football League.

Neil Martin is a Scottish former football player, who scored 100 league goals in both Scotland and England and won three full international caps for Scotland in the 1960s and 1970s. Known for his strength, power, bravery and commitment, Martin scored consistently while playing for several clubs. He played for Alloa Athletic, Queen of the South, Hibernian, Sunderland, Coventry City, Nottingham Forest, Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace.

References

  1. "Frank Gray". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  2. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 352. ISBN   978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. Interview: Eddie Gray on why SFA must stay at Hampden – 'our mecca', The Scotsman, 18 September 2018
  4. "Leeds United: Season 1973–1974: Division One". leeds-fans.org.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  5. "Scotland - International Matches 1981-1985".
  6. BASINGSTOKE APPOINT GRAY [usurped] , nonleaguedaily.com
  7. "MUFC profile: Frank Gray". 9 June 2016.
  8. National Football Teams profile
  9. SFA profile