Gareth Graham

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Gareth Graham
Personal information
Full name Gareth Lee Graham [1]
Date of birth (1978-12-06) 6 December 1978 (age 44)
Place of birth Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) [2]
Position(s) Midfielder, right back
Youth career
Dungoyne Boys
Glentoran
0000–1997 Crystal Palace
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1997–1999 Crystal Palace 1 (0)
1998Merthyr Tydfil (loan) 3 (0)
1999Brentford (loan) 0 (0)
1999–2001 Brentford 14 (0)
1999Crawley Town (loan)
2001 Woking 6 (0)
2001–2002 Margate 26 (1)
2002 ÍBV 7 (1)
2002–2003 Whyteleafe 22 (2)
2003–2005 AFC Wimbledon 38 (2)
2004Whyteleafe (loan) 4 (0)
2005–2006 Whyteleafe 19 (2)
2006–2007 Croydon Athletic 27 (5)
2007 Cray Wanderers 20 (0)
2007 Kingstonian 2 (0)
2007–2008 Croydon Athletic 16 (1)
2008 Leatherhead 16 (0)
2008–2009 Chertsey Town 18 (2)
2009–2010 Chipstead 14 (1)
2010 Whyteleafe 12 (1)
2010 Warlingham (dual-registration) 2 (1)
2010–2011 Croydon 24 (2)
2011 Merstham 18 (0)
2011–2014 Lingfield 67 (13)
2012–2013AFC Croydon Athletic (dual-registration) 2 (0)
Total378(34)
International career
1999 Northern Ireland U21 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gareth Lee Graham (born 6 December 1978) is a Northern Irish retired footballer who played as a midfielder or right back. He began his career in the Football League at Crystal Palace, before transferring to Brentford in 1999. Upon his release from Brentford, Graham embarked on a nomadic career in non-League football. He represented Northern Ireland U21 at international level. He was known by the nickname "Ginge". [3] [4]

Contents

Club career

Crystal Palace

Graham began his career in his native Northern Ireland with Dungoyne Boys and Glentoran, before moving to England to join the youth system at Crystal Palace. [5] He reached the final of the FA Youth Cup and won the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup with the youth team during the 1996–97 season and also made his debut for the reserve team. [6] Graham signed his first professional contract in March 1997 and broke into the reserve team during the early part of the 1997–98 season. [6] [7]

A broken leg suffered in a Surrey Senior Cup match for the reserve team in late 1997 hampered Graham's progress. [6] Graham returned to match play with the reserve team early in the 1998–99 season and to regain fitness, Graham and teammate Andy Martin joined Southern League Premier Division club Merthyr Tydfil on loan December 1998. [8] He made his Crystal Palace debut away to Watford on 24 April 1999, as a substitute for Steven Thomson after 77 minutes of the 2–1 defeat. [9] Graham failed to receive a call into the first team during the early months of the 1999–00 season and departed the club in October 1999. [2]

Brentford

Graham joined Second Division club Brentford on loan on 28 September 1999 and the move was made permanent on 6 October. [10] Following a loan at Southern League Premier Division club Crawley Town, [11] [12] Graham finally made his Brentford debut on 18 December, [13] as a late substitute for Martin Rowlands in a 1–0 defeat to Wigan Athletic. [10] Graham broke into the team on a regular basis in March 2000 and finished the 1999–00 season with 13 appearances. [9]

Graham was out of favour under new manager Ray Lewington during the 2000–01 season, but a buildup of games in hand (due to bad weather and Brentford's run to the 2001 Football League Trophy Final) saw the squad stretched during the second half of the season and Graham was a regular unused substitute. [14] [15] He made his only appearance of the season as a late substitute for Jay Tabb in a 2–2 draw with Luton Town on 3 May 2001. [16] Graham was released at the end of the 2000–01 season, [17] after making just 14 appearances during his time with the Bees. [2]

Non-League football

Aside from a spell in Iceland with Úrvalsdeild club ÍBV in 2002, [18] Graham played in non-League football between 2001 and his retirement in 2014. [17] He played the majority of his football in the Isthmian and Combined Counties leagues and his most notable spell was with AFC Wimbledon, with whom he won consecutive promotions during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons. [4] He had two spells with Croydon Athletic and four with Whyteleafe and captained both clubs. [17] [19] His last club was Lingfield, for whom he made the final appearance of his career early in the 2014–15 season. [20]

International career

Graham won five caps for Northern Ireland at U21 level. [21] He made his debut in a 1–1 1999 International Triangular Tournament draw with Scotland on 4 June 1999. [21] He made three appearances during Northern Ireland's unsuccessful 2000 European U21 Championship qualifying campaign and the last of his caps came in a 2–1 defeat to Finland on 8 October 1999. [21]

Personal life

Graham was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. [1] He lives in Croydon and works in film, media and entertainment insurance. [22] He is a Tottenham Hotspur supporter. [23]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Crystal Palace 1998–99 [9] First Division 10000010
Brentford 1999–00 [10] Second Division 130000000130
2000–01 [16] 1000000010
Total140000000140
ÍBV 2002 [18] Úrvalsdeild 7130101
AFC Wimbledon 2002–03 [4] Combined Counties League 9090
2003–04 [4] Combined Counties League Premier Division1323 [lower-alpha 1] 0162
2004–05 [4] Isthmian League First Division160002 [lower-alpha 2] 1181
Total3820041433
Whyteleafe 2005–06 [24] Isthmian League First Division1920000192
Croydon Athletic 2006–07 [25] Isthmian League First Division South1952 [lower-alpha 3] 2217
Cray Wanderers 2006–07 [25] Isthmian League First Division South200200
Kingstonian 2007–08 [26] Isthmian League First Division South20001 [lower-alpha 4] 030
Croydon Athletic 2007–08 [27] Isthmian League First Division South130130
Total3250022347
Leatherhead 2007–08 [27] Isthmian League First Division South130130
2008–09 [28] 5050
Total180180
Chertsey Town 2008–09 [29] Combined Counties League Premier Division1821 [lower-alpha 5] 0192
Chipstead 2009–10 [30] Isthmian League First Division South162214 [lower-alpha 6] 0223
Whyteleafe 2009–10 [30] Isthmian League First Division South7070
2010–11 [31] Isthmian League First Division South411051
Total3031000313
Warlingham (dual-registration) 2010–11 [32] Combined Counties League First Division2121
Croydon 2010–11 [32] Combined Counties League Premier Division2412 [lower-alpha 5] 0261
Merstham 2010–11 [31] Isthmian League First Division South8080
2011–12 [33] 90001 [lower-alpha 3] 0100
Total1700010180
AFC Croydon Athletic 2012–13 [34] Combined Counties League First Division101 [lower-alpha 5] 020
Lingfield 2013–14 [35] Sussex County League First Division263104 [lower-alpha 7] 1314
2014–15 [20] Southern Counties East League 40000040
Total3031041354
Career total28920710020431625
  1. 2 appearances in Combined Counties League Premier Challenge Cup, 1 appearance in FA Vase
  2. 1 appearance and 1 goal in Isthmian League Cup, 1 appearance in Surrey Senior Cup
  3. 1 2 Appearances in Isthmian League Cup
  4. Appearance in London Senior Cup
  5. 1 2 3 Appearances in Combined Counties League Premier Challenge Cup
  6. 3 appearances in FA Trophy, 1 appearance in Isthmian League Cup
  7. 3 appearances and 1 goal in FA Vase, 1 appearance in Surrey Senior Cup

Honours

AFC Wimbledon

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References

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