Andy Gray (footballer, born 1955)
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Andrew Mullen Gray | ||
| Position(s) | Striker (retired) | ||
Andrew Mullen Gray (born November 30, 1955 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former football player and is now a football pundit for Sky Sports and ESPN.
Gray was born in Glasgow, but his mother was of a Hebridean background, from the village of Back, near Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.
Playing career
The striker started his professional career with Dundee United, playing two full seasons there, and playing the 1974 Scottish Cup Final, which allowed Gray his first taste of European football.
In October 1975, he headed south to Aston Villa and won England's golden boot in 1976/77 with his tally of 25 league goals. His 29 goals in the following season earned him the PFA Young Player of the Year and PFA Players' Player of the Year awards (a historic double not repeated until Cristiano Ronaldo won both awards for the 2006-07 season). However, these accolades were not enough to convince Scotland manager Ally MacLeod to select him for the 1978 World Cup squad.
The striker then moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers in September 1979 for a then-British record £1.5m. After scoring the winning goal for Wolves in the 1980 League Cup final, he remained with the club through their relegation and immediate return to the top flight.
He moved to Everton in November 1983 for a bargain £250,000. He enjoyed two great years with the Merseyside club, winning the FA Cup in 1984 (scoring in the final against Watford), and League Championship and European Cup Winners' Cup medals a year later. He is also remembered for his infamous 'diving header penalty' which resulted in an embarrassing miss, and a broken nose for the player. [citation needed]
The arrival of Gary Lineker spelled the end of Gray's time with Everton and he returned for a second spell at Aston Villa for £150,000. Afterwards, he spent a season at West Bromwich Albion before joining Rangers, the team he has supported all his life. After this brief, yet championship-winning spell, at Ibrox, he dropped into non-league football with then Conference club Cheltenham Town before retiring in 1990. After hanging up his boots, he entered coaching as an assistant at Aston Villa, before focusing full-time on his television work.
International
Gray won 20 caps for Scotland, scoring 7 goals for his country. He also won four caps at Under-23 level and played at schoolboy level. His full international debut came on December 17, 1975 in a 1–1 draw with Romania. However, he was not selected for any of Scotland's World Cup squads during his playing days.
International Goals Record (NB scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first)
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 8 1976 | Hampden Park, Glasgow |  Finland |
4–0 | 6–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | September 8 1976 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Finland |
6–0 | 6–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | September 20 1978 | Praterstadion, Vienna |  Austria |
2–3 | 2–3 | ECQG2 |
| 4 | March 26 1980 | Hampden Park, Glasgow |  Portugal |
2–0 | 4–1 | ECQG2 |
| 5 | May 28 1983 | Ninian Park, Cardiff |  Wales |
1–0 | 2–0 | BHC |
| 6 | June 19 1983 | Varsity Stadium, Toronto |  Canada |
1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 7 | June 19 1983 | Varsity Stadium, Toronto | Canada |
2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
Commentator
Gray is considered a football pundits, earning £20,000 a week [1], and can be seen and heard regularly on Sky Sports' Ford Super Sunday. He has worked for the broadcaster since 1990, and has therefore been part of every season of their Premier League coverage. He had also worked for BBC Radio 5 Live and talkSPORT and was recognised with the Royal Television Society's Sports Presenter of the Year award in 1996.
He is well known for his trademark phrases. "Top drawer!", "Take a bow, son", "You don't save those!", "I'll tell you what the best do, they take their chances" and "Easy height for the keeper" amongst those often featured. He made an odd comment after Jon Arne Riise's solo goal against Chelsea in the 2006 FA Community Shield, claiming that "If you don't buy a ticket you don't win the raffle", whilst his slightly over enthusiastic commentary for SS on Steven Gerrard's late goal against Olympiakos has gone down as one of the great all-time commentary moments. He has also made semi-regular appearances in Sky One's hit football drama Dream Team in a typical role as pundit alongside Richard Keys. Andy Gray also played a part in the movie A Shot at Glory which starred Rangers legend Ally McCoist and Oscar winner Robert Duvall.
Gray and Clive Tyldesley provide commentary in EA Sports' FIFA 06, whereas Gray gives commentary alongside Martin Tyler in the FIFA 07 and FIFA 08 football video games. In addition, Gray had already provided comments for FIFA 98: Road to World Cup, which had main commentary provided by John Motson. Gray also commentated on FIFA 2002. Andy Gray also writes for the Irish Daily Star on football.
Most recently, Andy Gray has been hired by American sports network ESPN to provide commentary for selected Euro 2008 matches.
Personal life
Gray fell for the former Olympic gymnast Suzanne Dando when she landed a job alongside him on Sky Sports in 1999. Gray told tabloid reporters that his womanising days were over: "With age, I hope, comes maturity. I certainly do not see myself with anyone else." [2]. Gray and Dando split up shortly afterwards, when he was caught cuddling a blonde in Puerto Banus. He is now engaged to Rachel Lewis, an ex-model and the former wife of his long-time friend and agent [3] and he wants to return to live in Back, Outer Hebrides on the Isle of Lewis in the near future.
Gray has been married twice before, to Vanessa Taylor and Jacqueline Cherry. He has fathered five children, by four different women - his two ex-wives and former girlfriends Sara Matthews and Janet Trigg.[1]
References
- ^ a b The People (02/04/2006) Exclusive: Randy Andy Rat It Again.. With Best Mate's Wife people.co.uk (accessed 4th October 2006)
- ^ Guardian Unlimited (06/02/2005) The ten sporting love matches guardian.co.uk (accessed 4th October 2006)
- ^ The Life Ring (Aug 2006) The Life Ring stars at a glittering celebrity golf day TheLifeRing.com (accessed 4th October 2006)
External links
- Andy Gray at the Scottish Football Association
- International stats at Londonhearts.com
- Andy Gray at Soccerbase
- Scottish footballers
- British association football commentators
- Scotland international footballers
- Football (soccer) strikers
- Dundee United F.C. players
- Aston Villa F.C. players
- Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
- Everton F.C. players
- Notts County F.C. players
- West Bromwich Albion F.C. players
- Rangers F.C. players
- Cheltenham Town F.C. players
- People from Glasgow
- 1955 births
- Living people