Andy Gray (soccer player, 1955)

Andy Gray
Gray (2004)
Personnel
Surname	Andrew Mullen Gray
birthday	November 30, 1955
place of birth	Glasgow ,  Scotland
size	172 cm
position	Center Forward
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1973-1975	Dundee United	62 (46)
1975-1979	Aston Villa	113 (54)
1979-1983	Wolverhampton Wanderers	133 (38)
1983-1985	Everton FC	49 (14)
1985-1987	Aston Villa	54 (5)
1987	→  Notts County  (loan)	4 (0)
1987-1988	West Bromwich Albion	35 (10)
1988-1989	Glasgow Rangers	14 (5)
1989-1990	Cheltenham Town	20 (7)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1975-1985	Scotland	20 (7)
1 Only league games are given.

Andrew Mullen Gray (born November 30, 1955 in Glasgow ) is a former Scottish football player and current commentator for the British pay TV channel Sky Sports and ESPN , a US sports broadcaster.

Club career

The striker began his career in 1973 at Dundee United , where he scored 46 goals in two seasons and, among other things, reached the Scottish FA Cup final against Celtic Glasgow , but were defeated by "The Terroers" 0-3.

For the 1975/1976 season Gray moved to Birmingham to Aston Villa , where he was top scorer with 25 goals in his second season. A year later he even scored 29 goals and was voted Young Player of the Year in England and Footballer of the Year by his colleagues.

1979 Gray moved for the then British record transfer fee of £ 1.5 million to Wolverhampton Wanderers and stayed there for four years despite a temporary relegation to the second division and immediate promotion, with his winning goal in the 1980 league cup final at least with the "Wolves" secured a title.

Then Gray played two years at Everton , with which he won the FA Cup, the league and the European Cup Winners' Cup.

For £ 150,000 Gray then went back to Aston Villa for two years and then let his career end with one season each at West Bromwich Albion , the Glasgow Rangers and Cheltenham Town .

Scottish national team

In total, Gray played 20 games for Scotland , scoring seven goals. He made his debut on December 17, 1975 against Romania and scored his first two goals for the Bravehearts in his third international match in a 6-0 victory over Finland . He made his last international appearance on May 28, 1985 against Iceland .

Although Gray was repeatedly used for Scotland, he was never nominated for a World Cup .

After the active career

After his involvement with Cheltenham, Gray became an assistant coach at Aston Villa , but began his television career at the same time in 1990 with Sky Sports , which was still under development at the time and is now one of the largest pay-TV channels in the world. In 1996 he received the Presenter of the Year Award for his work. Best known and loved for his lively commentary, Gray has worked in radio ( BBC Radio 5 Live and talkSPORT ) and in the film industry ( A Shot at Glory ; Scottish Football Film , 2001) in addition to television . He has contributed the comments for the English versions of the virtual soccer games FIFA 98 , 02, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10 and 11. For ESPN , Gray commented on a number of games in the United States at the 2008 European Championship .

Personal

Gray has five children with four different women with whom he was either married or long-term, which has earned him a reputation as a womanizer. First he was married to Vanessa Taylor and Jacqueline Cherry, had two other children with Sara Matthews and Janet Trigg, and then fell in love with former gymnast Suzanne Dando in 1999 while they were working with him on television. He is now friends with ex-model Rachel Lewis , the ex-wife of his advisor.

successes

• Scottish Champion : 1989

Web links

• Andy Gray in the database of the Scottish Football Association (English)
• Andy Gray in the database of weltfussball.de
• Portrait at Wolverhampton (English)