Andy Gray (soccer player, 1964)

Andy Gray
Personnel
Surname	Andrew Arthur Gray
birthday	February 22, 1964
place of birth	Lambeth ,  England
position	Midfield , storm
Juniors
Years	station
1980-1981	Crystal Palace
	Corinthian Casuals
0000-1984	Dulwich Hamlet
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1984-1987	Crystal Palace	98 (27)
1987-1989	Aston Villa	37 0(4)
1989	Queens Park Rangers	11 0(2)
1989-1992	Crystal Palace	90 (12)
1992-1994	Tottenham Hotspur	33 0(3)
1992	→  Swindon Town  (loan)	3 0(0)
1994-1996	CA Marbella	33 0(2)
1996-1997	FC Falkirk	34 0(1)
1997-1998	Bury FC	21 0(1)
1998-1999	Millwall FC	12 0(1)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1988	England U-21	2 0(0)
1991	England	1 0(0)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
2006-2008	Sierra Leone
1 Only league games are given. Status: end of career

Andrew Arthur "Andy" Gray (born February 22, 1964 in Lambeth , England ) is a former English football player who was used in the course of his career in the position of a midfielder , as well as in the position of a striker . He was also the national coach of Sierra Leone from 2006 to 2008 .

Career

Club career

Gray began his career as a football player in 1980 in a youth team at the traditional English club Crystal Palace , before moving to the London- based Corinthian Casuals and later to the London-based football club Dulwich Hamlet . At Hamlet, he held a few assignments until he left in 1984. In 1984, Steve Coppell , who had just retired as an active soccer player and started a career as a coach, brought Gray back to Crystal Palace. Coppell saw in Gray a good young player who, with his quality, did not burden the Eagles' budget too much.

At Palace he quickly became a regular on the team. At the beginning of his career, Gray was mainly used as a striker , which in the 1985/86 season meant that he came straight to eleven goals. The striker's existence changed when the new signings Ian Wright and Mark Bright joined the club. From now on, Gray was only used in the central midfield , where his qualities as a football player began to take shape.

Gray missed promotion to the top flight with Palace and was transferred to Aston Villa in 1987 after playing 98 games and 27 goals . At the club from Aston, Birmingham he came to 37 championship appearances in which he was able to achieve a total of four hits. In 1989 he joined the Queens Park Rangers , where he also showed little commitment and so left the club at the end of the season after playing eleven games and two meetings.

In the 1989/90 season, Gray finally returned to Selhurst Park , the home of Crystal Palace FC Gray had an excellent season in which Palace progressed comfortably from round to round and so they finally found themselves in the FA Cup semi-finals , where you met last year's winner Liverpool FC . The Reds , who at that time were fighting for the championship title and also to receive the cup, were suddenly 2-1 behind in this really exciting game. After a tough fight they made it and took the lead with 2: 3. The final phase of the game was dawning, and many already thought that the cup final was a long way off. But then the almost impossible happened when Gray broke away from central midfield in the 87th minute of the game to jump forward to score the equalizer with his head. In extra time, a goal from Alan Pardew Palace helped advance them to the Cup final, where they would face Manchester United . After a similarly entertaining encounter, as in the semi-finals, the game ended in a 3-3 draw and they were hoping for a win in the second leg. There the Eagles were narrowly beaten 1-0 by the Red Devils and so after a tough fight they didn't manage to get the coveted trophy.

In the 1990/91 season, Palace achieved more than they thought possible. In the end they won games against Liverpool and Arsenal , but could only reach third place in the league. In addition, Gray and his team received the trophy for winning the Zenith Data Systems Cup that same season .

After the team's form had collapsed after the departure of Ian Wright to Arsenal, Gray also left the club to transfer to Tottenham Hotspur after 90 championship appearances and twelve hits for a transfer fee of ₤ 700,000 . In his time from 1992 to 1994 he showed little engagement with the Spurs and changed so after 33 league appearances and a total of three goals scored in 1994 the club again. Previously, he was awarded to Swindon Town in 1992 , where he came to three missions. In 1994, Gray was able to gain international experience for the first time when he accepted an offer from the Spanish second division club CA Marbella . He was unable to establish himself properly in the club, which in 1996 meant that Gray packed his bags after 33 competitive matches and went back to "the island". There he was signed by the Scottish FC Falkirk , for whom he scored a goal in a total of 34 competitive games until his departure just a year later in 1997. After that Gray made 1997-1998 acquaintance with from Bury originating Bury FC for whom he in 21 games in which he ran into the square, scoring once. The end of his career he found at Millwall FC in the 1998/99 season, after he had a goal after twelve games.

International

In November 1991 Gray was appointed to the English national team, where he celebrated his only appearance in the senior national team on November 13, 1991 in the qualifying match for the EURO 1992 against Poland . The game ended in a 1-1 draw and England were group winners of Group 7. In 1988 Gray came to two inserts for the English U-21 selection .

Coaching career

In 2006, after almost eight years of abstinence, Gray returned to football as the national coach of Sierra Leone . His announcement took place in 2006 after Gray replaced the previous national coach John Sherington . Gray believed that he could qualify with the team for the 2008 Africa Cup . His protégés failed because of this and Gray was relieved of his position as national coach and has been without a club since 2008.

In 2005, Gray was elected to the Crystal Palace team of the century .

successes

• 1 × FA Cup finalist : 1989/90 with Crystal Palace
• 1 × Zenith Data Systems Cup winner : 1990/91 with Crystal Palace

Web links

• Andy Gray in the database of National-Football-Teams.com (English)
• Andy Gray in the soccerbase.com database

Sources and individual references

1. ^ Announcement on the bbc homepage, February 26, 2006