Perry Groves
Perry Groves | ||
![]() Perry Groves 2014
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Personnel | ||
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birthday | April 19, 1965 | |
place of birth | Bow , London , England | |
size | 175 cm | |
position | Winger (left) | |
Juniors | ||
Years | station | |
1980-1981 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | |
1981-1982 | Colchester United | |
Men's | ||
Years | station | Games (goals) 1 |
1982-1986 | Colchester United | 156 (26) |
1986-1992 | Arsenal FC | 156 (21) |
1992-1994 | Southampton FC | 15 | (2)
1994 | Dagenham & Redbridge | 6 | (0)
Canvey Island | ||
1 Only league games are given. |
Perry Groves (born April 19, 1965 in Bow , London ) is a retired English football player . The redhead, mostly used on the left wing position , went through his training years at the lower-class Colchester United , before moving to Arsenal in 1986 , where he won two English championships ( 1989 , 1991 ) and the league cup in 1987 . Later he was still under contract with Southampton FC and Dagenham & Redbridge before he had to retire before his 30th birthday due to an injury.
Athletic career
Perry Groves seemed to have been born to play football , as his uncle, Vic Groves , had been a very successful professional at Arsenal from 1955 to 1964 . However, Perry's path first began in May 1980 with the Wolverhampton Wanderers . There he was equipped with a student contract before he moved to the Colchester United youth department in September 1981 and signed a training contract there. A little later he made his debut on April 10, 1982 for the professional team of the fourth division against AFC Bournemouth , even before he was officially promoted to the first team squad in June 1982. In Colchester, Groves finally spent four good years and, especially in the last two seasons, the redhead, who could be used both on the wing positions and in the attack center, scored double digits in the championship. This qualified him for higher tasks and finally he moved to Arsenal in September 1986. He was the first commitment of the new coach George Graham .
Although Groves found it difficult to become a regular player with the "Gunners", he always provided a "breath of fresh air", especially when substituting. In this role, he also played in the 1987 league cup final against Liverpool and promptly prepared the winning goal for 2-1 by Charlie Nicholas . In the 1987/88 season he was now in the starting line-up more often and made a further finals with his goal to win the 1-0 second leg in the league cup semi-final against Everton - but here he lost 3-2 to Luton Town with Arsenal . In the championship season 1988/89 , however, it was mainly the newly signed Brian Marwood that ensured that Groves had to sit more on the bench again. In addition to the six appearances in the starting lineup, he came on for substitutions in 15 league games. In the decisive game at Liverpool FC he also came "off the bench" and saw Michael Thomas ' last-minute goal for the 2-0 win on the pitch , which brought the title at the last minute. After a year in which Groves again more often in the first eleven due to an injury to Marwood, but ultimately without a title, he won the second English championship of his career in the subsequent 1990/91 season . As with his first league title, however, he had returned to the role of the supplementary player. 13 league appearances in the 1991/92 season and the fact that George Graham's team was increasingly defensive, ultimately made Groves' end at Arsenal. In August 1992 he finally moved to the first division rivals Southampton FC .
With the "Saints" Groves came in the newly launched Premier League to 15 missions before two consecutive Achilles tendon injuries forced him to prematurely end his professional career. In 1994 he tried again at the semi-professional club Dagenham & Redbridge in the Football Conference and later at Canvey Island , before he put an end to these comeback attempts.
Title / Awards
- English Championship (2): 1989 , 1991
- English League Cup (1): 1987
literature
- Hugman, Barry J .: Premier League: The Players - A Complete Guide to Every Player 1992-93 . Tony Williams Publishing, 1992, ISBN 978-1-869833-15-2 , pp. 186 .
Web links
- Profile at Arsenal FC
- Statistical data at Playerhistory.com ( Memento from March 8, 2015 in the web archive archive.today )
- Statistical data from the Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Database
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Groves, Perry |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English soccer player |
DATE OF BIRTH | April 19, 1965 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Bow , London , England |