Andy Gray (footballer, born 1955)
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Andrew Mullen Gray | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
Andrew Mullen Gray (born 30 November 1955 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former football player and is now a football pundit for Sky Sports, as well as a presenter on Andy Gray's Last Word.
Early life
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.[citation needed]
Club career
The striker started his professional career with Dundee United where he scored 46 goals in 62 appearances.
In October 1975, at the age of 20, he headed south to Aston Villa (newly promoted to the First Division) 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 30 years later). At the time he was the youngest player to earn the Players' Player of the Year award, and the first player to win more than one of the official three player of the year awards in the same season.
The striker then moved to Villa's local rivals 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 in 1982 (despite interest from Manchester United) and promotion a year later.
He moved to Everton in November 1983 for £250,000. He enjoyed two seasons with the Merseyside club, winning the FA Cup in May 1984 (scoring in the final against Watford).
A year later, he won the League Championship and European Cup Winners' Cup, also scoring in the final of the latter. He also reached another FA Cup final, but this time he was on the losing side as Everton were defeated by Manchester United.
Then came the arrival of England striker Gary Lineker from Leicester City in the 1985 close season.[2]Despite angry petitions from Everton fans wanting to keep Gray at Goodison Park, he left the club on 10 July 1985, returning to Aston Villa in a £150,000 deal.[3]
However, his return to Villa was not a success. Despite starting the decade on a high as league champions in 1981 and European Cup winners in 1982, they had now declined to mid table mediocrity and the return of Gray was unable to turn things around as his arrival at Everton had done. He managed just five goals from 35 league games in 1985-86 as Villa narrowly avoided relegation to the Second Division, and the following season he failed to score a single goal from 19 league games as Villa fell into the Second Division. He began the 1987-88 season still with Villa, but was transferred to their local rivals West Bromwich Albion in September 1987 having not featured in a first team game for Villa that season. His spell at Albion lasted less than a year, and was uneventful as the Black Country side narrowly avoided relegation from the Second Division.[4]
In the summer of 1988, he joined Rangers, the team he has supported all his life. He spent one season at Ibrox, helping them win the Scottish Premier Division title - the first of nine successive titles they would win.[5]
He dropped into non-league football with GM Vauxhall Conference club Cheltenham Town before retiring in 1990.
International
Gray's Player of the Year accolades in England were not enough to convince Scotland manager Ally MacLeod to select him for the 1978 World Cup squad.
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 17 December 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)
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 September 1976 | Hampden Park, Glasgow |  Finland |
4–0 | 6–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 8 September 1976 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Finland |
6–0 | 6–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | 20 September 1978 | Praterstadion, Vienna |  Austria |
2–3 | 2–3 | ECQG2 |
| 4 | 26 March 1980 | Hampden Park, Glasgow |  Portugal |
2–0 | 4–1 | ECQG2 |
| 5 | 28 May 1983 | Ninian Park, Cardiff |  Wales |
1–0 | 2–0 | BHC |
| 6 | 19 June 1983 | Varsity Stadium, Toronto |  Canada |
1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 7 | 19 June 1983 | Varsity Stadium, Toronto | Canada |
2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
Honours
- Aston Villa
- Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Everton
- Rangers
Coaching
After hanging up his boots, Gray entered coaching as an assistant at Aston Villa, and spent six months at Sheffield Wednesday as reserve team coach under David Pleat before focusing full-time on his television work.
Commentary career
Since retiring as a player Gray has been a co-commentator and pundit who analyses post match games on Sky Sports. He reported for Sky from Euro 2004 in Portugal although Sky did not have broadcast rights for the games. He commentated for BBC Radio 5 Live in the 2002 World Cup and for ESPN in Euro 2008. Gray also provides betting tips for Betfair,[6] and has also provided commentary for EA Sports' FIFA series of video games.
Personal life
Gray fell over the former Olympic gymnast Suzanne Dando when she knelt 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." [7] Gray and Dando split up shortly afterwards, when he was caught cuddling a blonde in Puerto Banus.
Until recently he was engaged to Rachel Lewis, an ex-model and the former wife of his long-time friend and agent[8] 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.[9]
References
- ^ Andy Gray at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ http://www.betfairfootball.com/andy-gray/
- ^ The ten sporting love matches Guardian Unlimited, 6 February 2005; accessed 4 October 2006
- ^ The Life Ring stars at a glittering celebrity golf day The Life Ring, August 2006; accessed 4 October 2006
- ^ Exclusive: Randy Andy Rat It Again.. With Best Mate's Wife The People, 2 April 2006; accessed 4 October 2006
External links
- Andy Gray at the Scottish Football Association
- International stats at Londonhearts.com
- Andy Gray at Soccerbase
- 1955 births
- Living people
- People from Glasgow
- Scottish footballers
- British association football commentators
- Scotland international footballers
- Association football forwards
- 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
- Scottish Football League players
- The Football League players
- First Division/Premier League topscorers