Dario Gradi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dario Gradi MBE (born Milan, Italy, 8 July 1941) has become one of English football's most respected managers and coaches. Born to an Italian father (who died when Dario was a small child) and an English mother, he moved to London when his mother returned after the Second World War.

1 Playing career
2 Coaching career
3 Management career
4 Tributes
5 Managerial stats
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Playing career

As a footballer, he played for Sutton United, playing in the FA Cup tie against Leeds United in 1970, and Tooting & Mitcham before moving to Loughborough University to train as a teacher of physical education between 1960 and 1963.

[edit] Coaching career

After a period of teaching, Gradi turned to football coaching, becoming Assistant Coach at Chelsea in 1971 at the age of just 29. This was followed by coaching and management posts at Sutton United, Derby County, Wimbledon, and a 2 year spell as youth-coach at Leyton Orient.

[edit] Management career

He took over as manager of Wimbledon in January 1978, and on leaving Plough Lane had a short spell as manager of Crystal Palace between February and November 1981. He eventually settled at Crewe, where he was appointed manager of Crewe Alexandra F.C. in June 1983. He took the club from the bottom of the then Fourth Division to the Second Division (since renamed The Football League Championship) by the late 1990s, becoming the League's longest-serving manager in the process, long outlasting the majority of others in such jobs. He has since joined the club's Board of Directors.

His keen eye for spotting and rearing young talent is what has gained him some recognition in football. However, while he was linked with the post of FA Technical Director in 1996,^[1] he has never been head-hunted by a better club for his services. Proteges of his coaching at Crewe include many top players past and present, such as Dean Ashton, David Platt, Geoff Thomas, Rob Jones, Danny Murphy and Seth Johnson (all England Internationals), Welsh internationals Robbie Savage and David Vaughan and Northern Ireland internationals Neil Lennon and Steve Jones. A host of other players have achieved caps below full international status - e.g.: schoolboy, under-18, under-21, etc.

[edit] Tributes

Gradi was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004 in recognition of his impact as a manager in the English game.

The British dance music group Dario G is named in his honour, as is a street in Crewe, Dario Gradi Close. In 2003 he was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Crewe and Nantwich and in the same year was awarded an honorary doctorate by Loughborough University.

[edit] Managerial stats

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
Team	Nat	From	To	G	W	L	D	Win %
Wimbledon		January 5, 1978	January 1, 1981	171	63	61	47	36.84
Crystal Palace		February 1, 1981	November 10, 1981	27	6	18	3	22.22
Crewe Alexandra		June 1, 1983	September 21, 2003	1048	408	389	251	38.93
Crewe Alexandra		October 18, 2003	Present	173	47	79	47	27.16

(Between 22 September and 17 October 2003 Neil Baker took temporary charge of the team while Gradi underwent heart surgery. The team did not win any matches during this period.)

[edit] References

^ Gradi stays at Crewe, BBC, 15 October 2002

[edit] External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by Allen Batsford	Wimbledon manager 1978 – 1981	Succeeded by Dave Bassett
Preceded by Malcolm Allison	Crystal Palace manager 1981	Succeeded by Steve Kember
Preceded by Peter Morris	Crewe Alexandra manager 1983 – Present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Crewe Alexandra F.C. - Current Squad

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../d/a/r/Dario_Gradi_33f9.html"

Dario Gradi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Coaching career

[edit] Management career

[edit] Tributes

[edit] Managerial stats

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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