David Graham (footballer)

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David Graham
Personal information
Full name	David Graham
Date of birth	6 October 1978
Place of birth	Edinburgh, Scotland
Height	5' 11" (180 cm)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Torquay United
Number	26
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995-1998 1998-2001 2001 2001-2004 2004-2005 2005- 2006 2006-2007 2007-	Rangers Dunfermline Athletic →Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan) Torquay United Wigan Athletic Sheffield Wednesday →Huddersfield Town (Loan) →Bradford City (Loan) →Torquay United (loan)	3 (0) 39 (4) 2 (0) 120 (47) 30 (1) 24 (2) 17 (9) 22 (3) 1 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of March 26, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

David Graham is a Scottish professional footballer, born in Edinburgh on the 6th October 1978, who is currently at Sheffield Wednesday. His favoured position is as a forward, although he can also play in midfield. He has been capped at Under-21 level by his country.

He began his career with Rangers, making his debut in the 5-3 away win against Shelbourne in the UEFA Cup 1st Qualifying Round 1st leg. He made 4 further appearances, all as a substitute before moving to Dunfermline Athletic in November 1998. He joined Inverness Caledonian Thistle on loan in January 2001^[1], before moving to Torquay United on loan in March that year. He settled in well at Torquay United, helping the Devon side retain their league status on the final day of the season in the crucial game at Barnet. In July that year he signed permanently for Torquay and played a major role in turning the club's fortunes around, culminating in automatic promotion at the end of the 2003-2004 season.

Not surprisingly his form had been noticed by larger clubs than Torquay United and he moved to Wigan Athletic in June 2004 for a fee of £215,000^[2]. Despite helping Wigan to the English Premier League he moved to Sheffield Wednesday in August 2005 for a fee of £250,000^[3].

A slow start to his career at Hillsborough led him to sign on loan at Huddersfield Town on 23 January 2006, until the end of the season^[4]. He scored nine goals in seventeen appearances for Huddersfield Town, helping them to ensure a play-off place in League One, if not quite automatic promotion.

Graham was blocked from Wednesday's 2006 tour of the United States, visa restrictions due to a minor police offence nine years previously preventing his entry to the country^[5]. Wednesday accepted an undisclosed bid for Graham from Blackpool on 27 July 2006, but he turned down the move, instead joining Bradford City on a 5-month loan deal^[6].

After returning from his unsuccessful spell at Bradford Graham again found it hard to break into Wednesday's first team under Brian Laws not making a single starting appearance for the first team. Although he impressed, scoring freely in the reserves. On the 21st of March it was announced that Graham would be returning to the team bottom of the football league where he first made a name for himself, on a loan till the end of the season, at Torquay United. In a bid to preserve their league status and hopfully impress Brian Laws enough to warrant a place on the team sheet. [1] It later became clear that Graham had been transfer listed and sent to Torquay due to a, 'serious breach of club discipline'. David was also fined two weeks wages.

[edit] References

[edit] External Sources

David Graham's career stats at Soccerbase

Torquay United F.C. - Current Squad
1 Rayner | 2 Andrews | 3 John | 4 Hockley | 5 Taylor | 6 Villis | 7 Kerry | 8 Williams | 9 Thorpe | 10 Mansell | 11 Hill | 12 Gordon | 14 Phillips | 15 Cooke | 16 Smith | 17 Angus | 18 Woods | 19 McPhee | 20 Horsell | 21 Oliver | 23 Robertson | 24 McKoy | 25 Wheeldon | 26 Graham | 27 Dickson | 28 Reid | 30 Robinson | Manager: Curle