George Graham (footballer)

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George Graham
Personal information
Full name George Graham
Date of birth November 30, 1944 (1944-11-30) (age 63)
Place of birth    Bargeddie, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Playing position Midfielder/Forward
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1961-1964
1964-1966
1966-1972
1972-1974
1974-1976
1976-1977
 Aston Villa
Chelsea
Arsenal
Manchester United
Portsmouth
Crystal Palace		 008 0(2)
072 (35)
227 (60)
043 0(2)
061 0(5)
044 0(2)   
National team
1971-1973 Scotland 012 0(3)
Teams managed
1983-1986
1986-1995
1996-1998
1998-2001		 Millwall
Arsenal
Leeds United
Tottenham Hotspur

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

George Graham (born November 30, 1944 in Bargeddie, Lanarkshire) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He is best remembered for his success at Arsenal, as a player in the 1970s and then as manager from 1986 until 1995.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Despite being Scottish, George Graham played exclusively in England and the USA. He signed for Aston Villa in 1961, having just turned 17. He spent three seasons at the Birmingham club, but only made eight appearances – though one of them was the club's 1963 League Cup final loss to Birmingham City. Chelsea signed him in July 1964 for £5000. Graham scored 35 goals in 72 league games for the club and won a League Cup medal in 1965 but he, along with several other Chelsea players, increasingly clashed with their volatile manager Tommy Docherty. This culminated in Graham and seven others being sent home and disciplined by Docherty for breaking a pre-match curfew in 1965.

Bertie Mee's Arsenal were looking for a replacement for Joe Baker, and paid £75,000 plus Tommy Baldwin in 1966 to bring him to Highbury. He made his debut on October 1, 1966 on Leicester City, a 4-2 defeat, and immediately became a regular in the Arsenal side. He was Arsenal's top scorer in both 1966-67 and 1967-68, having started out as a centre forward for the club, but later moved to inside forward with John Radford moving from the wing to up front.

With Arsenal, Graham was a runner-up in both the 1968 and 1969 League Cup finals, before finally winning a medal with the 1969-70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. He followed it up with being an integral part of Arsenal's Double-winning side of 1970-71, and even had a claim to scoring Arsenal's equaliser in the FA Cup Final against Liverpool, although Eddie Kelly is officially credited with the goal.[1]

Winning the Double brought the attention of Scotland and Graham was selected for the national side for the first time against Portugal on October 13, 1971. He would go on to win twelve caps over the next two years for Scotland, scoring three goals, his final one coming against Brazil on June 30, 1973. By now, however, Graham was no longer an Arsenal player.

The arrival of Alan Ball midway through 1971-72 had made his place in the Arsenal side less assured; he moved for £120,000 to Manchester United in December 1972. In total, he played 308 matches for Arsenal, scoring 77 goals. He spent two years at United, and was the club captain when they were relegated to Division Two, before seeing out his career in England at Portsmouth and Crystal Palace. He played the summer of 1978 in America playing for the California Surf.

[edit] Managerial career

[edit] Millwall

After retiring from playing, he became a coach at Crystal Palace and then later QPR. On 6 December 1982 Graham was appointed manager of Millwall, who were then bottom of the old Third Division. Graham turned the side around in a short space of time - they avoided relegation that season and in 1984-85 they were promoted to the old Second Division. After he left the club in 1986, they went on to win the Second Division and win promotion to the First in 1987-88

[edit] Arsenal

Graham's achievements at Millwall attracted attention from bigger clubs, and he was appointed manager of his old club Arsenal on 14 May 1986. Arsenal hadn't won a trophy since the FA Cup in 1978-79, and were drifting away from the top teams in the League. Graham cleared out much of the old guard and replaced them with new signings and players promoted from the youth team, while imposing much stricter discipline than his predecessors, both in the dressing room and on the pitch. Arsenal's form immediately improved, so much so that the club were top of the League at Christmas 1986, the club's centenary, for the first time in a decade.

Arsenal finished fourth in Graham's first season in charge, and they went on to win the 1987 League Cup. While Arsenal lost the League Cup final the following year (a shock 3-2 defeat to Luton Town), their League form steadily improved. Graham's side featured tight defensive discipline, embodied by his young captain Tony Adams, who along with Lee Dixon, Steve Bould and Nigel Winterburn, formed the basis of the club's defence for over a decade. However, contrary to popular belief, during this time Graham's Arsenal were not a purely defensive side; Graham also employed capable midfielders such as David Rocastle, Michael Thomas and Paul Merson, and striker Alan Smith, whose prolific goalscoring regularly brought him more than 20 goals per season.

At the end of Graham's third season (1988-89), the club won their first League title since 1971, in highly dramatic fashion, in the final game of the season against Liverpool at Anfield; Arsenal needed to win by two goals to take the title; Alan Smith scored for Arsenal early in the second half to make it 1-0, but as time ticked by Arsenal struggled to get a second, and with 90 minutes gone on the clock, Arsenal still needed another goal. With only seconds to go, a Smith flick-on found Michael Thomas surging through the Liverpool defence; the young midfielder calmly lifted the ball over Bruce Grobbelaar and into the net, and Arsenal were League Champions.

Unable to retain the league title the following season, Graham signed goalkeeper David Seaman and Swedish winger Anders Limpar in the close season; both players proved vital as Arsenal won a second title in 1990-91 and reached the FA Cup semi-finals, losing to arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Graham went on to sign striker and eventual second all-time top scorer Ian Wright from Crystal Palace in October, and the club's first entry in the European Cup since 1971-72. The European venture went badly; Arsenal were knocked out by SL Benfica in the second round and failed to make the lucrative group stage. The season went from bad to worse when the Gunners were knocked out of the FA Cup by lowly Wrexham, though Arsenal recovered to finish fourth in the League.

After this season, Graham changed his tactics; he became more defensive and turned out far less attack-minded sides, which depended mainly on goals from Wright rather than the whole team. Between 1986-87 and 1991-92 Arsenal averaged 66 League goals a season (scoring 81 in 1991-92), but between 1992-93 and 1994-95 only averaged 48;[2] this included just 40 in 1992-93, when the club finished 10th in the inaugural season of the FA Premier League, scoring fewer than any other team in the division.[3]

Graham's Arsenal become Cup specialists, and in 1992-93 Arsenal became the first side to win the FA Cup and League Cup double, both times Arsenal beating Sheffield Wednesday, 2-1 in the League Cup Final and 2-1 after a replay in the FA Cup Final replay. The next season they continued in the same vein, winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, their second European trophy; in the final Arsenal beat favourites and holders Parma 1-0 with a tight defensive performance and Alan Smith's 21st minute goal from a left foot volley.

The 1994 Cup Winners' Cup proved to be George Graham's last trophy at the club; the following February he was sacked after nearly nine years in charge, after it was discovered he had accepted an illegal £425,000 payment from Norwegian agent Rune Hauge following Arsenal's 1992 acquisition of John Jensen, one of Hauge's clients. Graham was eventually banned for a year by the Football Association for his involvement in the scandal, after he admitted he had received an "unsolicited gift" from Hauge.[4]

[edit] Leeds United

After serving his ban, George Graham's return to football management came with Leeds United in September 1996. He took over a Leeds team that was struggling against relegation at the time and his first priority was the defence; although Leeds scored fewer goals than any other Premiership club (28) they still finished in a secure 13th place. Bringing in players such as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in the close season, 1997-98 saw Leeds score twice as many goals as the previous season finish fifth in the Premiership and secure UEFA Cup qualification.

[edit] Tottenham Hotspur

In October 1998 Graham's two-year spell as Leeds manager came to an end when he was appointed manager of Tottenham Hotspur. Just five months after taking charge he guided the club to victory over Leicester City in the 1999 League Cup Final, and with it a place in the 1999-00 UEFA Cup. However, Graham could never get Tottenham above tenth in the Premiership, and he was sacked as Tottenham manager in March 2001 after falling out with the club's new chairman Daniel Levy.[citation needed] Despite guiding the club to its first trophy in eight seasons, Graham remained unpopular with a large section of the supporters, because of his previous role at Arsenal, Tottenham's most bitter rivals.

[edit] Since 2001

He has been out of management ever since, concentrating on his career as a football pundit for Sky Sports. Towards the end of his tenure at Tottenham, Graham was hospitalised with rheumatoid arthritis.[citation needed] However, he has been linked with jobs since.

[edit] Honours

[edit] As a player

Aston Villa
Chelsea
  • League Cup winners 1965
Arsenal

[edit] As a manager

Millwall
Arsenal
Tottenham Hotspur
  • League Cup winners 1999

[edit] References

  1. ^ 1971 - King George of Wembley. BBC Sport.
  2. ^ Statistics sourced from Arsenal. Football Club History Database (2006). Retrieved on September 21.
  3. ^ England 1992/93. RSSSF. Retrieved on September 21, 2006.
  4. ^ Rune Hauge, international man of mystery. The Guardian. Retrieved on June 27, 2006.
v • d • e
Millwall F.C. – Managers

Henderson (1894–99) • Stopher (1899–1900) • Saunders (1900–11) • Lipsham (1911–18) • Hunter (1918–33) • McCracken (1933–36) • Hewitt (1936–40) • Voisey (1940–44) • Cock (1944–48) • Hewitt (1948–56) • Gray (1956–58) • Seed (1958–59) • Smith (1958–61) • Gray (1961–63) • Gray (1963–66) • Fenton (1966–74) • Jago (1974–77) • Foley (1977) • Petchey (1978–80) • Anderson (1980–82) • Graham (1982–86) • Docherty (1986–90) • Pearson (1990) • Rioch (1990–92) • McCarthy (1992–96) • Nicholl (1996–97) • Docherty (1997) • Bonds (1997–98) • Stevens (1998–00) • McLeary (1999–2000) • Gritt (2000) • Harford (2000) • McGhee (2000–03) • Wise (2003–05) • Claridge (2005) • Lee (2005) • Tuttle (2005–06) • Burns & McLeary (2006) • Spackman (2006) • Donachie (2006–07) • Shaw (2007) • Jackett (2007–)
v • d • e
Arsenal F.C. – Managers

Mitchell (1897–1898) • Elcoat (1898–1899) • Bradshaw (1899–1904) • Kelso (1904–1908) • Morrell (1908–1915) • Knighton (1919–1925) • Chapman (1925–1934) • Shaw (1934c) • Allison (1934–1947) • Whittaker (1947–1956) • Crayston (1956–1958) • Swindin (1958–1962) • Wright (1962–1966) • Mee (1966–1976) • Neill (1976–1983) • Howe (1983–1986) • Burtenshaw (1986c) • Graham (1986–1995) • Houston (1995c) • Rioch (1995–1996) • Houston (1996c) • Rice (1996c) • Wenger (1996–)

(c) caretaker
v • d • e
Leeds United A.F.C. – Managers

Ray (1919–20) • Fairclough (1920–1927) • Ray (1927–35) • Hampson (1935–47) • Edwards (1947–48) • Buckley (1948–53) • Carter (1953–58) • Lambton (1958–59) • Taylor (1959–61) • Revie (1961–74) • Clough (1974) • Armfield (1974–78) • Stein (1978) • Adamson (1978–80) • Clarke (1980–82) • Gray (1982–85) • Bremner (1985–88) • Wilkinson (1988–96) • Graham (1996–98) • O'Leary (1998–2002) • Venables (2002–03) • Reid (2003) • Gray (2003–04) • Blackwell (2004–06) • Wise (2006–08) • McAllister (2008–)
v • d • e
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. – Managers

Brettell (1898–1899) • Cameron (1899–1907) • Kirkham (1907–1908) • Turner (1908–1912s) • McWilliam (1913–1927) • Minter (1927–1930) • Smith (1930–1935) • Hardinge (1935c) • Tresadern (1935–1938) • McWilliam (1938–1942) • Turner (1942–1946) • Hulme (1946–1949) • Rowe (1949–1955) • Anderson (1955–1958) • Nicholson (1958–1974) • Neill (1974–1976) • Burkinshaw (1976–1984) • Shreeves (1984–1986) • Pleat (1986–1987) • Hartley & Livermore (1987c) • Venables (1987–1991) • Shreeves (1991–1992) • Livermore & Clemence (1992–1993) • Ardiles (1993–1994) • Perryman (1994c) • Francis (1994–1997) • Hughton (1997c) • Gross (1997–1998) • Pleat (1998c) • Graham (1998–2001) • Pleat (2001c) • Hoddle (2001–2003) • Pleat (2003c) • Santini (2004) • Jol (2004–2007) • Allen (2007c) • Ramos (2007–)

(c) caretaker (s) secretary-manager