Graham Abel

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Graham Abel
Personal information
Full name	Graham Abel
Date of birth	September 17, 1960 (1960-09-17) (age 47)
Place of birth	Runcorn, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Retired
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
c. 1976-81 1981-85 1985-93 1993-94 1994-96 1996-97 1997-98	Runcorn Northwich Victoria Chester City Crewe Alexandra Northwich Victoria Chorley Witton Albion	140 0(18) 296 0(30) 20 0 (1) 56 0 (2)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Graham Abel (born September 17, 1960, Runcorn) was a professional footballer who played in the Football League for Chester City and Crewe Alexandra as a central defender. He appeared at Wembley Stadium three times with Northwich Victoria in FA Trophy finals.

[edit] Playing Career

At 25, Abel was a latecomer to professional football when he joined Chester in October 1985, having previously played non-league football for his hometown club Runcorn and Northwich Victoria. In 1982-83, Abel was part of the Northwich side that lost 2-1 to Telford United in the FA Trophy final, but a year later he helped the Vics beat Bangor City in a replay.

Abel made his Football League debut for Chester in a 1-0 win over Aldershot on November 2, 1985, and he played 23 consecutive league games as Chester achieved promotion. He remained a regular with the Blues until he was released at the end of the 1992-93 season, with his impressive tally of 30 goals helped by an impressive penalty taking record and occasional spells at centre-forward. Abel also had the honour of scoring the final Football League goal at Sealand Road, in a 2–0 win over Rotherham United on 28 April 1990 ^[1].

Abel remained in Cheshire and the Football League by joining Crewe Alexandra, who achieved promotion in his solitary season at the club. Abel then returned to Northwich for two seasons, ending with another trip to Wembley in a 3-1 defeat by Macclesfield Town in the 1995-96 season. Abel retired from football in 1998, after spells with Chorley and Witton Albion.

[edit] Honours

Chester City

• Football League Division Four runners-up: 1985-86.

• Player of the Season: 1987-88.

Crewe Alexandra

• Football League Division Three promotion as third placed team: 1993-94.

Northwich Victoria

• FA Trophy winners: 1983-84.

• FA Trophy runners-up: 1982-83; 1995-96.

[edit] References

• Graham Abel career stats at Soccerbase
• Sumner, Chas (1997). On the Borderline: The Official History of Chester City F.C. 1885-1997. Yore Publications. ISBN 978-1-874427-52-0. 
• Hardman, John (2004). Alliance to Conference 1979-2004: The First 25 Years. Tony Williams Publications Ltd. ISBN 978-1-869833-52-7.