Michael Gray
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| Michael Gray | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Gray | |
| Date of birth | August 3, 1974 | |
| Place of birth | Sunderland, England | |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | |
| Playing position | Full back | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Wolverhampton Wanderers | |
| Number | 33 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1992–2004 2003–2004 2004–2007 2005 2007 2007– |
Sunderland → Celtic (loan) Blackburn Rovers → Leeds United (loan) → Leeds United (loan) Wolverhampton Wanderers |
363 (16) 7 (0) 64 (0) 10 (0) 6 (0) 33 (3) |
| National team | ||
| 1999 | England | 3 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Michael Gray (born August 3, 1974 in Sunderland), sometimes known as Micky Gray, is an English football player who plays for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship.
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Sunderland
A football player, he started his career for Sunderland A.F.C. at the beginning of the 1992/93 season, shortly after his 18th birthday. He made his senior debut on November 21, 1992 in a 1-0 win at Derby County.
He played in various positions, including bottom pusher as a striker, left winger and left back before fading slightly from first team affairs. It was not until 1996/97 that he came to the fore, as a regular for Sunderland on the left side of midfield as they suffered relegation from the Premier League. He gained unwanted attention a year later, however, missing the decisive penalty during a shoot-out in the First Division playoff final after a 3-3 draw (4-4 after extra time) with Charlton Athletic, which could have taken Sunderland back into the Premier League.
Sunderland finished first in Division One the following season and won promotion to the Premiership, with Gray an ever-present for the campaign. As a First Division player, he was picked by Kevin Keegan to make his international debut for England as a substitute in the match against Hungary on April 28, 1999. In June 1999, he also played for England against Sweden and started the match against Bulgaria. He was the last outfield player from outside of the English top-flight to appear for England until David Nugent in 2007 (goalkeeper David James played for England in 2003 whilst playing for West Ham in the First Division).
However, as his next season was plagued by injury, he failed to make the England squad for Euro 2000. This did not affect his domestic team's form, however, as they finished in seventh place in the Premiership, a feat repeated in 2000-01.
In the 2001-02 season, Sunderland struggled, and with their dip in form came a dip in form for Gray, and for the next two seasons, he was constantly rumoured to be moving elsewhere including to arch-rivals Newcastle United. Relegation came for Sunderland at the end of the 2002-03 season, and two games into the 2003-04 season Gray finally left, joining Celtic on September 1, 2003, on a four month loan. However, having failed to make an impact, and generally finding himself out of the squad lists, he moved to Blackburn Rovers on a free transfer on January 1, 2004.
[edit] Blackburn Rovers
Gray made his Blackburn Rovers debut against Chelsea in a 3-2 defeat, but constantly performed well for the team as they avoided relegation. In February 2005, he joined Leeds United on loan until the season's end. He then returned to Blackburn and in his first season back there he helped them qualify for the UEFA Cup, having established himself as a first-team regular. He later rejoined Leeds United for a second loan spell in a bid to save them from relegation, which ultimately failed as the club plunged into the third tier in 2007.
[edit] Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves completed the signing of Gray on an initial 12 month contract on July 25, 2007, reuniting him with his former Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy.[1] After spending the early part of the season in his more traditional left-back role, he was switched to left midfield in February 2008, which immediately saw him score his first goal in almost six years, and led to a run of 3 goals in 5 games.
[edit] The Rooney Incident
Gray was involved in a fracas with Wayne Rooney in 2006 following a disagreement in a restaurant [2]. Michael was later ejected from the restaurant.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Steve Bould |
Sunderland captain 2000-2003 |
Succeeded by Jason McAteer |
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