Steve Gritt

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Steve Gritt
Personal information
Full name Stephen John Gritt
Date of birth October 31, 1957 (1957-10-31) (age 50)
Place of birth    Bournemouth, England
Playing position Midfielder
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1975–1977
1977–1989
1989
1989–1993		 Bournemouth
Charlton Athletic
Walsall
Charlton Athletic		 006 0(3)
347 (24)
020 0(1)
033 0(1)   
Teams managed
1991–1995
1996–1998
2000		 Charlton Athletic
Brighton & Hove Albion
Millwall (caretaker)

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

Stephen John "Steve" Gritt (born 31 October 1957 in Bournemouth) is a former English football player and manager. His playing career included spells at Charlton Athletic, Bournemouth and Walsall.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Gritt spent most of his playing career with Charlton Athletic, after joining from home town club Bournemouth in 1977. In his first spell with Charlton, he experienced one relegation to the Third Division (1980), one promotion to the Second Division (1981) and one promotion to the First Division (1986). In 1989 he moved to Walsall for a brief spell but soon returned to Charlton. In his second spell, he experienced another relegation in 1990.

In all, Gritt made 435 appearances for Charlton, with 26 goals, placing him fifth on Charlton's all time appearance list. He played a further two seasons after being appointed manager, retiring in 1993. He later had brief spells with non-league teams Welling United and Tooting & Mitcham after leaving Charlton in 1995.

[edit] Managerial career

Gritt was named as joint player-manager of Charlton in 1991, alongside Alan Curbishley. In his four year tenure, Gritt helped to lay the foundations for future successes under Curbishley, who succeeded him as sole manager in 1995. Several key players were debuted under the joint managers, including Lee Bowyer, John Robinson, Richard Rufus and Shaun Newton, and went on to be important components of Charlton's successful team of the late 1990s and early 21st century.

Gritt was made manager of Brighton & Hove Albion in 1996, who were at the time eleven points adrift at the bottom of the Football League. He was able to turn Brighton's form around, and they successfully avoided relegation to the Conference on the final day of the 1996–97 season. Brighton were never in danger of relegation the following season, but the club's board had higher expectations and Gritt was fired in 1998. Nevertheless, Gritt is still fondly remembered by the Seagulls' supporters.[1]

Gritt later moved to Millwall and became reserve-team manager. In 2000, he had a short spell as caretaker manager of the Lions and was then assistant manager to Mark McGhee until 2003. In June 2004, Gritt returned to Charlton in the role of academy manager.[2]

[edit] Personal life

Gritt suffered a tragedy on 7 December 2002 when his 18-year-old daughter Hayley died as a result of cancer. Hayley had been a lifelong supporter and a season ticket holder at The Valley, even after her father's departure from the club in 1995.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Steve Gritt - Message Book. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
  2. ^ "New Charlton role for Gritt", BBC, 2004-06-17. Retrieved on 2007-11-20. 
  3. ^ Valley View (from This Is Local London). Retrieved on 2007-11-20.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Charlton Athletic F.C. – Managers

Rayner (1920–25) • MacFarlane (1925–28) • Lindon (1928) • MacFarlane (1928–32) • Lindon (1932–33) • Seed (1933–56) • Trotter (1956–61) • Hill (1961–65) • Stokoe (1965–67) • Firmani (1967–70) • Foley (1970–74) • Nelson (1974–80) • Bailey (1980–81) • Mullery (1981–82) • Craggs (1982) • Lawrence (1982–91) • Curbishley and Gritt (1991–95) • Curbishley (1995–2006) • Dowie (2006) • Reed (2006) • Pardew (2006–)
v • d • e
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. – Managers

John Jackson (1901–05) • Scott-Walford (1905–08) • Robson (1908–14) • Charles Webb (1919–47) • Cook (1947) • Welsh (1947–51) • Billy Lane (1951–61) • Curtis (1961–63) • Macauley (1963–68) • Fred Goodwin (1968–70) • Saward (1970–73) • Clough (1973–74) • P.T.Taylor (1974–76) • Mullery (1976–81) • Bailey (1981–82) • Melia (1982–83) • Cattlin (1983–86) • Mullery (1986–87) • Lloyd (1987–93) • Brady (1993–95) • Case (1995–96) • Gritt (1996–98) • Horton (1998–99) • Jeff Wood (1999) • Adams (1999–2001) • Hinshelwood (2001) • Bob Booker (2001) • P.J.Taylor (2001–02) • Hinshelwood (2002) • Coppell (2002–03) • Bob Booker (2003) • McGhee (2003–06) • Wilkins (2006–08) • Adams (2008–)
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–)
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