| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Andrew Mullen Gray | ||
| Date of birth | 30 November 1955 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1970–1973 | Clydebank Strollers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1973–1975 | Dundee United | 62 | (46) |
| 1975–1979 | Aston Villa | 113 | (54) |
| 1979–1983 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 133 | (38) |
| 1983–1985 | Everton | 49 | (14) |
| 1985–1987 | Aston Villa | 54 | (5) |
| 1987 | → Notts County (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 1987–1988 | West Bromwich Albion | 35 | (10) |
| 1988–1989 | Rangers | 14 | (5) |
| 1989–1990 | Cheltenham Town | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 493 | (178) | |
| National team | |||
| 1975–1985 | Scotland | 20 | (7) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Andrew Mullen Gray (born 30 November 1955 in Glasgow) is a Scottish retired footballer who played for several clubs in Scotland and England. He also represented his country. He was a primary football pundit for Sky Sports, as well as a presenter on Andy Gray's Last Word, until his dismissal in January 2011 following an inquiry into three occasions when he was recorded making off-camera, sexist comments. On 8 February 2011, Gray, along with fellow former Sky pundit Richard Keys signed with talkSPORT.
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Andy Gray was born in Glasgow to two Scottish parents.
Gray started his professional career as a player with Dundee United where he scored 46 goals in 62 appearances.
In October 1975, at the age of 20, he headed south to Aston Villa (newly promoted to the First Division) and won England's golden boot in 1976/77 with his tally of 25 league goals. His 29 goals in the following season earned him the PFA Young Player of the Year and PFA Players' Player of the Year awards (a historic double not repeated until Cristiano Ronaldo won both awards 30 years later). At the time he was the youngest player to earn the Players' Player of the Year award, and the first player to win more than one of the official three player of the year awards in the same season.
Gray then moved to Villa's local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers in September 1979 for a then-British record £1.5m. After scoring the winning goal for Wolves in the 1980 League Cup final, he remained with the club through their relegation in 1982 (despite interest from Manchester United) and promotion a year later.
He moved to Everton in November 1983 for £250,000. He enjoyed two seasons with the Merseyside club, winning the FA Cup in May 1984 (scoring in the final against Watford in controversial fashion by heading the ball out of Watford's goalkeeper's hands).
A year later, he won the League Championship and European Cup Winners' Cup, also scoring in the final of the latter. He also reached another FA Cup final, but this time he was on the losing side as Everton were defeated by Manchester United.
Then came the arrival of England striker Gary Lineker from Leicester City in the 1985 close season.[1] Despite angry petitions from Everton fans wanting to keep Gray at Goodison Park, he left the club on 10 July 1985, returning to Aston Villa in a £150,000 deal.[2]
Despite starting the decade on a high as league champions in 1981 and European Cup winners in 1982, they had now declined to mid table mediocrity and the return of Gray was unable to turn things around as his arrival at Everton had done. He scored five goals from 35 league games in 1985–86 as Villa narrowly avoided relegation to the Second Division, and the following season he failed to score a single goal from 19 league games as Villa fell into the Second Division. He began the 1987–88 season still with Villa, but was transferred to their local rivals West Bromwich Albion in September 1987 having not featured in a first team game for Villa that season. His spell at Albion lasted less than a year, and was uneventful as they narrowly avoided relegation from the Second Division.[3]
In mid-1988, he joined Rangers. He spent one season at Ibrox, helping them win the Scottish Premier Division title – the first of nine successive titles they would win.[4]
He dropped into non-league football with Football Conference club Cheltenham Town before retiring in 1990.
Gray's Player of the Year accolades in England were not enough to convince Scotland manager Ally MacLeod to select him for the 1978 World Cup squad.
Gray won 20 caps for Scotland, scoring 7 goals for his country. He also won four caps at Under-23 level and played at schoolboy level. His full international debut came on 17 December 1975 in a 1–1 draw with Romania. He was not selected for any of Scotland's World Cup squads during his playing days.
(NB scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first)
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 September 1976 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Finland | 4–0 | 6–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 8 September 1976 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Finland | 6–0 | 6–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | 20 September 1978 | Praterstadion, Vienna | Austria | 2–3 | 2–3 | ECQG2 |
| 4 | 26 March 1980 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Portugal | 2–0 | 4–1 | ECQG2 |
| 5 | 28 May 1983 | Ninian Park, Cardiff | Wales | 1–0 | 2–0 | BHC |
| 6 | 19 June 1983 | Varsity Stadium, Toronto | Canada | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 7 | 19 June 1983 | Varsity Stadium, Toronto | Canada | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
Aston Villa
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Everton
Rangers
After hanging up his boots, Gray entered coaching as an assistant at Aston Villa, and spent six months at Sheffield Wednesday as reserve team coach under David Pleat before focusing full-time on his television work.
After retiring as a player, Gray became a football commentator, pundit and analyst on Sky Sports, serving as a highly recognisable facet of its Premier League coverage since its inception in 1992, most notably alongside studio anchor Richard Keys and lead match commentator Martin Tyler. In addition, he reported for Sky from Euro 2004 in Portugal, although Sky did not have broadcast rights for the games. He commentated for BBC Radio 5 Live in the 2002 World Cup and for ESPN in Euro 2008. Gray also provides betting tips for Betfair,[5] and also provided commentary for EA Sports' FIFA series of video games until being replaced in the 2012 edition of the game series by Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith.[6]
In January 2011, Gray was forced to apologise for comments he made about a female assistant referee, Sian Massey, in an Premier League match. Believing their microphones were switched off, Gray and his fellow commentator Richard Keys stated that females "didn't know the offside rule". The comments were criticised by Sky Sports and the Football Association.[7] On 24 January it was announced that both Gray and Keys would be banned for one game[8]. On 25 January 2011, it was announced his contract was being terminated for unacceptable behaviour.[9] Barney Francis, Sky Sports' managing director, said Gray was dismissed "in response to new evidence of unacceptable and offensive behaviour in an off-air incident that took place in December 2010". The Daily Telegraph suggested that the Sky statement refers directly to a clip of Gray and Charlotte Jackson in rehearsals for the Sky Sports Christmas Special. While Jackson is attaching a microphone pack, Gray lifts his belt and says: "Charlotte, can you tuck this down here for me?"[10]
Gray's former team mate at Everton, Peter Reid, has suggested that Gray's dismissal may be connected to a legal battle between Gray and News of the World (both it and Sky are owned by News Corporation) over phone-tapping.[11]
Gray fell for the former Olympic gymnast Suzanne Dando when she landed a job alongside him on Sky Sports in 1999. Gray told tabloid reporters that his womanising days were over: "With age, I hope, comes maturity, I certainly do not see myself with anyone else"[12]
Until recently he was engaged to Rachel Lewis, an ex-model and the former wife of his long-time friend and agent[13] and he wants to return to live in Back, Outer Hebrides on the Isle of Lewis in the near future.
Gray has married twice, to Vanessa Taylor and Jacqueline Cherry. He has fathered five children, by four different women – his two ex-wives and former girlfriends Sara Matthews and Janet Trigg.[14]
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