Gareth Graham

Gareth Lee Graham (born 6 December 1978) is a Northern Irish retired footballer who played as a midfielder or right back. He began his career in the Football League at Crystal Palace, before transferring to Brentford in 1999. Upon his release from Brentford, Graham embarked on a nomadic career in non-league football. He represented Northern Ireland U21 at international level. He was known by the nickname "Ginge".[3][4]

Gareth Graham
Personal information
Full name Gareth Lee Graham[1]
Date of birth (1978-12-06) 6 December 1978
Place of birth Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder, right back
Youth career
Dungoyne Boys
Glentoran
0000–1997 Crystal Palace
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1999 Crystal Palace 1 (0)
1998 → Merthyr Tydfil (loan) 3 (0)
1999 → Brentford (loan) 0 (0)
1999–2001 Brentford 14 (0)
1999 → Crawley Town (loan)
2001 Woking 6 (0)
2001–2002 Margate 26 (1)
2002 ÍBV 7 (1)
2002–2003 Whyteleafe 22 (2)
2003–2005 AFC Wimbledon 38 (2)
2004 → Whyteleafe (loan) 4 (0)
2005–2006 Whyteleafe 19 (2)
2006–2007 Croydon Athletic 27 (5)
2007 Cray Wanderers 20 (0)
2007 Kingstonian 2 (0)
2007–2008 Croydon Athletic 16 (1)
2008 Leatherhead 16 (0)
2008–2009 Chertsey Town 18 (2)
2009–2010 Chipstead 14 (1)
2010 Whyteleafe 12 (1)
2010 Warlingham (dual-registration) 2 (1)
2010–2011 Croydon 24 (2)
2011 Merstham 18 (0)
2011–2014 Lingfield 67 (13)
2012–2013 → AFC Croydon Athletic (dual-registration) 2 (0)
National team
1999 Northern Ireland U21 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Crystal Palace

Graham began his career in his native Northern Ireland with Dungoyne Boys and Glentoran, before moving to England to join the youth system at Crystal Palace.[5] He reached the final of the FA Youth Cup and won the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup with the youth team during the 1996–97 season and also made his debut for the reserve team.[6] Graham signed his first professional contract in March 1997 and broke into the reserve team during the early part of the 1997–98 season.[6][7]

A broken leg suffered in a Surrey Senior Cup match for the reserve team in late 1997 hampered Graham's progress.[6] Graham returned to reserve team action early in the 1998–99 season and made his professional debut away to Watford on 24 April 1999, as a substitute for Steven Thomson after 77 minutes of the 2–1 defeat.[8] Graham failed to receive a call into the first team during the early months of the 1999–00 season and departed the club in October 1999.[2]

Merthyr Tydfil (loan)

To regain match fitness, Graham and Crystal Palace teammate Andy Martin joined Southern League Premier Division club Merthyr Tydfil on loan December 1998.[9]

Brentford (loan and permanent transfer)

Graham joined Second Division club Brentford on loan on 28 September 1999 and the move was made permanent on 6 October.[10] He finally made his debut on 18 December,[11] as a late substitute for Martin Rowlands in a 1–0 defeat to Wigan Athletic.[10] Graham broke into the team on a regular basis in March 2000 and finished the 1999–00 season with 13 appearances.[8]

Graham was out of favour under new manager Ray Lewington during the 2000–01 season, but a buildup of games in hand (due to bad weather and Brentford's run to the 2001 Football League Trophy Final) saw the squad stretched during the second half of the season and Graham was a regular unused substitute.[12][13] He made his only appearance of the season as a late substitute for Jay Tabb in a 2–2 draw with Luton Town on 3 May 2001.[14] Graham was released at the end of the season,[15] after making just 14 appearances during his time with the Bees.[2]

Crawley Town (loan)

Graham and Brentford teammate Richard Kennedy joined Southern League Premier Division club Crawley Town on loan during the 1999–00 season.[16][17]

Non-league football

Aside from a spell in Iceland with Úrvalsdeild club ÍBV in 2002,[18] Graham played in non-league football between 2001 and his retirement in 2014.[15] He played the majority of his football in the Isthmian and Combined Counties leagues and his most notable spell was with AFC Wimbledon, with whom he won consecutive promotions during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons.[4] He had two spells with Croydon Athletic and four with Whyteleafe and captained both clubs.[15][19] His last club was Lingfield, for whom he made the final appearance of his career early in the 2014–15 season.[20]

International career

Graham won five caps for Northern Ireland at U21 level.[21] He made his debut in a 1–1 1999 International Triangular Tournament draw with Scotland on 4 June 1999.[21] He made three appearances during Northern Ireland's unsuccessful 2000 European U21 Championship qualifying campaign and the last of his caps came in a 2–1 defeat to Finland on 8 October 1999.[21]

Personal life

Graham was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[1] He lives in Croydon and works in film, media and entertainment insurance.[22][23] He is a Tottenham Hotspur supporter.[22]

Honours

AFC Wimbledon

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Crystal Palace 1998–99[8] First Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
Brentford 1999–00[10] Second Division 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
2000–01[14] 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0
ÍBV 2002[18] Úrvalsdeild 7 1 3 0 — — 10 1
AFC Wimbledon 2002–03[4] Combined Counties League 9 0 — — — 9 0
2003–04[4] Combined Counties League Premier Division 13 2 — — 3[lower-alpha 1] 0 16 2
2004–05[4] Isthmian League First Division 16 0 0 0 — 2[lower-alpha 2] 1 18 1
Total 38 2 0 0 — 4 1 43 3
Whyteleafe 2005–06[24] Isthmian League First Division 19 2 0 0 — 0 0 19 2
Croydon Athletic 2006–07[25] Isthmian League First Division South 19 5 — — 2[lower-alpha 3] 2 21 7
Cray Wanderers 2006–07[25] Isthmian League First Division South 20 0 — — — 20 0
Kingstonian 2007–08[26] Isthmian League First Division South 2 0 0 0 — 1[lower-alpha 4] 0 3 0
Croydon Athletic 2007–08[27] Isthmian League First Division South 13 0 — — — 13 0
Croydon Athletic total 32 5 0 0 — 2 2 34 7
Leatherhead 2007–08[27] Isthmian League First Division South 13 0 — — — 13 0
2008–09[28] 5 0 — — — 5 0
Total 18 0 — — — 18 0
Chertsey Town 2008–09[29] Combined Counties League Premier Division 18 2 — — 1[lower-alpha 5] 0 19 2
Chipstead 2009–10[30] Isthmian League First Division South 16 2 2 1 — 4[lower-alpha 6] 0 22 3
Whyteleafe 2009–10[30] Isthmian League First Division South 7 0 — — — 7 0
2010–11[31] Isthmian League First Division South 4 1 1 0 — — 5 1
Whyteleafe total 30 3 1 0 — 0 0 31 3
Warlingham (dual-registration) 2010–11[32] Combined Counties League First Division 2 1 — — — 2 1
Croydon 2010–11[32] Combined Counties League Premier Division 24 1 — — 2[lower-alpha 5] 0 26 1
Merstham 2010–11[31] Isthmian League First Division South 8 0 — — — 8 0
2011–12[33] 9 0 0 0 — 1[lower-alpha 3] 0 10 0
Total 17 0 0 0 — 1 0 18 0
AFC Croydon Athletic 2012–13[34] Combined Counties League First Division 1 0 — — 1[lower-alpha 5] 0 2 0
Lingfield 2013–14[35] Sussex County League First Division 26 3 1 0 — 4[lower-alpha 7] 1 31 4
2014–15[20] Southern Counties East League 4 0 0 0 — 0 0 4 0
Total 30 3 1 0 — 4 1 35 4
Career total 289 20 7 1 0 0 20 4 316 25
  1. 2 appearances in Combined Counties League Premier Challenge Cup, 1 appearance in FA Vase
  2. 1 appearance and 1 goal in Isthmian League Cup, 1 appearance in Surrey Senior Cup
  3. Appearances in Isthmian League Cup
  4. Appearance in London Senior Cup
  5. Appearances in Combined Counties League Premier Challenge Cup
  6. 3 appearances in FA Trophy, 1 appearance in Isthmian League Cup
  7. 3 appearances and 1 goal in FA Vase, 1 appearance in Surrey Senior Cup

References
  1. "Gareth Graham". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  2. Gareth Graham at Soccerbase
  3. "Combined Counties League Premier Division". Croydon Advertiser. 18 March 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  4. "AFC Wimbledon | Player Profile | Gareth Graham". Wimbledonheritage.co.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  5. "Player Profile – Gareth Graham – The Eagles Beak". The Eagles Beak. 9 March 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  6. "Crystal Palace FC – Players – Gareth Graham". Tonyd.users.netlink.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  7. Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2013). The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. pp. 440–441. ISBN 9781906796723.
  8. "Games played by Gareth Graham in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  9. "Football: Loans/trials – Sport". The Independent. 6 December 1998. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  10. "Games played by Gareth Graham in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  11. Brentford Matchday Magazine versus Wigan Athletic. Morganprint Blackheath Ltd. 1 April 2000. p. 2.
  12. TW8: Brentford FC Official Matchday Programme versus Luton Town. Charlton, London: Morganprint. 3 May 2001. pp. 24–25.
  13. TW8 2001, p. 5.
  14. "Games played by Gareth Graham in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  15. Trice, Jeff. "Gareth Graham". www.margatefootballclubhistory.com. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  16. "A first-half penalty by Ian Payne secured resurgent Crawley Town their fourth Premier Division win (From The Argus)". Theargus.co.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  17. "Angry Crawley manager Billy Smith accused his side of an "unacceptable performance" as they were dum (From The Argus)". Theargus.co.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  18. "Leikmaður – Gareth Graham". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  19. "Whyteleafe chairman backs new manager English (From Bournemouth Echo)". Bournemouthecho.co.uk. 22 June 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  20. "Gareth Graham – Lingfield 1st Team – Lingfield Football Club Ltd". www.lingfieldfc.com. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  21. "NIFG: Gareth Graham". Nifootball.blogspot.co.uk. 6 August 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  22. "Gareth Graham (gramper78) on Twitter". Twitter.com. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  23. "Performance Film & Media Insurance". Performance. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  24. "football.mitoo". football.mitoo.co.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  25. "football.mitoo". football.mitoo.co.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  26. "Appearances". kingstonian.net. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  27. "football.mitoo". football.mitoo.co.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  28. "football.mitoo". football.mitoo.co.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  29. "football.mitoo". Football.mitoo.co. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  30. "football.mitoo". football.mitoo.co.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  31. "football.mitoo". Football.mitoo.co. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  32. "football.mitoo". Football.mitoo.co. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  33. "football.mitoo". football.mitoo.co.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  34. "football.mitoo". Football.mitoo.co. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  35. "Gareth Graham – Lingfield 1st Team – Lingfield Football Club Ltd". www.lingfieldfc.com. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
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