Andrew Arthur Gray (born 22 February 1964) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played in the centre of midfield or as a striker during his career. Gray made over 300 appearances in his senior career, with his longest stays being with

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

and Aston Villa. Gray totaled 50 goals in his career.

Playing career

After playing for Crystal Palace's youth team in 1980–81, Gray moved into non-league football with Corinthian Casuals and

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. T ...

where he was spotted by

manager Steve Coppell. Gray moved to Palace and quickly became a regular in the team, playing in the forward positions. In the 1985–86 season, Gray top-scored with 11 goals. However, after the signings of

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal ...

and

Mark Bright Mark Abraham Bright (born 6 June 1962) is an English sports correspondent and former footballer. Born to a Gambian father and English mother, he was adopted into a foster family in Stoke-on-Trent at an early age. He played non-league football ...

, Gray moved into central-midfield, and his career came alight. Gray then achieved promotion with

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

and had a spell at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

, before returning to

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...

for the 1989–90 season. This proved to be a remarkable season, and Gray managed to secure himself a legacy that will survive in Palace fans' hearts forever. In the league Palace survived comfortably, and they found themselves in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

Semi-final against champions

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, who were gunning for a league and cup double. Having led 2–1 at one point, Palace were 3-2 down, and were on the verge of leaving

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

with their heads down, before Gray jumped forward to head an 87th-minute equaliser. Alan Pardew's goal in extra-time ensured that Gray and his Palace teammates would get to play in the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

. The final would be against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, and in the match Gray played well as Palace secured a 3–3 draw. In the replay, Palace were beaten by a single goal: 1–0. The following season, Palace achieved far more than even the biggest optimists expected. The Eagles chased

and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

until the end, but had to settle for third place in the First Division. As well as this, they picked up silverware, in winning the

Zenith Data Systems Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. Th ...

. In November 1991, Gray's play was rewarded with a call-up to the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

team, and he made his solitary international appearance against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

in a crucial qualifier for the EURO '92. Gray left Palace at the end of that season, after their form slumped following the sale of

, and went to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

for £900,000. Whilst at Tottenham he was involved in a dramatic game against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

; he scored a penalty to level the game at 3-3 and moments later Spurs were awarded another penalty but this time

Dmitri Kharine Dmitri Viktorovich Kharine (russian: Дмитрий Викторович Харин; born 16 August 1968) is a Russian football coach and former professional footballer, who is goalkeeping coach of National League South side Hemel Hempstead Tow ...

saved Gray's effort. Chelsea went on to win 4–3. His spell at Spurs would be less successful and, following a loan move to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

, he was sold to

CA Marbella Club Atlético Marbella were a Spanish football team based in Marbella, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1947 and dissolved in 1997, it was also the reserve team of CD Málaga for a time. History Atlético Marbella had its he ...

for an undisclosed fee. He would round out his career with short spells at

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, where he played in the 1997 Scottish Cup Final,

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

, and

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

Later career

In 2006, Gray was appointed as the technical director of the

Sierra Leone national football team The Sierra Leone national football team represents Sierra Leone in men's international association football and it is governed by the Sierra Leone Football Association. The team's nickname is Leone Stars. The team is affiliated to the West Afr ...

. In 2005, Andy was voted in Palace's Centenary XI. In 2019 and 2020, Gray featured as a guest substitute player in both seasons of

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

show

Harry's Heroes ''Harry's Heroes'' is an English documentary television programme produced by Fremantle for ITV. The first series ''Harry's Heroes: The Full English'' aired in March 2019. Series 2, entitled ''Harry's Heroes: Euro Having a Laugh'' aired in May 20 ...

, which featured former football manager

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In his ...

attempting get a squad of former England international footballers back fit and healthy for a game against Germany legends.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11559664/

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Andy 1964 births Living people English footballers English football managers England international footballers England under-21 international footballers Aston Villa F.C. players Bury F.C. players Corinthian-Casuals F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players CA Marbella footballers Expatriate football managers in Sierra Leone Premier League players Scottish Football League players Association football midfielders Association football forwards FA Cup Final players