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 The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

at Crystal Palace, before transferring to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

in 1999. Upon his release from Brentford, Graham embarked on a nomadic career in

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

. He represented Northern Ireland U21 at international level. He was known by the nickname "Ginge".

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. He reached the final of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

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. Graham signed his first professional contract in March 1997 and broke into the reserve team during the early part of the 1997–98 season. A broken leg suffered in a

Surrey Senior Cup The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...

match for the reserve team in late 1997 hampered Graham's progress. Graham returned to match play with the reserve team early in the 1998–99 season and to regain fitness, Graham and teammate Andy Martin joined Southern League Premier Division club

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

on loan December 1998. He made his Crystal Palace debut away to Watford on 24 April 1999, as a substitute for Steven Thomson after 77 minutes of the 2–1 defeat. 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.

Brentford

Graham joined Second Division club

on loan on 28 September 1999 and the move was made permanent on 6 October. Following a loan at Southern League Premier Division club Crawley Town, Graham finally made his Brentford debut on 18 December, as a late substitute for Martin Rowlands in a 1–0 defeat to Wigan Athletic. Graham broke into the team on a regular basis in March 2000 and finished the 1999–00 season with 13 appearances. 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. He made his only appearance of the season as a late substitute for

Jay Tabb Jay Anthony Tabb (born 21 February 1984) is a retired professional footballer. He began his career at Crystal Palace but was released as a junior and joined Brentford in 2000. He moved to Crawley Town in 2003 on a loan which was ultimately cut s ...

in a 2–2 draw with Luton Town on 3 May 2001. Graham was released at the end of the 2000–01 season, after making just 14 appearances during his time with the Bees.

Non-League football

Aside from a spell in Iceland with Úrvalsdeild club ÍBV in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, Graham played in

between 2001 and his retirement in 2014. He played the majority of his football in the Isthmian and Combined Counties leagues and his most notable spell was with

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

, with whom he won consecutive promotions during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons. He had two spells with

Croydon Athletic Croydon Athletic Football Club was an English football club based in Thornton Heath in the London Borough of Croydon, London, England. It was founded in 1986 and initially named as Wandsworth & Norwood until 1990. The club progressed through ...

and four with Whyteleafe and captained both clubs. His last club was

Lingfield Lingfield can refer to: * Lingfield, County Durham, England, a village * Lingfield, Surrey, England, a village ** Lingfield Park Racecourse ** Lingfield Cricket Club, prominent in the 18th century ** Lingfield railway station, serving the villag ...

, for whom he made the final appearance of his career early in the 2014–15 season.

International career

Graham won five caps for Northern Ireland at U21 level. He made his debut in a 1–1 1999 International Triangular Tournament draw with Scotland on 4 June 1999. 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.

Personal life

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

Career statistics

Honours

AFC Wimbledon *

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

First Division: 2004–05 * Combined Counties League Premier Division: 2003–04

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Gareth 1978 births Living people Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Brentford F.C. players Whyteleafe F.C. players Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja players Crystal Palace F.C. players Lingfield F.C. players AFC Croydon Athletic players AFC Wimbledon players Croydon Athletic F.C. players Cray Wanderers F.C. players Kingstonian F.C. players Merstham F.C. players Croydon F.C. players Chipstead F.C. players Chertsey Town F.C. players Leatherhead F.C. players Merthyr Tydfil F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Woking F.C. players Margate F.C. players English Football League players Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers Southern Football League players National League (English football) players Úrvalsdeild karla (football) players Isthmian League players Men's association football midfielders Men's association football fullbacks