Graham Lee Deakin (born 24 April 1987) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

assistant manager and former player who is currently assistant manager of side

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

. As a player, he spent most of his career playing as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Playing career

Walsall

Deakin played one first team match for

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

semi final on 24 January 2006.

met

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

in the semi-final, Swansea City took an early lead through

Leon Knight Leon Leroy Knight (born 16 September 1982) is an English Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. A journeyman player, he has played for fifteen different clubs spanning five countries; Eng ...

. Walsall eventually equalised through an Alex Nicholls goal in the second half.

Andy Robinson Richard Andrew Robinson OBE (born 3 April 1964) is an English rugby union coach and retired player. He was the director of rugby at Bristol until November 2016. He is the former head coach of Scotland and England. From September 2019 to Decemb ...

gave Swansea the lead in the 83rd minute but his goal was quickly cancelled out by an equaliser from

James Constable James Ashley Constable (born 4 October 1984) is an English semi-professional football coach and player who plays as a striker. He plays for and is the assistant manager at club Banbury United. He has played in the Football League for Walsall ...

which sent the match to extra-time. Deakin was introduced to the action during extra-time, coming on as a 108th-minute substitute for

David McDermott David Anthony McDermott (born 6 February 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger. He played in the Football League for Walsall. Career Walsall Born in Stourbridge, West Midlands, McDermott progressed through the Wals ...

. The match eventually required a penalty shoot-out. The opening eight penalties were all successfully converted before the following four were all missed. The shootout ended when Deakin missed his side's eighth penalty, allowing

Alan Tate Alan Tate (born 2 September 1982) is an English professional football coach and retired footballer who is an assistant head coach at Nottingham Forest. A former defender, Tate spent the majority of his playing career at Swansea City. After ...

to convert the winning penalty for Swansea.

Tamworth

Deakin signed for

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side Tamworth on loan on the 31 August 2006.

Sutton Coldfield Town

Following a brief spell with

Rushall Olympic Rushall Olympic Football Club is an English football club based in Rushall, a former mining village now forming part of the northern suburbs of Walsall. The team plays in the . History Early years Although football had been played in the villa ...

, Deakin returned to sign for Sutton Coldfield Town on 24 August 2014.

Personal life

Deakin's father, Graham Sr., died in 2022 from injuries sustained while trying to take his own life. Subsequently, Deakin has helped to set up a West Midlands mental health hub specifically for men, as well as linking up with non-profit organisation Sport Against Suicide.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deakin, Graham 1987 births Living people English footballers Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands Association football midfielders National League (English football) players English Football League players Walsall F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Sutton Coldfield Town F.C. players Rushall Olympic F.C. players