Jake Stephen Gray (born 25 December 1995) is an English professional

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 ...

who plays 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 ...

for Hampton & Richmond Borough of the .

Club career

Gray was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire and attended Grange School. He began his career at

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

before joining

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 ...

when he was fifteen, after Wycombe Wanderers closed their academy at the start of

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. He progressed through the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

and development squads, before signing his first professional contract, effective from 1 January 2013 until the end of 2014–15. Gray made his professional debut as a 62nd-minute substitute for

Dwight Gayle Dwight Devon Boyd Gayle (born 17 October 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship club Stoke City. Gayle played in the Arsenal academy as a youth, but was released in 2007, after which he began ...

in a 3–0 win away to

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

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

second round on 26 August 2014. He also featured in the third round as a 90th-minute substitute for

Paddy McCarthy Patrick Richard McCarthy (born 31 May 1983) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is currently assistant manager of Premier League club Crystal Palace. Born in Dublin, he began his football career as a jun ...

which resulted in a 3–2 defeat to Newcastle United after extra time. Following the expiry of his previous contract, Gray signed a new two-year contract with the club on 2 July 2015. On 16 January 2015, Gray joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

on a one-month

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

. He made both his Football League and Cheltenham debut in a 1–1 draw with

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

on 24 January. Gray made three further appearances before returning to Crystal Palace, despite being keen on an extension. On 5 November 2015, Gray joined League Two club

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

on a one-month youth loan. Two days later, he made his Hartlepool debut in a 1–0 win over former loan club Cheltenham Town in the

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 ...

first round. Gray followed up with a brace, his first professional goals in a 3–1 win at home to

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

eight days later. After making three appearances for Hartlepool, Gray's loan was extended until 2 January 2016. On 5 January, his loan spell at Hartlepool was extended until the end of the season, by now having made eight appearances for the club. Gray's next appearance saw him score the opening goal with a volley during a 2–1 defeat at home to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

in the FA Cup third round, before his opponents came from behind to win the match. Gray went on to complete his loan spell, making 33 appearances and scoring six goals for the club in 2015–16. On 1 August 2016, Gray signed a two-year contract with League Two club Luton Town on a free transfer. Under the terms of the transfer, Crystal Palace would be due a contingency sum in any event of a future sale. He made his Luton debut as a substitute on the opening day of 2016–17 in a 3–0 win away to Plymouth Argyle. Gray scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win at home to newly relegated

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club Aston Villa in the EFL Cup first round on 10 August. After the end of the season, Gray was transfer-listed by Luton, having made 28 appearances and scored four goals in 2016–17. On 26 June 2017, Gray signed for fellow League Two club

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee. At the end of the 2018–19 season, Gray was released by Yeovil following the club's

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

from the

English 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 Engl ...

. Gray signed for

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

club Woking on 25 August 2019. In September 2019, he joined Hampton & Richmond Borough of the National League South on a one-month loan. While on loan, this was extended for a further month. Gray returned to Woking in November but was unable to hold a regular starting place in the team. On the 10 January it was announced that he would be returning to Hampton & Richmond for a further five weeks. On 2 August 2020, it was announced that Gray would return to Hampton & Richmond Borough on a permanent basis ahead of the 2020–21 campaign. He was awarded the National League South Player of the Month award for March 2023.

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile
at the Woking F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Jake 1995 births Living people Footballers from Aylesbury English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Crystal Palace F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Woking F.C. players Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players