William George Leonard Graham (17 October 1925 – 30 September 2007) was a

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

international

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 ...

and

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

. A full-back, he made 303 league appearances in a nine-year career in the Football League with

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

lasting most of the 1950s. He also played for Linfield Swifts,

Brantwood Brantwood is a historic house museum in Cumbria, England, overlooking Coniston Water. It has been the home of a number of prominent people. The house and grounds are administered by a charitable trust, the house being a museum dedicated to Jo ...

, and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

, and briefly managed

Ards Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of respiratory failure characterized by rapid onset of widespread inflammation in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath (dyspnea), rapid breathing (tachypnea), and bluish skin color ...

. He won 14 caps for Northern Ireland in the 1950s.

Club career

Graham began his career playing as an inside-forward with Linfield Swifts, but began playing as a full-back after joining

. In October 1949, he became one of Peter Doherty's first signings as

manager, although had to wait until 18 March 1950 for his debut, a 2–0 home win against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. "Donny" went on to win promotion out of the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

as champions in 1949–50. The Belle Vue outfit then successfully survived as a mid-table

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

side in 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1955–56, and 1956–57, before being relegated into the Third Division at the end of the 1957–58 campaign. In November 1958, Graham signed with

. He played 20 Fourth Division games to help Eric Webber's "Gulls" to a 12th-place finish in 1958–59. He then left

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National League, the fifth tier of E ...

and returned to Northern Ireland as player-manager of Irish League side

, but left Ards at the end of the 1959–60 season.

International career

On 7 March 1951, Graham made his debut for Peter Doherty's

in a 2–1 defeat at home to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and was a regular in the Northern Irish side until the end of 1955 when Willie Cunningham replaced him. Graham was a member of the 22-man 1958 Northern Ireland

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

squad, but was one of five unlucky squad members who didn't travel to Sweden for the tournament (of 16 nations taking part, Northern Ireland was one of only three which did not take the full permitted complement of 22 players). He did however make one further appearance for Northern Ireland, on 4 October 1958, in a 3–3 draw at home to

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 ...

, their first game after the World Cup Finals. Graham remains the most capped international player in

' history.

Coaching career

Graham later worked as first-team coach at Stoke City, and became new manager

Tony Waddington Anthony Waddington (9 November 1924 – 21 January 1994) was an English football manager at both Crewe Alexandra and Stoke City. Waddington had a seven-year playing career with Crewe Alexandra before becoming a coach at Stoke City. He progre ...

's assistant in 1960. From 1965 he coached at

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

under manager

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while sti ...

, before taking up the same position at Blackpool in 1967, under manager

Stan Mortensen Stanley Harding Mortensen (26 May 1921 – 22 May 1991) was an English professional footballer, most famous for his part in the 1953 FA Cup Final (subsequently known as the "Matthews Final"), in which he became the only player ever to score a ha ...

, before his retirement from football in 1975, after which he worked at

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marcon ...

Career statistics

Club playing statistics

Source:

International playing statistics

Honours

Doncaster Rovers *

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

: 1949–50

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Len 1925 births 2007 deaths Association footballers from Belfast Association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland international footballers Association football fullbacks Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Ards F.C. players Brantwood F.C. players English Football League players 1958 FIFA World Cup players Association football coaches Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff Port Vale F.C. non-playing staff Blackpool F.C. non-playing staff Football managers from Northern Ireland Association football player-managers Ards F.C. managers