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 lea ...

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 and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. Gray totalled 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. The ...

where he was spotted by Crystal Palace 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 media personality and former professional footballer. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal as a forward, spending six years with the former and seven year ...

and

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

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

and had a spell at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

, before returning to

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

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 Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

semi-final against champions

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, 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 association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

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 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 events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

. The final would be against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, 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 Liverpool 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

Full Members 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. T ...

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

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

team, and he made his solitary international appearance against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

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 simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

for £900,000. Whilst at Tottenham he was involved in a dramatic game against Chelsea; he scored a penalty to level the game at 3-3 and moments later Spurs were awarded another penalty but this time Dmitri Kharine 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 association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

, he was sold to CA Marbella for an undisclosed fee. He would round out his career with short spells at

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a 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 resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, where he played in the 1997 Scottish Cup Final, Bury, 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 Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

Later career

In 2006, Gray was appointed as the technical director of the Sierra Leone national football team. 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 show

Harry's Heroes ''Harry's Heroes'' is an English documentary television programme produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle for ITV (TV network), ITV. The first series ''Harry's Heroes: The Full English'' aired in March 2019. Series 2, entitled ''Harry's Heroes ...

, which featured former football manager

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

attempting get a squad of former England international footballers back fit and healthy for a game against Germany legends. In March 2023 Gray was appointed manager of Corinthian Casuals for the 2023–24 season. However, he left the club in December 2023.

Honours

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 1987–88 Second Division

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Andy 1964 births Living people English men's footballers English football managers England men's international footballers England men's 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 Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Footballers from the London Borough of Lambeth People from Lambeth Corinthian-Casuals F.C. managers English Football League players