Andrew David Gray (born 15 November 1977) is a former 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 lea ...

. Andy Gray started his career as a midfield player but later moved into a forward position. Gray began his career with Leeds United and he later played for

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

, Bury, Preston North End,

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

, Sheffield United,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. He also won two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, against

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 2003.

Career

Leeds United

Gray was born in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

. He signed for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

which carried on the family tradition of his father Frank Gray and his uncle Eddie Gray. One of Gray's first senior appearances came for Leeds United in the 1996 League Cup final, when he was 18 years old. Leeds lost 3–0 to

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 ...

. After failing to displace the likes of Tony Yeboah, Rod Wallace, Brian Deane and then

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Jerrel Floyd "Jimmy" Hasselbaink ( ; born 27 March 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. Born in Suriname, he and his family would later move to the Dutch city of Zaandam where he first played football, initially a ...

, Gray had a loan spell at Bury to get regular first team football before leaving the club permanently in 1998.

Nottingham Forest

Gray joined fellow Premier League side

on a permanent deal. Signed as a winger, Gray endured a frustrating time at the City Ground where he was deployed at full back for a portion of his time there. He managed to net his only goal for the club in a game against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, in 64 appearances. He also had loan spells at Preston North End and

Bradford City

Gray left Forest for a spell at

where he converted to the role of striker. He earned the Bradford City Player of the year Award in 2003. His form at Bradford earned him a call up to the Scotland national team. In total Gray scored 20 league goals in 77 games for Bradford.

Sheffield United

His form at Bradford also alerted

Neil Warnock Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English football manager and former player who is currently football advisor at Torquay United. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed ...

who signed Gray for Sheffield United. One of the highlights of Gray's career came when he scored a last minute equaliser against Arsenal in the FA Cup in 2005. After scoring 25 goals in 58 games for United, Gray joined Sunderland in the Premier League in a multimillion-pound deal.

Sunderland

In August 2005, Gray returned to the Premier League after he signed for

. He had a goal-scoring record of 28 goals in 65 games at Sheffield United, prompting the £1.1 million transfer to the Black Cats. However, his second stint in the Premier League was unprofitable as he scored only once in 22 appearances; that goal coming on his debut against Charlton Athletic.

Burnley

On 17 March 2006, after prolonged interest from a number of clubs, he signed on loan for

until the end of the season, after he was placed on the transfer list by manager

Niall Quinn Niall John Quinn (honorary Order of the British Empire, MBE; born 6 October 1966) is an Irish former professional Association football, footballer, manager, businessman and sports television pundit. As a player, he was a Striker (association f ...

. His former club

were favourites to sign him but his switch to Burnley became permanent when the

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

reopened in the summer of 2006 for around £750,000. His early form at Burnley at the end of the 2005–06 season and the start of the next suggested that he would again prove an effective goalscorer in the

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 sys ...

. His 2006–07 season was disrupted by a broken

metatarsal The metatarsal bones or metatarsus (: metatarsi) are a group of five long bones in the midfoot, located between the tarsal bones (which form the heel and the ankle) and the phalanges ( toes). Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are ...

, incurred against Leeds United, but both before and after the injury he scored regularly. Burnley's long winless run that season coincided with Gray's absence through injury, demonstrating his importance to the team as a source of goals. He returned towards the end of the 2006–07 season, scoring four goals in three games as Burnley won five of their last six games. This goal-scoring form continued into the 2007–08 season.

Charlton Athletic

Gray left Burnley on 18 January 2008, when he sealed an emergency loan deal with

prior to a permanent move the following week. He made his debut when came on as a second-half substitute the following day in Charlton's 1–1 draw away at

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

. His £1.5 million move to Charlton was finalised the following week and he made his first start for his new club on 29 January 2008 in a 1–0 victory over Stoke City. His first goal for Charlton came in his 13th game, when he scored an equaliser in a 1–1 draw with

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

on 12 April 2008. Gray followed this up with goals in successive home games with the second goal against Coventry City in a 4–1 win, a goal against Swindon in a 1–1 draw and a penalty in the impressive 4–2 defeat of newly relegated Reading.

Barnsley

Gray signed for

side

on 21 August 2009 for an undisclosed fee and made his debut the following day at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. Gray scored his first goal in 3–1 loss to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

on 28 August 2009. Gray was part of a Barnsley side that beat Yorkshire rivals

5–2 in a famous victory. Gray scored a double against Leicester City on 13 January 2012 to help earn Barnsley a win. After scoring 21 goals in 96 games for Barnsley, he was released at the end of the 2011–2012 season following three years with the club.

Return to Leeds United

After being linked with a move to

, Leeds United manager

stated that Gray had started pre-season training with the club and that they were looking to sign the striker on a short-term contract, to cover for injured striker Davide Somma. On 20 July, Gray scored two goals in a 5–2 win for Leeds United in pre-season against

Farsley Farsley is a village in the City of Leeds, Leeds district, in West Yorkshire, England, west of Leeds city centre and east of Bradford near Pudsey. Before 1974, Farsley was part of the Municipal Borough of Pudsey, Borough of Pudsey. Before 193 ...

. On 23 July, Gray rejoined his first club Leeds on a one-year contract, 15 years after leaving the club previously. Gray was allocated the number 18 shirt for the 2012–13 season on 3 August Gray made his second Leeds début as a substitute in the 2–1 victory over Peterborough United on 25 August. Gray made his first start back at the club on 28 August 2012 in a League Cup match against

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

. Gray scored his first ever goal for Leeds United in a 3–2 defeat to Hull City on 18 September.

Return to Bradford City

After being released by Leeds United on 9 January 2013, Andy Gray rejoined his old club Bradford City on an 18-month contract. He made his debut on 12 January, when he started in the home game against

where they lost 1–2. On 21 December he scored his first goal since re-joining the club in a 2–1 defeat against Peterborough United. On 1 May 2014, Gray had his contract cancelled by mutual consent and left the ''Bantams'' with immediate effect.

Coaching career

On 30 July 2015, Gray re-joined Leeds United as the Under 16s academy coach. On 24 June 2016, Gray was promoted to co-Under 18s manager at Leeds alongside Mark Jackson as part of Leeds' academy structure. Jackson would manage the Under 18s solely for the 2017/18 season.

International career

Born and raised in England, Gray represented

at international level like his father Frank Gray and uncle Eddie Gray. He received his first caps from Bertie Vogts. In total Gray won two

for Scotland, with his debut coming against

on 2 April 2003 and his second and final cap was against

on 27 May 2003.

Personal life

Andy is the son of the former Scotland defender Frank Gray and nephew of Leeds United legend Eddie Gray. His cousin Stuart Gray was also a pro footballer. His eldest son Archie is a professional footballer at

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 ...

, while his younger son Harry Gray plays for the under-21 side at

, while training with the first team.

Career statistics

Honours

Leeds United *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runner-up: 1995–96 Individual * Bradford City Player of the Year: 2002–03Bradford City official website �
Andy Gray named Player-of-the-Year

References

External links

*
Andy Gray's international career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Andy 1977 births Living people Footballers from Harrogate People educated at Ashville College English people of Scottish descent English men's footballers Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's B international footballers Scotland men's international footballers Leeds United F.C. players Bury F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Men's association football forwards Andy Anglo-Scots