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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Francis Tierney Gray[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1954-10-27)27 October 1954 (age 71) | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Left-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1971–1973 | Leeds United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1972–1979 | Leeds United | 193 | (17) |
| 1979–1981 | Nottingham Forest | 81 | (5) |
| 1981–1985 | Leeds United | 139 | (10) |
| 1985–1989 | Sunderland | 146 | (8) |
| 1989–1992 | Darlington | 85 | (8) |
| Total | 644 | (48) | |
| International career | |||
| 1976–1983 | Scotland | 32 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1991–1992 | Darlington | ||
| 2005–2006 | Farnborough Town | ||
| 2006 | Grays Athletic | ||
| 2007–2008 | Woking | ||
| 2008–2012 | Basingstoke Town | ||
| 2012–2013 | Bashley | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Francis Tierney Gray (born 27 October 1954) is a Scottishfootballmanager and former player. He played forLeeds United,Nottingham Forest,Sunderland andDarlington, while he also representedScotland 32 times. He managed Darlington,Farnborough Town,Grays Athletic,Woking,Basingstoke Town andBashley.
Gray was born inGlasgow and brought up in the city'sCastlemilk district.[3] He was one of the new generation ofLeeds United players of the mid-1970s charged with the task of maintaining the club's success after theDon Revie era.
Gray, younger brother ofEddie, joined the club under Revie as a 17-year-old left-winger and made his debut in 1973, scoring a goal in his first start. Revie had lost regular left backTerry Cooper to a broken leg the year before and needed to find replacements, and Gray was given his chance as a left-back as a result.
He did not stay in the side, with a reshuffled defence allowingTrevor Cherry to take the left back spot for the end of the season which consisted of two cup finals (theFA Cup and theEuropean Cup Winners Cup) both of which Leeds lost. Revie did invite Gray to travel with the squad toWembley and he sat next to his manager during the defeat toSunderland.
Gray was similarly spared regular football in the first team at such an early age the following year, with Cherry settled into the left back role. Leeds won theLeague championship thanks to an unbeaten start to the season of 29 games. Gray played only six times and did not qualify for a medal.[4]
The following season, he made 18 appearances in the League and usurped Cherry for the No. 3 shirt in theEuropean Cup final inParis, which Leeds lost 2–0 toBayern Munich. As the Revie team disbanded due to age – Revie himself had quit for theEngland manager's job the year before – Gray found himself tagged as one of the bright young things who would maintain the work of the previous team, alongsideGordon McQueen andJoe Jordan.
In 1979, Gray joinedNottingham Forest for £500,000. Forest were managed byBrian Clough, who had previously managed Gray at Leeds.
Gray slotted into the team and played in his second European Cup final in 1980, making him the first player to appear in the final for two different English clubs. This time he was successful as Forest won 1–0 against aHamburg SV side which includedKevin Keegan. Gray also finished on the losing side earlier in the season when Forest were beaten in theLeague Cup final byWolves, thanks to a single goal from unrelated fellow ScotsmanAndy Gray.
Despite his success with Forest, in 1981 Gray returned to Leeds, accepting an invitation from manager – and former teammate –Allan Clarke. It was a £300,000 deal which took Gray back to Elland Road, but in the first season of his return Leeds were relegated.
Clarke was sacked by Leeds after relegation and Gray's brother Eddie took over. The younger Gray played for four years under his brother's stewardship but Leeds could not gain promotion and Gray left forSunderland in 1985. His tally for Leeds stood up at 396 appearances and 35 goals.
Gray made his debut forScotland in a 1–0 win overSwitzerland in 1976, and won more caps in late 1978, having missed out on a place in the squad for that summer'sWorld Cup in Argentina.
Gray was selected for Scotland's World Cup squad for the 1982 tournament in Spain, and he played in all three of the group games[5] againstNew Zealand,Brazil and theUSSR, though Scotland did not progress further.
His international career ended in 1983 after 32 appearances and one goal.
During his second spell at Leeds, Gray coached Collingham Under 16s. After his second stint at Leeds, he helpedSunderland gain promotion fromDivision Three, then helped Darlington into theFootball League as assistant toBrian Little in the 1990s and tookFarnborough Town to theNationwide Conference Southplay-offs in2005–06. He moved toGrays Athletic with assistant Gerry Murphy to replaceMark Stimson, but his stay was short. He was brought to Woking by football technical director Colin Lippiatt in May 2007 with the aim of taking the club into the Football League.
Gray was appointed manager at Woking on 3 May 2007 on a two-year deal, replacingGlenn Cockerill. He departed by mutual consent on 8 April 2008.
He was appointed manager ofBasingstoke Town in theConference South,[6] but he left the club through mutual consent, and was succeeded by academy manager Jason Bristow on a temporary contract until the end of the season.
Gray was appointed on 31 May 2012 as manager at Evostik Premier Division South club sideBashley. On 19 June 2013 Gray and his sideman Murphy stepped down and were replaced by former Bashley players Paul Gazzard and Stewart Kearn.
Gray lives in Australia where he works as a pundit forFox Sports Australia'sPremier League coverage[citation needed]. In 2016, Gray worked in an advisory capacity for Manly United where he oversaw the Manly United junior programme and worked with women's teams across all grades.[7]
His sonAndy Gray, a striker, came through the ranks at Leeds and later played forNottingham Forest,Bury,Preston,Oldham Athletic,Bradford City,Sheffield United,Sunderland,Burnley,Charlton Athletic andBarnsley. He also won two full international caps forScotland.
His nephewStuart representedCeltic andReading as afull-back.
His grandsons,Archie Gray andHarry Gray are also professional footballers.[8]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 1976 | 1 | 0 |
| 1977 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1978 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1979 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1980 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1981 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1982 | 9 | 1 | |
| 1983 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 32 | 1 | |
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 23 March 1982 | Hampden Park,Glasgow |  Netherlands | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
Leeds United
Nottingham Forest
Sunderland
Darlington
