| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Graham Cyril Rix[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1957-10-23)23 October 1957 (age 67)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Doncaster, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1974–1975 | Arsenal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1975–1988 | Arsenal | 351 | (41) |
| 1987–1988 | →Brentford (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 1988–1991 | Caen | 89 | (9) |
| 1991–1992 | Le Havre | 12 | (0) |
| 1992–1993 | Dundee | 14 | (2) |
| 1995 | Chelsea | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 473 | (52) | |
| International career | |||
| 1977–1980 | England U21 | 7 | (0) |
| 1979–1981 | England B | 2 | (0) |
| 1980–1984 | England | 17 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2000 | Chelsea (caretaker) | ||
| 2001–2002 | Portsmouth | ||
| 2004 | Oxford United | ||
| 2005–2006 | Heart of Midlothian | ||
| 2012 | Central | ||
| 2013–2017 | AFC Portchester | ||
| 2022–2024 | Fareham Town | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Graham Cyril Rix (born 23 October 1957) is an English former professionalfootball player who later became a coach and manager.
Rix played forArsenal for thirteen years, thenBrentford (on loan),Caen,Le Havre,Dundee andChelsea. He also won 17 caps forEngland between 1980 and 1984. Rix then managedChelsea (as caretaker),Portsmouth,Oxford United, Heart of Midlothian,Central,AFC Portchester andFareham Town.
Originally fromDoncaster, Yorkshire, Rix joinedArsenal as an apprentice in 1974 and turned professional the year after. He made his debut for the club againstLeicester City on 2 April 1977, and marked it by scoring the opening goal. Rix immediately became a regular on theleft wing, replacingGeorge Armstrong. Together withLiam Brady, he formed part of an impressive attacking midfield, which helped Arsenal to three successiveFA Cup finals between 1978 and 1980. Arsenal only won one of these, in1979 againstManchester United; the final score was 3–2, with Rix crossing forAlan Sunderland's last-minute winner, just one minute after United had equalised to level the score 2–2.[3][4]
Arsenal reached theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup final the following season, againstValencia; the match finished 0–0 afterextra time – apenalty shoot-out ensued, but Rix missed his penalty and Arsenal lost. He became captain of the club in 1983. Arsenal's form slumped in the early 1980s, though, meaning Rix was unable to claim any silverware as skipper. Arsenal won the1986–87 League Cup; Rix was not part of the squad for thefinal against Liverpool but he contributed three appearances en route.[5][3][4]
A series of injuries to hisachilles tendon kept Rix out of the team in the mid-1980s, and he lost his starting place in the side toMartin Hayes. Rix had a spell on loan atBrentford, before being released in 1988. In all, he played 464 times for the Gunners, scoring 51 goals.[6][3][4]
After leaving the London club, Rix was the subject of offers fromSheffield Wednesday as well asQueens Park Rangers, but he instead signed for French clubCaen, where he would spend three years before transferring toLe Havre, and then played inScotland forDundee before announcing his retirement as a player in 1993.[7][6]
Between 1980 and 1984, Rix played for theEngland national team, including making five appearances at the1982 World Cup. He was capped 17 times, but failed to score. His first appearance came on 10 September 1980 in a 4–0 win overNorway, his last in a 1–0 win overNorthern Ireland on 4 April 1984.[8]
Rix joinedChelsea as youth team coach in mid-1993. During an injury crisis, he briefly enlisted as a player for the club, playing a solitaryPremier League match in May 1995 against his former club Arsenal. Rix became assistant manager in 1996 under new Blues bossRuud Gullit, and continued in the same role under Gullit's successorGianluca Vialli, winning the FA Cup in 1997, and theLeague Cup and Cup Winners' Cup in 1998. He won the FA Cup again in 2000, before leaving the club, after a brief spell as caretaker manager following Vialli's sacking byKen Bates.[9]
Rix managedPortsmouth between 2001 and 2002, where his enthusiastic style of management started well, but tapered off in the middle of the2001–02 season. A string of poor results, including a 4–1 home loss in theFA Cup to bottom of the Football LeagueLeyton Orient,[10] meant thatDirector of FootballHarry Redknapp was given more responsibilities until he eventually replaced Rix as team manager toward the end of the season. Rix then managedOxford United for seven months in 2004. Their form declined sharply during the last three months of the2003–04 Division Three campaign: they fell from the automatic promotion places to ninth in the final table, failing to achieve a playoff place. He was dismissed after their poor form continued into the2004–05 season.[citation needed]
In November 2005, after speculation linking him with the manager's job atScottish Premier League clubHeart of Midlothian, it was confirmed that Rix would take over at Tynecastle. He officially took the position of head coach on 8 November 2005.[11] Events reported in February 2006, by Scottish newspapers, suggested that Rix was unhappy withVladimir Romanov's "hands on" approach and speculation increased that Romanov was involved in team selection. On 22 March 2006 Rix was sacked as manager after just four months in charge, with the club citing poor results as the reason.[12]
On 13 August 2012, Rix was named the first manager ofCentral FC,[13] which was a newly formed club founded by formerTrinidad and Tobago international football playerBrent Sancho, that competed in theTT Pro League.[14] Rix recorded his first league win withCentral FC on 19 October 2012 with a 1–0 win overPolice.[15] Rix andCentral FC parted ways through mutual consent on 21 December 2012.[16]
In February 2013, he was appointed head coach ofAFC Portchester.[17] He left the club in August 2017.[18]
In August 2022, Rix took over as manager ofWessex Football League sideFareham Town.[19] He was dismissed by the club in May 2024.[20]
In March 1999, Rix was convicted of having underage sex with a 15-year-old girl, and sentenced to 12 months in prison, of which he served six.[21] He was placed on thesex offender registry for ten years and banned by theFA from working with youth players under the age of 16. In 2013 he toldThe Independent that he thought she was of legal age.[22][23] On his release from prison, he immediately returned to his old job. He subsequently claimed that there were "mitigating circumstances" in the case, saying: "I know the true story that I've never ever said".[23]
In 2018, Rix, along with assistant managerGwyn Williams, was accused of racism and physical assault by several Chelsea trainees who were of school age at the time. It was alleged that Rix had thrown a cup of hot coffee in the face of one player. Both denied the allegations. After a seven-month investigation, the police decided there was insufficient evidence to take any action.[24] In February 2022, Chelsea agreed to make payments to several former players who had sued the club.[citation needed]
Rix has a daughter from his first marriage with Gill. After getting divorced, he married his second wife, Linda.[25] In April 2017, Rix suffered a heart attack.[26]
Arsenal
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Arsenal captain 1983–1986 | Succeeded by |
