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 Gradi in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dario Gradi | ||
| Date of birth | (1941-07-08)8 July 1941 (age 84) | ||
| Place of birth | Milan, Italy | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1969–1970 | Sutton United | ||
| 1971 | Tooting & Mitcham United | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1976–1977 | Sutton United | ||
| 1978–1981 | Wimbledon | ||
| 1981 | Crystal Palace | ||
| 1983–2007 | Crewe Alexandra | ||
| 2008 | Crewe Alexandra (caretaker) | ||
| 2009–2011 | Crewe Alexandra | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Dario Gradi (born 8 July 1941) is an Italian-English formerfootball player, coach andmanager. He was associated for more than 36 years withCrewe Alexandra, where he was variously manager, director of football and director of theAcademy, until October 2019.
Gradi played as an amateur for clubs in the London area (and won an England amateur cap); he then took on various coaching roles in the region. His first major managerial success was achieved withWimbledon after which he briefly managedCrystal Palace in 1981.
Gradi had a 24-year first spell as manager of Crewe between 1983 and 2007. He stepped down from his managerial role in 2007, handing first-team responsibilities toSteve Holland, and became technical director. At that time, Gradi was thelongest-serving manager of an English football league club.[1] After two further spells as Crewe manager, he finally stepped down in November 2011 to focus on the club's youth system,[2] after managing Crewe in 1,359 first team games.
In late 2016, as theUnited Kingdom football sexual abuse scandal expanded, Gradi's roles at Crewe at the time of alleged offences in the 1980s and atChelsea in the early 1970s were the subject of media scrutiny. The Chelsea allegations led to Gradi being suspended byThe Football Association in November 2016. Gradi denied any wrongdoing and in February 2017 was planning an appeal against his FA suspension. He was heavily criticised by Chelsea's inquiry report, published in August 2019, and in the FA's Sheldon Report, published in March 2021 – when the FA said Gradi (who had retired from all football roles in October 2019) was "effectively banned for life" from football "forsafeguarding reasons". While accepting he had been suspended indefinitely from certain activities, Gradi said he had not been banned. Awarded anMBE for services to football in 1998,[3] Gradi was stripped of the award in 2023 for failing to protect children from sexual abuse.[4][5]
Born to an Italian father (who died when Dario was still a child) and an English mother, Gradi moved toLondon, aged four, when his mother returned after theSecond World War in 1945.[6][7]
He attendedGlyn Grammar School inEpsom,[8] and trained as a teacher of physical education at what is nowLoughborough University from 1960 to 1963 (where he played for the university's first XI football team, alongsideBob Wilson andBarry Hines),[7][9] before returning to teach at his former school.
By this time he had already played as an amateur forSutton United[7] and forTooting & Mitcham United in the early 1960s.[10] He was later capped once forEngland's amateur side (playing in the team's British Amateur Championship tie against Scotland in Dundee in September 1967).[11] He later rejoined Sutton United, playing in theFA Amateur Cup Final againstNorth Shields in April 1969,[12] and in the club'sFA Cup 4th round tie againstLeeds United in January 1970.[13] Gradi also played forWycombe Wanderers, long before the club became fully professional.[citation needed]
After a period of teaching, Gradi became a London regional coach for theFA; this caused him to lose his amateur status and become ineligible to continue his playing career. He had a spell coaching at east London'sSenrab F.C.,[14] and was appointed assistant coach atChelsea in 1971 at the age of just 29. This was followed by coaching posts atDerby County (first team coach, 1977–78), and, later, a two-year spell atLeyton Orient (youth team coach, 1981–83).[15]
Gradi managed Sutton United from 1976 to 1977.[15]
He took over as manager ofWimbledon in January 1978, helping thePlough Lane side win promotion from theFootball League Fourth Division in1978–79, although they were relegated after only one season in theThird Division. They were well on course for an immediate return to the Third Division when in February 1981 an offer came for Gradi to manage strugglingFirst Division sideCrystal Palace. Palace chairmanRon Noades had only recently left Wimbledon himself and saw Gradi as the ideal man to save his new purchase from relegation.[citation needed]
Gradi's time atSelhurst Park was not a success, as he failed to save Crystal Palace from relegation, and he resigned the following November after a disappointing start to the1981–82 season.
After a spell coaching at Leyton Orient, Gradi returned to management on 9 June 1983,[15] when he accepted an offer to manageCrewe Alexandra, a team who regularly finished near the bottom of the Fourth Division and had been forced to apply for re-election on several occasions in order to avoid slipping into theNorthern Premier League and, since its creation in 1979, theFootball Conference. His first season signings includedMark Leonard fromTranmere Rovers,John Crabbe fromHereford United andDavid Pullar fromExeter City[16] as Gradi looked to build an academy structure to develop players that could be sold to help fund the player development programme. Among his first transfer successes wereDave Waller (sold toShrewsbury Town),Gary Blissett (sold toBrentford) andGeoff Thomas (sold to Crystal Palace);[17] gradually the club moved forward.
In1988–89, after six seasons of steady progress, they won promotion to end 25 years in the league's basement division. Gradi signed a then unheard-of ten-year contract with Crewe.[18] They went back down again two years later, but in 1994 won promotion toDivision Two and three years after that they reachedDivision One for the first time in their history.
Shortly after the 1994 promotion, Gradi became the League's longest-serving manager. By 2002 he was one of just two managers, the other beingAlex Ferguson, to have held their position since before 1990. He later joined the club'sBoard of Directors.
Gradi's contract with Crewe was one of the most controversial in the Football League; it included a clause giving him a percentage of the profit on any player sold to another club.[19]
"Dario is honest, diligent and remarkable. He did a great job at Crewe and proved himself to be one of our best managers."
His keen eye for spotting and rearing young talent is what has gained him some recognition in football. He entered into discussions with Portugal'sBenfica over the vacant managerial spot in the 1980s, and was linked with the post ofFA Technical Director in 1996.[21]
During the 1980s and 1990s Gradi helped launch the careers of many players who went on to play top division and international football. These includeDavid Platt,Rob Jones,Geoff Thomas,Danny Murphy,Ashley Ward,Wayne Collins,Seth Johnson,Robbie Savage andNeil Lennon. Gradi's success continued into the 2000s, when he helped players includingRob Hulse,Dean Ashton,David Vaughan,Michael O'Connor,Billy Jones,Nicky Maynard andAshley Westwood.
Crewe Alexandra won the PFA Bobby Moore Fair Play trophy 12 times in 15 years during Gradi's reign.[22]
On 20 April 2007, Gradi announced that with effect from 1 July he would relinquish first-team responsibilities, becoming technical director while gradually handing over to new first-team coachSteve Holland, with Neil Baker remaining as assistant manager. Gradi was then thelongest serving manager of an English Football League club.[1] Gradi told the club website:
I didn't want to be a 75-year-old manager working seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. That is not healthy for the future of the club. I will probably drop dead doing the job at some point but I wanted to put that day off a bit. This is a better way to do things, to introduce this gradual transition because it will take some of the workload off me.[23]
On 18 November 2008, Gradi resumed control of Crewe's first team on a caretaker basis after a poor start to the2008–09 season under Steve Holland had left the club bottom of League One.[24] He was in charge for just over a month beforeGudjon Thordarson was announced as his successor onChristmas Eve 2008.[25] Gradi remained in charge of the team for two games during the Christmas period, with Thordarson taking over on 29 December. Following the sacking of Thordarson on 2 October 2009,[26] Gradi was again reinstated as caretaker manager which the board of directors then stated would be until further notice.
After returning as manager in 2009, on 10 November 2011 it was announced that Gradi had chosen to step down as manager, returning to his position as Director of Football. Gradi's assistant managerSteve Davis, who had played for Crewe under Gradi from 1983 to 1987, was appointed as manager with immediate effect.[2]
Gradi announced his retirement from all positions at Crewe Alexandra on 7 October 2019, at the age of 78, ending his 36-year association with the club.[27][28]
In January 1998, Gradi was awarded anMBE for services to football,[3] but was stripped of the award in 2023.[4][5] In 2003 he was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Crewe and Nantwich[29] and in the same year was awarded an honorary doctorate byLoughborough University.[7]
In 2004, Gradi won thePFA Merit Award and was inducted into theEnglish Football Hall of Fame for his services to football.[30] In 2011 at theFootball League Awards Gradi was again honoured by his peers as he won the 'Outstanding Contribution to League Football' for his work at Crewe. A street in Crewe, Dario Gradi Drive, is named in his honour. The winning school in the Surrey Schools Football Association's boys under-13s competition receive the Dario Gradi Trophy.[31]
On 16 November 2016, former Crewe defenderAndy Woodward revealed that he had been the victim ofchild sexual abuse at the club in the 1980s by former coachBarry Bennell, who was convicted in 1998.[32][33][34] Subsequently, six other individuals contacted the police, and on 22 November,The Guardian reported that Crewe teammateSteve Walters had been another of Bennell's victims.[35] As Gradi had been manager at the time of the abuse, and as one attack was reported to have taken place at Gradi's home but without his knowledge, Gradi was pressed to say more about what he knew, and when.[36][37] On 24 November, Gradi released a statement saying he knew nothing of Bennell's crimes:
Also on 24 November, another ex-Crewe academy graduateDanny Murphy talked to theEvening Standard about Gradi:
Similar character references were provided by former Crewe trainee, laterCrewe Chronicle andCheshire Live journalist, Peter Morse,[40] and former defenderDavid Wright.[41]
On 3 December,The Independent reported an allegation from a former Chelsea youth player (later named as Eamonn Manners) that Gradi, then Chelsea's assistant manager, visited the player's family's home to "smooth over" a complaint of sexual assault against Chelsea chief scout Eddie Heath in 1974.[42] Gradi responded with a statement:
On 6 December 2016, theFootball Association announced the terms of reference of a review to be conducted byClive Sheldon QC,[43] and said Gradi would be among the first to be asked questions over the "smoothing over" allegation.[44] In connection with these allegations, on 11 December 2016, the FA announced that it had suspended Gradi.[45][46] Gradi subsequently said he had been notified by the FA of his interim suspension from football on 25 November, and reiterated "that I will do everything within my power to assist all investigatory authorities."[47][48]
On 7 December, the BBC reported that the mother of a former Crewe youth team player wrote an anonymous letter to Gradi in 1989–90, asking him to investigate "inappropriate" behaviour whereby a member of staff "took lots of boys into his room overnight" during a weekend away in Blackpool.[49]
In February 2017, it was reported that Gradi planned to appeal against his FA suspension from football, feeling he had been left "in limbo",[50] but, a year later, he remained suspended from football. On 27 February 2018, claims were made that, in 2001, a former Crewe Alexandra employee was asked by a senior official at the club to help wipe pornography off Gradi's home computer, which had been viewed by a group of Irish under-13 players at his house.[51]
In February 2019,The Guardian reported on a nine-page statement from Gradi about what he knew regarding Barry Bennell. Gradi admitted to encouraging a close player-coach culture and to not making detailed background checks about Bennell because Crewe was trying to poach him fromManchester City "on the quiet". Club chairman John Bowler said Crewe had not appreciated the dangers of football being used as a means for a paedophile to prey on young boys ("documented procedures that are now in place for the protection of minors were not in place at that time"), while Gradi had not made detailed inquiries into Bennell's background ("He did not have any specific coaching qualifications but none were required and at the time the FA did not publish any guidance on child protection"). However, former club secretary Gill Palin had been uncomfortable about Bennell.[52]
In August 2019, Chelsea's board apologised "unreservedly" for allowing Eddie Heath, a "prolific and manipulative sexual abuser", to operate "unchallenged". Its inquiry, led by barrister Charles Geekie QC, was also critical of former assistant manager Gradi. He was accused of failing to tell senior club staff about a sexual conduct allegation concerning Heath made by the parent of a young player. Gradi denied trying to "smooth over" the matter in a meeting with the boy's father and said he had reported the allegations to Chelsea managerRon Suart.[53] Gradi was accused by Geekie of giving "somewhat unlikely and unconvincing" evidence; Geekie also rejected Gradi's claim to have reported the matter to more senior staff, saying "this was a significant personal failure by Mr Gradi. It was a lost opportunity to expose Mr Heath and prevent further abuse."[54]
The FA's 700-page Sheldon report was published on 17 March 2021, identifying failures to act adequately on complaints or rumours of sexual abuse at eight professional clubs including Crewe. Considering whether senior club people knew about Bennell, Sheldon concluded they had not received specific reports of abuse (a conclusion also reached by Cheshire constabulary). However, Norman Rowlinson, John Bowler and Hamilton Smith had discussed concerns about inappropriate behaviour; "... during Bennell's time at the Club, there were rumours circulating about [Bennell] and his sexual interest in children which were heard by some of the Club's staff, including Dario Gradi." The club "should have done more to check on the well-being of the boys", Sheldon said.[55] Regarding the Chelsea allegations, Sheldon could not decide whether Gradi had informed the club's acting manager, Ron Suart, of concerns raised at a meeting with the player's father, but, either way, Sheldon said Gradi's or Suart's responses were inadequate.[55] The FA's CEO Mark Bullingham said Gradi was "effectively banned for life" from football; the FA legal director said it was "for safeguarding reasons" but that was "as far as we can go".[56][57] Child abuse survivors charity The Offside Trust called for Gradi to be stripped of his MBE, and for the Professional Footballers' Association and Football Hall of Fame to revoke other honours.[58][57] Gradi was stripped of his MBE in August 2023,[59][4][5] following a professional disbarment.[60]
On 19 March 2021, Gradi apologised, saying: "I wish to express my deepest sympathy for the survivors and their families. I sincerely and personally regret that the harm being caused to these young people was not discovered at the time. I apologise for not recognising any signs of abuse at the time." He also asserted that he had not been banned from all football-related activity – "this is not the case" he said. "I am suspended indefinitely from certain specified activities with players under the age of 18 years and whilst I do not agree with it, I understand how the decision was arrived at."[61]
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Wimbledon | 5 January 1978 | 1 January 1981 | 171 | 63 | 47 | 61 | 036.8 | [62] |
| Crystal Palace | 1 February 1981 | 10 November 1981 | 27 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 022.2 | [62] |
| Crewe Alexandra | 1 June 1983 | 21 September 20031 | 1,053 | 411 | 251 | 391 | 039.0 | [62] |
| 18 October 2003 | 1 July 2007 | 188 | 53 | 50 | 85 | 028.2 | [62] | |
| 18 November 2008 | 29 December 2008 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 037.5 | [62] | |
| 12 October 2009 | 13 November 2011 | 110 | 38 | 23 | 49 | 034.5 | [62] | |
| Crewe total | 1,359 | 505 | 325 | 529 | 037.2 | — | ||
| Total | 1,557 | 574 | 375 | 608 | 036.9 | — | ||
1Gradi was absent from his post between 22 September and 17 October 2003, because of heart surgery. Assistant manager Neil Baker took charge of the team for this period (P6, W0, D1, L5).
Individual