View source for Frank Gray

{{short description|Scottish footballer and manager}}
{{Other people|Frank Gray}}
{{BLP sources|date=November 2009}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name           = Frank Gray
| fullname       = Francis Tierney Gray<ref>{{Hugman|7639|access-date=14 May 2017}}</ref>
| birth_date     = {{birth date and age|df=y|1954|10|27}}
| birth_place    = [[Glasgow]], Scotland
| height         = 5 ft 10 in<ref>{{cite book |title=Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88 |editor-first=Peter |editor-last=Dunk |publisher=Queen Anne Press |location=London |date=1987 |page=352 |isbn=978-0-356-14354-5}}</ref>
| position       = [[Defender (association football)|Left-back]]
| currentclub    =
| youthyears1    = 1971–1973
| youthclubs1    = [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]]
| years1         = 1972–1979
| clubs1         = [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]]
| caps1          = 193
| goals1         = 17
| years2         = 1979–1981
| clubs2         = [[Nottingham Forest F.C.|Nottingham Forest]]
| caps2          = 81
| goals2         = 5
| years3         = 1981–1985
| clubs3         = [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]]
| caps3          = 139
| goals3         = 10
| years4         = 1985–1989
| clubs4         = [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]]
| caps4          = 146
| goals4         = 8
| years5         = 1989–1992
| clubs5         = [[Darlington F.C.|Darlington]]
| caps5          = 85
| goals5         = 8
| totalcaps      = 644
| totalgoals     = 48
| nationalyears1 = 1976–1983
| nationalteam1  = [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]]
| nationalcaps1  = 32
| nationalgoals1 = 1
| manageryears1  = 1991–1992
| managerclubs1  = [[Darlington F.C.|Darlington]]
| manageryears2  = 2005–2006
| managerclubs2  = [[Farnborough F.C.|Farnborough Town]]
| manageryears3  = 2006
| managerclubs3  = [[Grays Athletic F.C.|Grays Athletic]]
| manageryears4  = 2007–2008
| managerclubs4  = [[Woking F.C.|Woking]]
| manageryears5  = 2008–2012
| managerclubs5  = [[Basingstoke Town F.C.|Basingstoke Town]]
| manageryears6  = 2012–2013
| managerclubs6  = [[Bashley F.C.|Bashley]]
}}
'''Francis Tierney Gray''' (born 27 October 1954) is a Scottish [[Association football|football]] [[manager (association football)|manager]] and former player. He played for [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]], [[Nottingham Forest F.C.|Nottingham Forest]], [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]] and [[Darlington F.C.|Darlington]], while he also represented [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] 32 times. He managed Darlington, [[Farnborough F.C.|Farnborough Town]], [[Grays Athletic F.C.|Grays Athletic]], [[Woking F.C.|Woking]], [[Basingstoke Town F.C.|Basingstoke Town]] and [[Bashley F.C.|Bashley]].

== Club career ==
=== Leeds United ===
Gray was born in [[Glasgow]] and brought up in the city's [[Castlemilk]] district.<ref name="mecca">[https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/interview-eddie-gray-why-sfa-must-stay-hampden-our-mecca-257663%3famp Interview: Eddie Gray on why SFA must stay at Hampden – 'our mecca'], The Scotsman, 18 September 2018</ref> He was one of the new generation of [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]] players of the mid-1970s charged with the task of maintaining the club's success after the [[Don Revie]] era.

Gray, younger brother of [[Eddie Gray (footballer, born 1948)|Eddie]], 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 back [[Terry Cooper (footballer born 1944)|Terry 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 allowing [[Trevor Cherry]] to take the left back spot for the end of the season which consisted of two cup finals (the [[FA Cup]] and the [[Cup Winners' Cup|European Cup Winners Cup]]) both of which Leeds lost. Revie did invite Gray to travel with the squad to [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley]] and he sat next to his manager during the defeat to [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]].

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 the [[Football League First Division|League championship]] thanks to an unbeaten start to the season of 29 games. Gray played only six times and did not qualify for a medal.<ref>{{cite web |title=Leeds United: Season 1973–1974: Division One|url=https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/history/59.html|website=leeds-fans.org.uk |access-date=6 December 2020}}</ref>

The following season, he made 18 appearances in the League and usurped Cherry for the No. 3 shirt in the [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]] final in [[Paris]], which Leeds lost 2–0 to [[Bayern Munich]]. As the Revie team disbanded due to age – Revie himself had quit for the [[England national football team|England]] 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, alongside [[Gordon McQueen]] and [[Joe Jordan (footballer)|Joe Jordan]].

=== Nottingham Forest ===
In 1979, Gray joined [[Nottingham Forest F.C.|Nottingham Forest]] for £500,000. Forest were managed by [[Brian 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 a [[Hamburger SV|Hamburg SV]] side which included [[Kevin Keegan]]. Gray also finished on the losing side earlier in the season when Forest were beaten in the [[Football League Cup|League Cup]] final by [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolves]], thanks to a single goal from unrelated fellow Scotsman [[Andy Gray (footballer born 1955)|Andy Gray]].

=== Return to Elland Road ===
Despite his success with Forest, in 1981 Gray returned to Leeds, accepting an invitation from manager – and former teammate – [[Allan Clarke (footballer)|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 for [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]] in 1985. His tally for Leeds stood up at 396 appearances and 35 goals.

== International career ==
Gray made his debut for [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] in a 1–0 win over [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland]] in 1976, and won more caps in late 1978, having missed out on a place in the squad for that summer's [[1978 World Cup|World 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<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/scot-intres1985.html|title = Scotland - International Matches 1981-1985}}</ref> against [[New Zealand men's national football team|New Zealand]], [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]] and the [[USSR national football team|USSR]], though Scotland did not progress further.

His international career ended in 1983 after 32 appearances and one goal.

== Management career ==
During his second spell at Leeds, Gray coached Collingham Under 16s. After his second stint at Leeds, he helped [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]] gain promotion from [[Football League Division Three|Division Three]], then helped Darlington into the [[Football League]] as assistant to [[Brian Little (footballer)|Brian Little]] in the 1990s and took [[Farnborough F.C.|Farnborough Town]] to the [[Conference South|Nationwide Conference South]] [[play-off]]s in [[2005–06 in English football|2005–06]]. He moved to [[Grays Athletic F.C.|Grays Athletic]] with assistant Gerry Murphy to replace [[Mark 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, replacing [[Glenn Cockerill]]. He departed by mutual consent on 8 April 2008.

He was appointed manager of [[Basingstoke Town F.C.|Basingstoke Town]] in the [[Conference South]],<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120607032025/http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/news/index.php?&newsmode=FULL&nid=49841 BASINGSTOKE APPOINT GRAY]}}, nonleaguedaily.com</ref> 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 side [[Bashley F.C.|Bashley]]. On 19 June 2013 Gray and his sideman Murphy stepped down and were replaced by former Bashley players Paul Gazzard and Stewart Kearn.

== Post-management career ==
Gray lives in Australia where he works as a pundit for [[Fox Sports (Australia)|Fox Sports Australia]]'s [[Premier League]] coverage{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}. 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.manlyunitedfc.com.au/2016/06/10/mufc-profile-frank-gray/|title = MUFC profile: Frank Gray|date = 9 June 2016}}</ref>

== Family football links ==
His son [[Andy Gray (footballer, born 1977)|Andy Gray]], a striker, came through the ranks at Leeds and later played for [[Nottingham Forest F.C.|Nottingham Forest]], [[Bury F.C.|Bury]], [[Preston North End F.C.|Preston]], [[Oldham Athletic A.F.C.|Oldham Athletic]], [[Bradford City A.F.C.|Bradford City]], [[Sheffield United F.C.|Sheffield United]], [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]], [[Burnley F.C.|Burnley]], [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]] and [[Barnsley F.C.|Barnsley]]. He also won two full international caps for [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]].

His nephew [[Stuart Gray (footballer, born 1973)|Stuart]] represented [[Celtic F.C.|Celtic]] and [[Reading F.C.|Reading]] as a [[full-back (football)|full-back]].

His grandsons, [[Archie Gray]] and [[Harry Gray (footballer, born 2008)|Harry Gray]] are also professional footballers.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/dec/08/archie-gray-my-childhood-dream-was-to-win-the-champions-league-with-leeds |title=Archie Gray: 'My childhood dream was to win the Champions League with Leeds' | work=The Guardian |first=Ross |last=Heppenstall |date=2023-12-08 |accessdate=2023-12-08}}</ref>

==Career statistics==
===International===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year<ref>[http://www.national-football-teams.com/player/18040/Frank_Gray.html National Football Teams profile]</ref>
|-
!National team||Year||Apps||Goals
|-
|rowspan="8"|[[Scotland national football team|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
|-
!colspan="2"|Total||32||1
|}

====International goals====
:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Gray goal''.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ International goal scored by Frank Gray<ref>[http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/football_player_profile.cfm?page=2492&playerID=113784&squadID=1 SFA profile]</ref>
|-
! # !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition
|-
| 1. || 23 March 1982 || [[Hampden Park]], [[Glasgow]] || {{fb|NED}} || align="center" |1–0 || align="center" |2–1 || [[Friendly match|Friendly]]
|}

== Honours ==

=== As a player ===
'''Leeds United'''
* [[Football League First Division]]: [[1973–74 Football League|1973–74]]
* [[FA Cup]] runner-up: [[1973 FA Cup Final|1972–73]]
*[[FA Charity Shield]] runner-up: [[1974 FA Charity Shield|1974]]
* [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]] runner-up: [[1975 European Cup final|1974–75]]
* [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup|European Cup Winners' Cup]] runner-up: [[1973 European Cup Winners' Cup final|1972–73]]

'''Nottingham Forest'''
* [[Football League Cup|League Cup]] runner-up: [[1979–80 in English football|1979–80]]
* European Cup: [[1979–80 in English football|1979–80]]
* [[European Super Cup]]: [[1979 European Super Cup|1979]]; runner-up [[1989 European Super Cup|1980]]
* [[Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004)|Intercontinental Cup]] runner-up: [[1980 Intercontinental Cup|1980]]

'''Sunderland'''
* [[Football League Third Division]]: [[1987–88 in English football|1987–88]]

'''Darlington'''
* [[Football League Fourth Division]]: [[1990–91 in English football|1990–91]]
* [[Conference National|Football Conference]]: [[1989–90 in English football|1989–90]]

==See also==
*[[List of footballers in England by number of league appearances]] (500+)
*[[List of Leeds United F.C. players]]
*[[List of Scotland international footballers]] 
*[[List of Scottish football families]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{Soccerbase}}
*{{soccerbase (manager)|439|Frank Gray}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081015054515/http://www.basingstokefc.co.uk/stats/player.php?id=317 Frank Gray's Profile at basingstokefc.co.uk]

{{Scotland squad 1982 FIFA World Cup}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Managerial positions
| list =
{{Darlington F.C. managers}}
{{Grays Athletic F.C. managers}}
{{Woking F.C. managers}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Frank}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Scottish men's footballers]]
[[Category:Scotland men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Leeds United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Nottingham Forest F.C. players]]
[[Category:Sunderland A.F.C. players]]
[[Category:Darlington F.C. players]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:National League (English football) players]]
[[Category:1982 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:Scottish football managers]]
[[Category:Darlington F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Farnborough F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Grays Athletic F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Woking F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Basingstoke Town F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Bashley F.C. managers]]
[[Category:English Football League managers]]
[[Category:National League (English football) managers]]
[[Category:Scotland men's under-23 international footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football full-backs]]
[[Category:Footballers from Glasgow]]
[[Category:Gray family (association football)|Frank]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:UEFA Champions League–winning players]]