Andy Gray

'Tik a boo', son

Player Biography
Full name:	Andrew Gray
Date of birth:	November 30, 1955
Clubs played for:	Dundee United, Aston Villa, Wolves, Everton, Notts County, West Brom, Rangers, Cheltenham

Club Career

Scottish striker Andy Gray began his professional career at Dundee United before moving south in October 1975 to join Aston Villa. He quickly made a big impact and in the 1976-77 season he won the Golden Boot with 25 League goals. His goalscoring exploits won him both the PFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards, a double that was only matched by Cristiano Ronaldo almost 30 years later.

In September 1979 he signed for Wolves for a British record fee of £1.75million and spent four years at the club, scoring the winning goal in the 1980 League Cup final and being both relegated from and promoted to the top-flight. A move to Everton in 1983 proved hugely successful, Gray winning the FA Cup in 1984, then the League Championship and the European Cup-Winners' Cup a year later.

He was on the move back to Villa in 1985 but his time back in the Midlands was not successful as the club were relegated and he left for West Brom. After a short spell in Scotland with Rangers, Gray finished his career with non-league Cheltenham.

He has since found equal fame and fortune in his second career as a football summariser for Sky Sports.

Club Stats

Years	Clubs	App	Goals
1973-75	Dundee United	62	46
1975-79	Aston Villa	113	54
1979-83	Wolves	133	38
1983-85	Everton	49	14
1985-87	Aston Villa	54	5
1987	Notts County (loan)	4	0
1987-88	West Brom	35	10
1988-89	Rangers	14	5
1989-90	Cheltenham	20	7

International Career

During an international career that spanned 10 years, Gray made 20 appearances and scored seven goals. Bizarrely, though, he was never selected for any of Scotland’s World Cup squads.

International Career Stats

Years	Clubs	App	Goals
1975-85	Scotland	20	7

Key Games

Aston Villa 5-1 Liverpool (First Division, December 15, 1976)

Liverpool were the undisputed aristocrats of English football and would go on to win the European Cup and retain their League title that season. But it wasn’t a happy Christmas for the Merseysiders as two goals from Gray, a pair from John Deehan and one from Brian Little saw Villa humiliate the visitors.

Wolves 1-0 Nottingham Forest (League Cup final, March 15, 1980)

Wolves were the underdogs as they took on the mighty Forest, but Gray had other ideas. In the 68th minute he took advantage of a mistake in the Forest defence to find the net, and that one goal was enough to seal a gallant victory.

Everton 3-1 Rapid Vienna (European Cup-Winners' Cup final, May 15, 1985)

Everton triumphed in the Cup-Winners’ Cup against Rapid Vienna in Rotterdam with a well-deserved 3-1 win. Gray had a goal ruled out in the first half, but got himself on the scoresheet with a well-taken volley to put the English side ahead. Further goals from Trevor Steven and Kevin Sheedy secured Everton's first European trophy.

Honours

Club	Competition	Year
Aston Villa	PFA Player of the Year	1977
	PFA Young Player of the Year	1977
Wolves	League Cup	1980
Everton	FA Cup	1984
	League Championship	1984-85
	European Cup-Winners' Cup	1985

Did You Know...?

Andy once had a role in a movie, A Shot At Glory, which also featured Rangers legend Ally McCoist and actor Robert Duvall

When Andy won his two PFA awards in 1977, Aston Villa manager Ron Saunders refused to let him travel to the ceremony, claiming it would aggravate an injury. When the awards were doled out, Gray was actually sitting in his front room at home

Gray once dated former Olympic gymnast Suzanne Dando

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