Andre Gray

Shrewsbury Town

Gray began his career in the academy at hometown club Wolverhampton Wanderers, but was released at age 13. He joined the youth system at League Two club Shrewsbury Town in 2004, signing his first professional one-year contract prior to the start of the 2009–10 season. Awarded the number 20 shirt by manager Paul Simpson, he made his debut on the opening day of the season, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute for Nathan Elder in a 3–1 win over Burton Albion. An injury crisis saw Gray make four further cameos, with what would be his final appearance for the club coming as a 57th-minute replacement for Kris Bright in a 2–0 Football League Trophy second round defeat to Accrington Stanley on 20 October. He spent periods of the 2009–10 season away on loan, but competition for places meant that Gray was relegated to the reserve team substitutes' bench. On 26 November 2009, Gray joined Conference North club AFC Telford United on a one-month loan. His good form meant that his loan was extended for a second month. He scored his first goal for the club with a late winner against local rivals Stafford Rangers on Boxing Day. Competition for places meant that he gradually lost his place in the team, and he returned to Shrewsbury Town on 5 February 2010. He played six times for Telford, scoring once. He later departed the New Meadow at the end of his contract as one of five players released by managerless Shrewsbury. Looking back on his time at Shrewsbury, Gray…

Gray's goalscoring record for Luton in the final months of the 2011–12 season raised the attention of the England C team and he was named in the squad for an International Challenge Trophy match against Russia U23 in June 2012. He made his debut in a 4–0 defeat, playing the full 90 minutes. He was later called into the squad to face Belgium U23 in September 2012. He came on as a half-time substitute for Stephen Brogan and scored his first international goal with the winner in a 2–1 victory. The win saw England C qualify for the semi-final of the International Challenge Trophy. He played in the semi-final on 5 February 2013 against Turkey B, which England C lost 1–0. Gray captained England C in the second half of a 6–1 friendly win over Bermuda on 5 June 2013, scoring the team's sixth goal. Gray's return to the Football League in June 2014 meant that he was no longer eligible for England C. He made six appearances and scored two goals for the team. He targeted a call-up to the England senior team after joining Watford in August 2017. In March 2021, Gray was one of six English-born players to receive their first call-up to the Jamaica national team. On 25 March 2021, he made his debut against the United States. He scored his first internationalgoal on 7 June in a 1–1 draw with Serbia in Japan. He was named in the squadlist for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup after replacing the injured Javon East and played in the quarter-final defeat to the United States.

At his peak, Gray was a centre-forward described as having "raw pace and clinical finishing". Burnley manager Sean Dyche noted his tactical understanding and all-round game was improving to complement his natural goalscoring ability, pace and power.

Gray was born in Wolverhampton, West Midlands. He supported Wolverhampton Wanderers, before being drawn towards supporting Arsenal after seeing Thierry Henry play. He had been introduced to football by his grandfather and suffered grief at 13 years old when his grandfather died. Acting as a mentor and father figure for his younger half-brother Cody, Gray said "I know what my grandad wants me to do and that's look after my family. It's driving me to work harder". Gray has a four-inch (100 mm) scar on his left cheek having been stabbed in the face in Wolverhampton in a gang-related incident in 2011. He spoke in May 2015 of having started to grow out of the gang lifestyle around the time of the incident and credited his mother, close friends and Luton Town for turning his life around. In June 2018, he was cited by Las Vegas Police for allegedly hitting a woman in a Las Vegas nightclub, though was found not guilty of misdemeanour battery the following February after representation by Alan Jackson, with co-counsel Shawn Perez stating that it was "a foolish case and one that should never have been brought to trial"; Gray did not attend the trial. Gray joined an anti-knife crime protest in August 2019. He was fined by police for breaking lockdown rules by organising a poker night with friends during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. He had previously broke lockdown rules to meet with friends on his birthday. In May 2016, Gray started dating Leigh-Anne Pinnock from the British girl group…