Graham Alexander

Early career

Alexander began his career in the late 1980s as a youth player with Scunthorpe United. He made his first-team debut on 27 April 1991, coming on as a substitute for Mark Hine, and signed his first professional contract the same year. In 1991–92, he established himself as a member of Scunthorpe's first team, usually playing at right half.

Luton Town

Alexander made over 200 appearances at Scunthorpe before moving to Luton Town for a transfer fee of £100,000. He went on to make a similar number of appearances with Luton in his four years with the club.

Preston North End

In 1999 two clubs were vying for his signature; Burnley and Preston North End. Both clubs made offers for the player but Alexander opted for a move to Preston. He became a first team regular at Deepdale, eventually club captain and an established set-piece taker, particularly in penalties. Alexander stayed remarkably fit during his career, rarely suffering a major injury. However, during the 2000–01 season, he missed several weeks of the season after breaking his rib in an away match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. During his eight years at Preston, Alexander made exactly 400 appearances for the club, with his 400th and final match coming against Colchester United on 25 August 2007. He was also in the PFA's Championship Team of the Season for 2004–05 During the summer of 2007 a number of clubs were linked with him including Crystal Palace who had a £50,000 bid turned down…

Born in England to a Scottish father and Irish mother, Alexander was eligible to play for England, the Republic of Ireland or Scotland. Before his first international call, Alexander said, "To be honest, since I started playing football, I've had two ambitions: to play in the Premier League, and to play for Scotland. I've been brought up supporting Scotland as far back as I can remember." This ambition was fulfilled when he made his Scotland debut on 17 April 2002 in a 2–1 friendly defeat to Nigeria at Pittodrie Stadium. Alexander was part of the Scotland squad who won the annual Japanese Kirin Cup tournament in 2006, defeating Bulgaria 5–1 before drawing 0–0 with Japan. He gained his 25th Scotland cap in a 1–0 home victory against France. He gained a total of 40 caps for Scotland. Alexander was shown only one yellow card while playing for Scotland, against New Zealand in May 2003.

Fleetwood Town

On 6 December 2012, Alexander was appointed as the new manager of League Two club Fleetwood Town. Upon his arrival, Fleetwood were sat in seventh place in the league, though had recently been eliminated from the FA Cup by Aldershot Town. In his second season in charge, Alexander guided Fleetwood to promotion by winning the promotion play-offs, but was subsequently dismissed in September 2015, following a poor start to their 2015–16 campaign in League One.

Scunthorpe United

On 22 March 2016, Alexander was appointed as the new manager of League One side Scunthorpe United. In his first full season in charge, Alexander guided the club to qualification for the promotion play-offs where they suffered a 3–2 aggregate defeat to eventual champions Millwall. On 24 March 2018, it was confirmed that Alexander had parted ways with Scunthorpe after two years in association with the club; his side had gone eight games without a win, though left the club sat in fifth place.

Salford City

On 14 May 2018, Alexander was appointed as the new manager of newly promoted National League club Salford City, signing onto a four-year contract, following the departures of previous joint-managers Bernard Morley and Anthony Johnson. In his first season in charge, Alexander guided Salford to qualification for the promotion play-offs, in which they recorded a narrow 4–3 penalty success over Eastleigh, having drawn the match 1–1, to reach the final at Wembley…

Club

International