Stuart Gray

Born in Withernsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, Gray began his professional career with Nottingham Forest, emerging from the youth system with players such as Steve Hodge and Colin Walsh. He joined Barnsley in 1984 and continued to build a reputation as a steady and versatile player, scoring eleven league goals in the 1986–87 season. He moved to Aston Villa in 1987 and won promotion the following year and runners-up in the First Division in 1990. Gray joined Southampton in September 1991 for a fee of £200,000 as one of Ian Branfoot's first signings. Initially, this appeared to be a useful signing for the club as he could play either at left-back as cover for Micky Adams or in midfield, but a serious Achilles tendon injury sustained in an FA Cup match against former club Bolton Wanderers ended his playing career. Earlier in that FA Cup run, Gray scored his only goal for Southampton, in a replay against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Micky Adams hit a probing left-foot pass which dropped between Peter Schmeichel and Paul Parker. Gray nipped between the goalkeeper and defender to stroke the ball home from just outside the area. Southampton eventually went on to win the game in a penalty shoot-out after scores were level 2–2 after extra time. This was the first ever such shoot-out involving First Division sides.

Southampton

After his playing career was finished, Gray joined the coaching staff at The Dell before moving to Wolverhampton Wanderers in June 1994 as reserve team coach. His family were unable to settle in the West Midlands at this time, so he returned to Southampton, initially working in the community office, before becoming reserve team coach under Dave Jones in July 1997, moving up to first team coach in November 1998, a role he retained after the appointment of Glenn Hoddle as manager in January 2000. When Hoddle was lured away to Tottenham Hotspur in March 2001, Gray initially took over as caretaker manager, before taking on the role permanently in June, as Southampton moved to their new St Mary's Stadium. Early results were poor and chairman Rupert Lowe panicked about the effect on the club's investment in the new stadium and Gray was sacked after little more than three months in charge, to be replaced by Gordon Strachan. During his brief tenure as manager, he broke Southampton's transfer record, signing Rory Delap for a fee of £4 million.

Coaching

He has since coached successfully at a number of football clubs. These include Aston Villa, where he and John Deehan acted as joint caretaker managers after the departure of John Gregory. Stuart Gray moved briefly to Crystal Palace to assist caretaker manager, Kit Symons. He then joined Dave Jones at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the capacity of assistant manager. The two had previously worked together at…

Club

Managerial

As of 30 August 2018

Individual

Barnsley Player of the Year: 1986–87