Andy Gray

Andrew David Gray (born 15 November 1977) is a former professional footballer.

He is the son of the former Scotland defender Frank Gray and nephew of Leeds United legend Eddie Gray.

His cousin Stuart Gray was also a pro footballer.

His son Archie is a professional footballer at Leeds United.

Andy Gray started his career as a midfield player but later moved into a forward position.

Gray began his career with Leeds United and he later played for Nottingham Forest, Charlton Athletic, Bury, Preston North End, Oldham Athletic, Barnsley, Bradford City, Sheffield United, Sunderland and Burnley.

One of Gray's first senior appearances came for Leeds United in the 1996 League Cup final, when he was 18 years old.

Leeds lost 3–0 to Aston Villa, Gray was one of the standout performers on the day for Leeds despite a 3–0 defeat.

After failing to displace the likes of Tony Yeboah, Rod Wallace, Brian Deane and then Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Gray had a loan spell at Bury to get regular first team football before leaving the club permanently in 1998.

Gray joined fellow Premier League side Nottingham Forest on a permanent deal.

Signed as a winger, Gray endured a frustrating time at the City Ground where he was deployed at full back for a portion of his time there.

He managed to net his only goal for the club in a game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, in 64 appearances.

He also had loan spells at Preston North End and Oldham Athletic.

Gray left Forest for a spell at Bradford City where he converted to the role of striker.

He also won two caps for Scotland, against Lithuania and New Zealand in 2003.

Gray was born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

He signed for Leeds United which carried on the family tradition of his father Frank Gray and his uncle Eddie Gray.

He earned the Bradford City Player of the year Award in 2003.

His form at Bradford earned him a call up to the Scotland national team.

In total Gray scored 20 league goals in 77 games for Bradford.

His form at Bradford also alerted Neil Warnock who signed Gray for Sheffield United.

One of the highlights of Gray's career came when he scored a last minute equaliser against Arsenal in the FA Cup in 2005.

After scoring 25 goals in 58 games for United, Gray joined Sunderland in the Premier League in a multimillion-pound deal.

In August 2005, Gray returned to the Premier League after he signed for Sunderland.

He had a goal-scoring record of 28 goals in 65 games at Sheffield United, prompting the £1.1 million transfer to the Black Cats.

However, his second stint in the Premier League was unprofitable as he scored only once in 22 appearances; that goal coming on his debut against Charlton Athletic.

His early form at Burnley at the end of the 2005–06 season and the start of the next suggested that he would again prove an effective goalscorer in the Championship.

On 17 March 2006, after prolonged interest from a number of clubs, he signed on loan for Burnley until the end of the season, after he was placed on the transfer list by manager Niall Quinn.

His former club Leeds United were favourites to sign him but his switch to Burnley became permanent when the transfer window reopened in the summer of 2006 for around £750,000.

His 2006–07 season was disrupted by a broken metatarsal, incurred against Leeds United, but both before and after the injury he scored regularly.

Burnley's long winless run that season coincided with Gray's absence through injury, demonstrating his importance to the team as a source of goals.

He returned towards the end of the 2006–07 season, scoring four goals in three games as Burnley won five of their last six games.

This goal-scoring form continued into the 2007–08 season.

Gray left Burnley on 18 January 2008, when he sealed an emergency loan deal with Charlton Athletic prior to a permanent move the following week.

He made his debut when came on as a second-half substitute the following day in Charlton's 1–1 draw away at Watford.

His £1.5 million move to Charlton was finalised the following week and he made his first start for his new club on 29 January 2008 in a 1–0 victory over Stoke City.

His first goal for Charlton came in his 13th game, when he scored an equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Southampton on 12 April 2008.

Gray followed this up with goals in successive home games with the second goal against Coventry City in a 4–1 win, a goal against Swindon in a 1–1 draw and a penalty in the impressive 4–2 defeat of newly relegated Reading.

Gray signed for Championship side Barnsley on 21 August 2009 for an undisclosed fee and made his debut the following day at Leicester City.

Gray scored his first goal in 3–1 loss to Reading on 28 August 2009.