262 David Gray

Position : Forward

Played : 1998-99

Appearances : 3

Goals : 0

Generally speaking , pre-season friendlies are football’s equivalent of Bill Haley and the Comets, fun at the time but quickly forgotten once the real thing arrives. One that does stay in the memory is the 7-1 thrashing of Accrington in August 1998 where, playing in a largely second-string side , a teenager called David Gray ran amok, scoring 6 goals. He was a big lad who won all his headers but he was fast on the floor as well and clearly knew where the goals were. It looked like we might have a potential superstar on the books and he was on the bench for the opening game against Plymouth.


Alas, things didn’t turn out that way. After three very brief substitute appearances in the early part of the season he was involved in an off-field incident which embarrassed the club. If I ever heard the full details I’ve forgotten them but after that the directors wanted him out and he was released in the summer.

After arsing about in a modelling competition for “Face of the Millennium” in which he reached the last 5, he signed for Northwich in December 1999 and scored 3 goals in 19 games in the Conference. He moved on at the end of the season, later playing for Rossendale United and (unsurprisingly) Accrington where he was last heard of in 2002. There is a David Gray knocking about the Vodkat League this season but I haven’t yet established that it’s the same guy.