Michael Gray (footballer)
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Gray | ||
| Date of birth | 3 August 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Sunderland, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||
| Playing position |
Left-back Left winger |
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| Youth career | |||
| 1988–1990 | Manchester United | ||
| 1990–1992 | Sunderland | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–2004 | Sunderland | 363 | (16) |
| 2003 | → Celtic (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2004–2007 | Blackburn Rovers | 64 | (0) |
| 2005 | → Leeds United (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2007 | → Leeds United (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2007–2009 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 41 | (4) |
| 2009 | → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Sheffield Wednesday | 39 | (2) |
| Total | 534 | (22) | |
| National team | |||
| 1999 | England | 3 | (0) |
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:05, 4 June 2010 (UTC). |
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:05, 4 June 2010 (UTC).
Michael "Micky" Gray (born 3 August 1974) is an English former footballer who played at left-back or on the left wing for 18 years.
He is mostly remembered for his 12-year stay with his hometown club Sunderland, where he made 363 league appearances between 1992 and 2004. Whilst with Sunderland he spent a brief loan spell with Scottish Premier League side Celtic. In 2004, he moved to Blackburn Rovers and later had spells with Leeds United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield Wednesday. In 1999, Gray earned three caps for England.
While at school, Michael had trials with Manchester United and signed schoolboy forms, but decided against signing a contract at Old Trafford and continued playing for Fatfield Juniors F.C. in the Hetton Youth League. After 18 months he signed, as an apprentice, with Sunderland. He broke into the Sunderland first team, aged 18, at the beginning of the 1992–93 season, shortly after his 18th birthday. He made his senior debut on 21 November 1992 in a 1–0 win at Derby County in Division One (the first season after the creation of the new Premier League).
He played in various positions, including as a striker, left winger and left back before fading slightly from first team affairs. It was not until 1995–96 that he came to the fore, starting every game for Sunderland, invariably on the left side of midfield, as the team won promotion to the Premier League as Division One champions. Gray was also the scorer of their first Premier League goal, scoring the seventh-minute opener in a 4–1 win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on 21 August 1996.
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