Great story (below),good bloke and a beast on the pitch. I remember him scoring a penalty against Wimbledon and he hit it so hard I thought it was going to break the back of the net...

For Crystal Palace fans there is only one Andy Gray, who it quickly transpires is more outspoken and entertaining than his celebrated namesake. The 52-year-old’s retirement has been as eventful as a playing career that peaked and crashed with his solitary appearance for England in 1991 and has included such varied ventures as working as a football agent, being named coach of Sierra Leone without his knowledge and running an oil importation business before he settled on his present pursuit of talent-spotting young players.
Gray took some tracking down — “You’re looking for Andy Gray, you and everybody else!” said a former business partner last week — but after he finally answered the fourth mobile phone number handed out by a series of similarly exasperated friends it proved to be worth it. His madcap tales of trashing hotel rooms and training in a sheepskin coat paint a vivid picture of top-flight life before the Premier League revolution, while he is not afraid to skewer the reputations of those who continue to make their living out of the game.
Before we beat Liverpool in the semi-final, we went for a Chinese and then did karaoke
At the heart of Gray’s story, of course, are Palace, the club that he first joined as an 11-year-old with Terry Venables, then the first-team manager, giving him lifts home from training, and whom he will cheer on as a fan in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Watford. His presence at Wembley could be a good omen given that he scored the final equaliser and delivered the corner from which Alan Pardew headed the winner in Palace’s stunning 4-3 semi-final victory over Liverpool in 1990, although it is unlikely that Pardew will prepare his side like Steve Coppell did 26 years ago.
“On the Thursday night we all went for a Chinese and then did karaoke,” Gray says. “We thought if we could restrict Liverpool to two or three nil we’d be happy, but I think being so relaxed was our strength. I remember Ray Wilkins on commentary and he said, ‘Palace haven’t got a chance,’ so it was very satisfying sticking one up on him. He likes to talk the talk, Butch. I call him the Black Box, like in an aeroplane, as he always survives. He keeps getting jobs somehow.
“Ian Rush scored for them early, but at half-time we began to think we had a chance and the second half was a real rollercoaster. I’ve seen my goal millions of times, and I’m miles from the action so it’s like the ball was willing me to find it. Instead of heading clear, Steve Staunton chested it at a perfect height for me and I just went for it.
“My free kicks all game had been spot-on. Andy Thorne got a beautiful glaze on it and Pards headed it in. Bang! It was unbelievable. After the game we all went our separate ways. We all respected each other, but the squad was full of little groups. There was Geoff [Thomas], Pards, John Pemberton and Andy Thorne in a group. Wrighty [Ian Wright] and Brighty [Mark Bright] together, Richard Shaw and John Salako. I was the odd one out. Most of the boys are working at Palace now so maybe I should have been in one of the gangs.”
Gray was a key figure in Palace’s run to the FA Cup final in 1990BOB THOMAS/GETTY IMAGES
Gray has always been a free spirit, which goes some way towards explaining why he once completed an entire training session while Palace were fighting for the title in 1990-91 wearing a sheepskin coat. “At the time our training kit wasn’t the best and you had to fight to find matching socks,” he says. “I came in one day and it was absolutely freezing. I didn’t have enough kit and saw a sheepskin hanging up so I put it on with a bib.
“We used to get up to some mad things. I roomed with Mark Dennis, who was a lovely guy, but crazy. We used to trash everyone’s rooms and spray Zorro in shaving foam on the mirrors. Good times.”
For my first touch for England, Graham Taylor told me to whack the ball into the stand
Gray’s superb form in central midfield when Palace finished third in the old first division earned him an England call-up for a crucial European Championship qualifier in Poland the following season, which he believes was the beginning of the end of his career at the top.
“My England game was s***,” he says. “Up until then I was playing the best football of my life at Palace, but after that everything went downhill. It was the worst thing that could have happened to me. It was a big game and we drew to qualify for the Euros but I was criticised for missing a chance and it killed me. Jimmy Hill went on and on and on and it was a nightmare. I began trying too hard and just lost it. I went from playing for England to playing for Palace reserves in a couple of weeks.
“The highlight was my first touch. When we were working on set pieces, Graham Taylor told me that from the kick-off he wanted me to kick the ball out. So on my England debut my first touch was whacking the ball into the stand.”
A £900,000 transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, instigated by Venables the next summer, failed to revitalise his career and after falling out with his successor, Ossie Ardilles, he made an equally ill-starred move to Marbella, before returning to Britain to play for Falkirk, Bury and Millwall.
“I was s*** at Tottenham,” he says. “I was mentally shot under Terry and then I had murders with Ossie. At one stage he made me train in the evenings at the ground on my own. He was killing me so I had to get away.”
Gray was as surprised as anyone when he was named as Sierra Leone’s coach in a press conference while helping out the country’s FA.
“I got into the oil business through looking after a couple of players from Sierra Leone, who once appointed me as their manager, but I only ever watched one training session,” he says.
“I was bringing in lots of fuel from Azerbaijan and Spain, but it always ended up getting stolen. I’ve lost a lot of money, but I’m healthy and you can’t buy that. I could have a million quid in my pocket with my b***s hanging off! I’m blessed.”
Gray days: career in numbers
Crystal Palace (1984-87), 112 games, 32 goals
Aston Villa (1987-89), 46 games, 6 goals
QPR (1989), 11 games, 2 goals
Crystal Palace (1989-92), 130 games, 22 goals
Tottenham (1992-94), 33 games, 3 goals
Swindon, on loan (1993), 3 games, 0 goals
Falkirk* (1995-97), 42 games, 1 goal
Bury (1997-98), 26 games, 4 goals
Millwall (1998), 12 games, 1 goal

Edited by Guntrisoft (22 Apr 2016 10.54am)

'It's unbelievable and, in many ways, it's believable' Tony Popovic

I recall sitting right next to the late, great Bill Nicholson at Selhurst. I think the game was home to Huddersfield in the FA Cup.Nicholson was fulsome of praise for Andy Gray and Tottenham later signed him.

What a co-incidence as the infamous Trolley on the BBS also sat next to the late, great Bill Nicholson at Selhurst too and he also regaled him with fulsome praise for Andy Gray.

[Link]

Busted

That was the game at Selhurst. They both got sent off after about 10 minutes, several minutes after Andy blasted home a penalty.

My memory is failing me, you are right of course. I was about 11 at the time.

Edited by fed up eagle (21 Apr 2016 11.09am)