Granville: Daniel Patrick (Danny)

1998-1999 (Leeds Player Details)(Player Details)

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Born: Islington, London: 19-01-1975

Debut v Maritimo (a) (Substitute): 29-09-1998

5’11” 12st (2004)

Granville was initially with Charlton Athletic as a schoolboy and then had a spell with Spurs before becoming a trainee with Cambridge United in June 1991. After he had completed his two years with them, in which he was voted Youth player of the year in 1993, he made his league debut on 15th March 1994 in a 2-4 away loss to Swansea City and played in the remaining ten games of that season. He also found the net five times as his strong left foot served him well as he played in both midfield and defence as he started to establish himself as a regular in the side. By December 1995 he had made the left wing-back position his own with some outstanding performances, and the following season he was switched to the left of a three man back-line. With United in the race for Play-Off places he was snapped up on 21st March 1997 by Premiership side Chelsea, the fee an initial £300,000 rising to £500,000. He had scored seven goals in one hundred and fourteen appearances while at Abbey Stadium. All the goals had been scored in the League in eighty-nine starts and ten substitute appearances, and two starts and two games from the bench in the F.A. Cup, three starts and two games as a substitute in the League Cup and six games in other games including two from the bench. He made a scoring debut for Chelsea reserves just days later and his first team debut followed on 5th April 97 as a second half substitute in a 0-3 defeated at home to Arsenal. The young left-back made his debut as a substitute in an experimental Chelsea side which was beaten 3-0 at home by Arsenal as Gullit chose to rest his stars ahead of the following weekend's FA Cup semi-final, and was the beneficiary of the Dutchman's late-season rotation policy as he regularly rested players in the build-up to Chelsea's victorious Cup Final clash with Middlesbrough. After a further eighty-fifth minute appearance from the bench in the next game, a 1-3 loss at Coventry City, he made his first start against Leicester City on 19th April and set up the late winning goal with a deep run and cross for Mark Hughes to head home. Two days later, and just a month after leaving the Abbey Stadium, he received his first England Under-21 call-up and came on as a second-half substitute against Georgia and a later start against Poland saw him win two caps before the season ended. It was a measure of his impressive talents that in little over a year at Stamford Bridge, and after just twelve league starts, Danny's stock rose by £1.3m. Granville's meteoric rise continued apace and he was in the Chelsea’s starting line-up at Wembley for the Charity Shield clash with Manchester United. Gullit then signed Blackburn's Graeme Le Saux on the eve of the new Premiership season and it quickly became obvious that Danny's opportunities would be limited by the Channel Islander's return to the Bridge. A superb goal, his only strike for the club, in a European Cup Winners’ Cup clash with Slovan Bratislava sealed victory for Chelsea in their first match of the competition, but the highlight of Granville's career came when he replaced the injured Le Saux for the Stockholm final against Stuttgart. The match, best remembered for Gianfranco Zola's superb winning goal, was a personal triumph for Granville who, despite the illustrious company surrounding him, was the best player on the pitch. He even displayed maturity beyond his years in the final minute when he refused the opportunity of a shot at an open Stuttgart net from the halfway line (the goalkeeper had been left stranded from a corner that had been cleared by Chelsea), preferring instead to run the clock down with the ball at his feet. Surprisingly, that proved to be his final game in a Chelsea shirt, as a month later it was announced that he would be packing his European medal away and was signed by Leeds United in July 1998 for £1,600,000, after one goal in twenty-six games. He had started twelve and been a substitute six times in the League, started three games in the League Cup, scored once in three starts and one game from the bench in European games and started one Charity Shield game. He made his debut for Leeds, as a late substitute in extra-time of a UEFA Cup tie on 29th September 1998 at CS Maritimo, and was one of the successful penalty-takers as Leeds won the tie by 4-1 in a penalty shoot-out. On 3rd October he made his League debut as a second-half substitute in a 0-1 home defeat by Leicester City. On 17th October he got off to a terrible start in his run-on League debut with Leeds, being sent off early in the game against Nottingham Forest, leaving his team to struggle with ten men. He failed to establish himself at Leeds and went on loan to Manchester City before joining them permanently in November 1999 for £1 million. While at Manchester City he was pushed onto the bench once again and spent a month on loan to Norwich City from October 2000, where he made six League appearances. After three goals in eighty games, comprised by three goals in fifty-six starts and fourteen games as a substitute in the League, five starts in the F.A. Cup and five games in the League Cup, of which four were as a substitute, he signed for Crystal Palace in December 2001 for £500,000, where he played in the first team regularly. He remained a solid defender who enjoyed going forward and delivering crosses, and was also dangerous with free-kicks from around the opposition's penalty area. He was rewarded for his performances in 2004-05 with a new two year contract and was also voted as the Player of the Year by the supporters. He scored nine times in one hundred and twenty-two League games, of which five were off the bench, together with four starts and three games as a substitute in the F.A Cup, without scoring, one goal in six League Cup starts and three play-off finals without scoring. He joined Colchester United on 9th July 2007 on a free transfer and after making his debut on 14th August at Shrewsbury Town, made twenty appearances in total, fourteen as starts in the League with five more from the bench and one in the League Cup, but left at the end of the season to join Leyton Orient on a free transfer on 4th June 2008. He made twelve starts in the League, scored once in two starts in the F.A. Cup and made one start in the League Cup. His stay lasted less than a year and he was released on 4th May 2009. He signed for Southern League side Hemel Hempstead Town in October 2009. He represented England three times at Under-Twenty-one level, and, although England had a dearth of left backs, Granville never represented his country at the highest level.