Graham: Arthur

1977-1983 (Player Details)

Winger

Born: Castlemilk, Glasgow: 26-10-1952

Debut v Newcastle United (a): 20-08-1977

5’8” 11st 10lb (1980)

#48 in 100 Greatest LUFC Players Ever

Graham began with Glasgow junior club Cambuslang Rangers, and was approached by Celtic before signing with Aberdeen early in the 1969-70 season, soon after his seventeenth birthday. After only a handful of Scottish League appearances Graham won a Scottish F.A. Cup medal with Aberdeen against Celtic in 1970, with a 3-1 victory, when he was still only seventeen. He scored thirty-four goals in two hundred and twenty League games with the Dons, where he also won a Scottish League Cup winners medal in 1977, and added three Scottish Under-twenty-three caps, a Scottish League XI appearance and a move to Leeds United for £15,000 in July 1977 saw him gain the first of his ten Scottish Caps within months of his arrival. He was one of Jimmy Armfield’s best-ever buys for Leeds. A fast and direct winger he was a creator and scorer of goals. He netted three hat-tricks for Leeds. His favourite was on 5th September 1981, when Manager Allan Clarke gave him a roving commission up front on the occasion of Eddie Gray's four hundredth game for the club and, while the mercurial Gray obliged with a five-star performance, the headlines in the newspapers were stolen by Graham's "hat-trick". It was Gray that provided the cross for Graham to score the first goal with a diving header and after another picture book effort for the second Graham still has a framed picture of Andy Gray, then the Wolves striker, vainly diving to stop the ball going in the top corner with his head. There was relief in the Leeds camp as they registered their first win of the season at the third attempt, with Graham already leading the scorers with four goals! He had previously scored an extremely quick hat-trick in just four minutes. It came on 14th January 1977 at St Andrew's, home of Birmingham City, in which he completed a hat-trick by scoring in the sixty-fifth, sixty-seventh and sixty-ninth minutes to give United a 3-2 away win. His second hat-trick had come in the away UEFA Cup tie with Maltese Club Valletta at the Gzira Stadium on an almost grassless pitch. Graham opened the scoring in the twelfth minute, when Eddie Gray swung over a corner which was headed on by Paul Hart for Graham to sweep the ball home. Paul Hart headed the Leeds second goal after thirty-three minutes from a Kevin Hird cross to leave United two up at half-time. It took just one minute for Graham to make that 3-0 as Alan Curtis anengineered a chance for him to shoot from twenty yards out. Six minutes later Leeds were 4-0 up and Graham completed his hat-trick, when the same vtwo players again combined for Curtis to cross the ball for Graham to lob the ball into the net to complete the scoring. The 1981-82 season saw Leeds lose their First Division status and after they had slumped into the Second Division he stayed one more season before a surprise £50,000 transfer to Manchester United in August 1983 for £45,000. His International record for Scotland started with a substitute appearance in a 1-0 defeat by East Germany in Berlin in a friendly on 7th September 1977, which was followed just over a year later, on 20th September 1978, by another substitute appearance, this time in a 3-2 defeat by Austria in Vienna in a European Cup Qualifier. He finally got a run-on debut in a 3-2 win at Hampden Park on 25th October 1978 over Norway in the same competition. On 19th May 1979 he was in the team that were beaten 3-0 by Wales at Cardiff in the Home Championship and three days later he scored his first International goal, the only one of the game, in the same competition against Northern Ireland at Hampden Park and by now he was always in the starting eleven. Four days later he completed his third game in that year's Home Championship, at Wembley, where England triumphed 3-1. He had the pleasure of playing against Maradona, and swapping shirts with him, as Graham scored Scotland's only goal in a 3-1 defeat by Argentina in a friendly on 2nd June 1979 at hampden Park. Five days ater he was in the Scotland team that won a European Cup Qualifier in Oslo by beating Norway 4-0. On 17th October he played in a 1-1 draw with Austria, at Hampden Park, in the same competition and his final appearance, on 24th May 1982, saw Scotland beat Wales 1-0 at the same venue in the Home Championship. Graham revitalized his career at Old Trafford and there was speculation about a Scotland recall until he lost his place to Danish International Jasper Olsen. He scored five League goals in thirty-seven games, four being as a substitute and scored once in six League Cup games, once in seven European Cup-Winners' Cup games and also played once in the F.A. Cup and once in the Charity Shield for the Old Trafford club. In June 1985, he joined Trevor Cherry at Bradford City and took over as Reserve and Junior Coach when he retired in February 1987. He made twenty-eight starts and three substitute appearances and scored twice for the Valley Paraders. Graham was temporarily in charge after Terry Dolan was sacked in January 1989, until Terry Yorath joined a month later. In February 1990 Graham was promoted to Assistant Manager and first team coach at Bradford when Yorath was sacked. Graham’s brothers were also noted footballers. Tommy played for Motherwell, Aston Villa, Barnsley, Halifax Town, Doncaster Rovers, Scunthorpe United and Scarborough. Jimmy played for Bradford City and Rochdale and David had games for Queens Park. Graham lives in Wetherby where he works as a part-time coach at the Leeds Football Academy and runs coaching clinics for schools which he started in 1988 when he was coach at Halifax Town under Jim McCalliog.