Graham Abel (born 17 September 1960) is an English retired professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
who played in the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
as a
central defender
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
for
Chester City and
Crewe Alexandra
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...
. He appeared at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
three times with
Northwich Victoria
Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...
in
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...
finals.
Playing career
Abel was born in
Runcorn
Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...
,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
. At 25, he was a latecomer to professional football when he joined Chester in October 1985, having previously played
non-league football
Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...
for his hometown club
Runcorn
Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...
and Northwich Victoria. In
1982–83, Abel was part of the Northwich side that lost 2–1 to
Telford United in the FA Trophy final, but a year later he helped ''the Vics'' beat
Bangor City
Bangor City Football Club () was a Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd.
Founded in 1876, Bangor City have been founder members of the North Wales Coast League, the Welsh National League, the North Wales Combination, the W ...
in a replay.
Abel made his Football League debut for Chester in a 1–0 win over
Aldershot
Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...
on 2 November 1985 and he played 23 consecutive league games as Chester achieved promotion. He remained a regular with the Blues until he was released at the end of the
1992–93 season, with his impressive tally of 30 goals helped by a strong penalty taking record and occasional spells at centre-forward. Abel also holds the honour of scoring the final Football League goal at
Sealand Road
Sealand Road was the home stadium of Chester City Football Club (known until 1983 as Chester Football Club) from 1906 until 1990. Although officially known simply as The Stadium, it was more commonly referred to as Sealand Road. It was much lov ...
, in a 2–0 win for Chester over
Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...
on 28 April 1990.
[http://www.chester-city.co.uk/last_match.asp Match report from chester-city.co.uk]
Abel remained in Cheshire and the Football League by joining Crewe Alexandra, who achieved promotion in his solitary season at the club. Abel then returned to Northwich for two seasons, ending with another trip to Wembley in a 3–1 defeat by
Macclesfield Town
Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England.
Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...
in the
1995–96 season. Abel retired from football in 1998, after spells with
Chorley
Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...
and
Witton Albion.
Honours
Chester City
*
Football League Division Four
The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier L ...
runners-up:
1985–86
*Player of the Season:
1987–88
Crewe Alexandra
*
Football League Division Three
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the Third Division become the fourth tier of English football. In 2 ...
promotion as third placed team:
1993–94
Northwich Victoria
*
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...
winners:
1983–84
*FA Trophy runners-up:
1982–83,
1995–96.
References
General
*
*
Specific
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Graham (Footballer)
1960 births
Living people
Footballers from Runcorn
English men's footballers
Men's association football defenders
Chester City F.C. players
Crewe Alexandra F.C. players
Northwich Victoria F.C. players
Chorley F.C. players
Runcorn F.C. Halton players
Witton Albion F.C. players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players