Bobby Graham (born 22 November 1944) is a Scottish 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 for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

during the 1960s.

Early years and Liverpool

Born in

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...

, Scotland, Graham played for Motherwell Bridge Works as an amateur before

Bill Shankly William Shankly (2 September 1913 – 29 September 1981) was a Scottish association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool F.C., Liverpool. Shankly brought su ...

signed him for Liverpool as 17-year-old in November 1961. A forward, Graham scored on his full debut, a 6-1 victory over KR Reykjavik on 14 September

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

in a

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

preliminary round 2nd leg tie at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

. He scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in his first league game against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

12 days later on 26 September, the game finished 5-1 to the Reds with Graham's goals coming in the 6th, 64th and 86th minutes. Graham was at Liverpool at an unfortunate time for himself as he found it difficult to dislodge the successful strike partnership of

Ian St John John "Ian" St John (; 7 June 1938 – 1 March 2021) was a Scottish professional football player, coach and broadcaster. St John played as a forward for Liverpool throughout most of the 1960s. Signed by Bill Shankly in 1961, St John was a key m ...

and

Roger Hunt Roger Hunt (20 July 1938 – 27 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Eleven years with Liverpool, he was the club's record goalscorer with 285 goals until being overtaken by Ian Rush. Nonetheless, H ...

and found first team appearances hard to come by. Such was the dominance of both St John and Hunt he missed out on the 1965 FA Cup Final win and only made 1 appearance during the Reds run to the league title the following season, obviously, not enough to gain him a medal. The 1969–70 season was the most successful for him in a red shirt, with Hunt and St John both pensioned off he made 54 (ever present) first-team appearances and scored 21 goals which included a stunning strike in the

Merseyside derby The Merseyside derby is an association football match between Everton F.C., Everton and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, two clubs based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is the longest running top-flight local derby, derby in England, with its fi ...

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

, the same game that saw Everton's Sandy Brown score 'that' infamous own goal. Shortly afterwards, though, two new strikers arrived in the form of

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. Nicknamed "King Kev" or "Mighty Mouse", Keegan was recognised for his dribbling ability, as well as his finishing and presence in the air, and is regard ...

from Scunthorpe United and

John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the ...

from Cardiff City, Graham lost his place once again.

Coventry City and Tranmere Rovers

In March 1972, he was allowed to leave Anfield and moved to

Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game on 30 ...

and Coventry City where he linked up with former teammate St John once more, again he struggled to get 1st team recognition, even going out on loan to Tranmere Rovers, when St John was in charge, for 10 games. Graham ended his short association with the Sky Blues and returned to Scotland.

Motherwell

Graham moved to his home town club

. Ian St John again signed him for the Fir Park club and by the end of his first season he had shown why 'The Saint' had shown such faith, he finished top scorer. A young Willie Pettigrew was added to the side the following season and the pair formed a lethal partnership that terrorised Scottish defences for four seasons. When

Crawford Boyd Crawford Boyd is a Scottish former professional footballer. Crawford Boyd is best known for his time at Dumfries club, Queen of the South The defensive cornerstone of the 1970s returned to Queens during the promotion campaign of 1980–81 to m ...

was later interviewed for the

Queen of the South F.C. Queen of the South Football Club is a Scottish professional football club formed in 1919 in Dumfries. The club plays in , the third tier of Scottish football. They are traditionally nicknamed the '' Doonhamers'' but are more usually referred ...

website, Boyd listed Bobby Graham as the best player that he played against in his time at Queens.Crawford Boyd interview and profile www.qosfc.com
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Hamilton Academical

After 132 games and 37 goals Graham joined Hamilton Academical in 1977 for a, then, record transfer fee of £15,000, he, again, made over 100 appearances scoring 42 times. He then left Hamilton and senior football when he ended his playing days at Shotts Bon Accord in the Scottish junior football scene.

References

External links

Official Liverpool FC website profile

Player profile at LFChistory.net
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Bobby 1944 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Liverpool F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Shotts Bon Accord F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Motherwell