Graham Edward French (also known as Graham Lafite) is an English former 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 was best known as a winger for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

Football career

Early career

French started his career as an apprentice with his home town club

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

, and signed professionally in 1961. The talented young winger became an England youth international, and Chelsea boss

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times bet ...

was interested in bringing him to

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in ...

– however, Docherty was put off by French's suspect temperament, and he signed for

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

instead. He left for

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

a year later, who let him go after only four games to join

non-League 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 ...

Wellington Town.

Luton Town

French was given another chance by

in 1965. French led a life off the pitch atypical of a professional sportsman, often starting games worse for wear as his sessions at the local pubs were common knowledge. Fortunately, French had great stamina, and once the ball was wormed out to French on the wing his hangover seemed to evaporate into thin air. French was regarded as one of the best wingers in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

, and he used his strength, pace and two-footed ability to help Luton to two promotions. French scored what is often regarded as Luton Town's greatest ever goal in a match against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

on 18 September 1968. He collected the ball on the edge of his own penalty area and set off on a mazy run through the Mansfield team. He then drew the goalkeeper off his line, rounded him and slotted the ball into the net.

Later career

A shooting incident in a pub in 1970 resulted in him serving a three-year prison sentence. Luton Town gave him the chance to return on his release, but prison life had taken its toll on French, and he was unable to regain his place in the team. A short loan spell at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

proved to be a last hurrah, and he soon left to play in the United States with the

Boston Minutemen The Boston Minutemen were an American professional soccer team based in Boston, Massachusetts that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). They played from 1974 to 1976. Their home fields included Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, ...

. He only made three appearances for the Minutemen, and spent two years out of the game before reappearing in 1976 with

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

under the assumed name of Graham Lafite.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Graham English men's footballers English Football League players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Footballers from Shrewsbury Swindon Town F.C. players Watford F.C. players Telford United F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Reading F.C. players Boston Minutemen players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Southport F.C. players Living people 1945 births Men's association football wingers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers