Graham Cyril Rix (born 23 October 1957) is an English former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who later became a coach and manager. Rix played for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

for thirteen years, then

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

(on loan),

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and Chelsea. He also won 17 caps for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

between 1980 and 1984. Rix then managed Chelsea (as caretaker),

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

, Heart of Midlothian, Central, AFC Portchester and Fareham Town.

Club career

Arsenal

Originally from

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

, Yorkshire, Rix joined

as an apprentice in 1974 and turned professional the year after. He made his debut for the club against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

on 2 April 1977, and marked it by scoring the opening goal. Rix immediately became a regular on the left wing, replacing George Armstrong. Together with

Liam Brady William Brady (born 13 February 1956) is an Irish former footballer and pundit. He found success both in England with Arsenal, where he won an FA Cup in 1979, and in Italy with Juventus, winning two Serie A titles. Brady was capped 72 times for ...

, he formed part of an impressive attacking midfield, which helped Arsenal to three successive

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

finals between 1978 and 1980. Arsenal only won one of these, in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

; the final score was 3–2, with Rix crossing for Alan Sunderland's last-minute winner, just one minute after United had equalised to level the score 2–2. Arsenal reached the European Cup Winners' Cup final the following season, against

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

; the match finished 0–0 after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

– a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

ensued, but Rix missed his penalty and Arsenal lost. He became captain of the club in 1983. Arsenal's form slumped in the early 1980s, though, meaning Rix was unable to claim any silverware as skipper. Arsenal won the 1986–87 League Cup; Rix was not part of the squad for the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against Liverpool but he contributed three appearances en route. A series of injuries to his

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

kept Rix out of the team in the mid-1980s, and he lost his starting place in the side to Martin Hayes. Rix had a spell on loan at

, before being released in 1988. In all, he played 464 times for the Gunners, scoring 51 goals.

After Arsenal

After leaving the London club, Rix was the subject of offers from

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

as well as

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

, but he instead signed for French club

, where he would spend three years before transferring to

, and then played in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

for

before announcing his retirement as a player in 1993.

International career

Between 1980 and 1984, Rix played for the England national team, including making five appearances at the 1982 World Cup. He was capped 17 times, but failed to score. His first appearance came on 10 September 1980 in a 4–0 win over

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, his last in a 1–0 win over

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

on 4 April 1984.

Coaching career

Chelsea

Rix joined Chelsea as youth team coach in mid-1993. During an injury crisis, he briefly enlisted as a player for the club, playing a solitary

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

match in May 1995 against his former club Arsenal. Rix became assistant manager in 1996 under new Blues boss

Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a former Dutch Association football, footballer and subsequent manager. Regarded among the greatest footballers of all time, he was also noted for his Utility player#Association football, abili ...

, and continued in the same role under Gullit's successor

Gianluca Vialli Gianluca Vialli (; 9 July 1964 – 5 January 2023) was an Italian football player and manager who played as a striker. Vialli started his club career at his hometown club Cremonese in 1980, where he made 105 league appearances and scored 23 g ...

, winning the FA Cup in 1997, and the League Cup and Cup Winners' Cup in 1998. He won the FA Cup again in 2000, before leaving the club, after a brief spell as caretaker manager following Vialli's sacking by Ken Bates.

Portsmouth and Oxford

Rix managed

between 2001 and 2002, where his enthusiastic style of management started well, but tapered off in the middle of the 2001–02 season. A string of poor results, including a 4–1 home loss in the

to bottom of the Football League Leyton Orient, meant that

Director of Football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

was given more responsibilities until he eventually replaced Rix as team manager toward the end of the season. Rix then managed

for seven months in 2004. Their form declined sharply during the last three months of the 2003–04 Division Three campaign: they fell from the automatic promotion places to ninth in the final table, failing to achieve a playoff place. He was dismissed after their poor form continued into the 2004–05 season.

Hearts

In November 2005, after speculation linking him with the manager's job at

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

club Heart of Midlothian, it was confirmed that Rix would take over at Tynecastle. He officially took the position of head coach on 8 November 2005. Events reported in February 2006, by Scottish newspapers, suggested that Rix was unhappy with Vladimir Romanov's "hands on" approach and speculation increased that Romanov was involved in team selection. On 22 March 2006 Rix was sacked as manager after just four months in charge, with the club citing poor results as the reason.

Central FC

On 13 August 2012, Rix was named the first manager of Central FC, which was a newly formed club founded by former

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

international football player Brent Sancho, that competed in the

TT Pro League The TT Premier Football League (formerly known as the TT Pro League) is the Trinidad and Tobago professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division in the Trinidad an ...

. Rix recorded his first league win with Central FC on 19 October 2012 with a 1–0 win over

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

. Rix and Central FC parted ways through mutual consent on 21 December 2012.

AFC Portchester and Fareham Town

In February 2013, he was appointed head coach of AFC Portchester. He left the club in August 2017. In August 2022, Rix took over as manager of

Wessex Football League The Wessex Football League, known as the Velocity Wessex Football League for sponsorship reasons, is an English regional men's Association football, football league in southern England. Its members are primarily from Hampshire and Dorset, but c ...

side Fareham Town. He was dismissed by the club in May 2024.

Underage sex conviction

In March 1999, Rix was convicted of having underage sex with a 15-year-old girl, and sentenced to 12 months in prison, of which he served six. He was placed on the

sex offender registry A sex offender registry is a system in various countries designed to allow government authorities to keep track of the activities of sex offenders, including those who have completed their criminal sentences. Sex offender registration is usual ...

for ten years and banned by the FA from working with youth players under the age of 16. In 2013 he told ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' that he thought she was of legal age. On his release from prison, he immediately returned to his old job. He subsequently claimed that there were "mitigating circumstances" in the case, saying: "I know the true story that I've never ever said".

Racism and bullying allegations

In 2018, Rix, along with assistant manager Gwyn Williams, was accused of racism and physical assault by several Chelsea trainees who were of school age at the time. It was alleged that Rix had thrown a cup of hot coffee in the face of one player. Both denied the allegations. After a seven-month investigation, the police decided there was insufficient evidence to take any action. In February 2022, Chelsea agreed to make payments to several former players who had sued the club.

Personal life

Rix has a daughter from his first marriage with Gill. After getting divorced, he married his second wife, Linda. In April 2017, Rix suffered a heart attack.

Honours

Player

Arsenal *

: 1978–79

Managerial

AFC Porchester *Russell Cotes Cup: 2014 *Sydenhams Wessex League Cup: 2015

References

External links

* *
Rix's England statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rix, Graham 1957 births Living people 1982 FIFA World Cup players A.F.C. Portchester managers Arsenal F.C. players English football coaches Brentford F.C. players Central F.C. managers Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff Chelsea F.C. players Criminals from Yorkshire Dundee F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers English football managers English male criminals English men's footballers England men's B international footballers England men's international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers English Football League players English people convicted of child sexual abuse English people convicted of indecent assault Expatriate men's footballers in France Fareham Town F.C. managers Footballers from Doncaster Heart of Midlothian F.C. managers Le Havre AC players Ligue 1 players Men's association football midfielders Oxford United F.C. managers Portsmouth F.C. managers Premier League managers Premier League players Scottish Premier League managers British sportspeople convicted of crimes Stade Malherbe Caen players TT Pro League managers