Keith Graydon (born 10 February 1983) is an Irish

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 plays for Morpeth Town as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and a striker.

Club career

Born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

, Graydon was a member of the Home Farm

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

before joining English club

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

on a professional contract on 28 February 2000. He joined Third Division side

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

on a one-month

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

on 27 March 2003. His debut came on 29 March 2003 after starting York's 2–0 defeat at home to

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

. In the following game, a 2–2 home draw with

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

on 12 April 2003, Graydon scored his first and only goal for York with a 35th minute

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

. Graydon finished the loan spell at York with one goal in seven appearances, and in May 2003 he was released from his Sunderland contract. Graydon went on trial with

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

side

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

before signing on non-contract terms on 25 September 2003. He signed a contract for the rest of the 2003–04 season the following month and made his debut for the club as an 82nd-minute substitute in a 2–1 home win over

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

on 14 October 2003. Having made four appearances for Scarborough, Graydon signed for

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

Premier Division outfit

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is an association football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secre ...

on 29 March 2004. He left for league rivals

Spennymoor United Spennymoor United Association Football Club was an association football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, England. History Spennymoor United Association Football Club was formed in 1904 as an amalgamation of Spennymoor Town and Weardale ...

in September 2004. Having joined Washington Nissan in April 2005, Graydon signed for Dunston Federation in July. He signed for Northern Premier League Premier Division club

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

in October 2005, making his debut on 22 October in a 3–2 home win over

Ashton United Ashton United Football Club is a football club in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently members of and play at Hurst Cross. Having been founded as Hurst in 1892, they folded in 1892, before being reformed in 1909. ...

. He finished the 2005–06 season with 24 appearances before leaving Gateshead for Durham City in the summer of 2006. He scored seven Northern League Division One goals in the 2007–08 season before joining Sunderland RCA in the summer of 2008, where he was made

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. Graydon signed for Sunderland RCA's Northern League rivals Jarrow Roofing in October 2008. However, during the following month he signed for Northern Premier League Division One North outfit

Newcastle Blue Star Newcastle Blue Star F.C. is a association football, football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was established in 1930 and joined the Wearside League in 1973. In 1978, the club won the FA Vase. They won promotion to the Northern Prem ...

. Graydon re-signed for Durham in March 2009, with

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Lee Collings praising his impact at the club, saying "We've hopefully come out of a little blip and re-signing Keith Graydon has made a big difference. He ran the show against Radcliffe". He left for Spennymoor Town in the summer of 2009 and scored 12 goals in the Northern League Division One in the 2009–10 season. Graydon scored the winning goal for Spennymoor in the 2013 FA Vase Final 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 ...

on 4 May 2013 with a powerful shot from eight yards 10 minutes from full-time, as the side beat

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

2–1. In November 2014 he signed for Morpeth Town, who he captained to another FA Vase win in 2015–16.How Morpeth Town were inspired to FA Vase glory by Hereford's lack of respect
Chronicle Live, 22 May 2016

International career

Graydon was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

by the Republic of Ireland under-16s and under-18s before playing for the under-20s during the 2002–03 season.

Style of play

Graydon plays as a

and a striker.

Career statistics

Honours

Spennymoor Town *

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Morpeth Town *

: 2015–16

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graydon, Keith 1983 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Home Farm F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players York City F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Spennymoor United A.F.C. players Sunderland Nissan F.C. players Dunston UTS F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Durham City A.F.C. players Sunderland Ryhope Community Association F.C. players Jarrow Roofing Boldon Community Association F.C. players Newcastle Blue Star F.C. players Spennymoor Town F.C. players Morpeth Town A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Northern Football League players 21st-century Irish sportsmen