Kevin John Gray (born 7 January 1972) is an English former

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 as a defender 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 ...

for

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 ...

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

(on loan),

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

and Chesterfield.

Football career

He started his career at

signing as a trainee in July 1990 and had a successful four-year period at Mansfield. In 1994 Gray joined

at the newly built

Galpharm Stadium Kirklees Stadium, currently known as the John Smith's Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Huddersfield Town Association Football Club ...

and played there for eight years and played just under 300 games for Huddersfield and he played one game on loan at

in 2000. While at Huddersfield, Gray tackled

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

striker Gordon Watson in February 1997, the sliding tackle broke Watson's leg in two places and left his career in tatters. Out injured for 16 months, Watson was never the same player. Watson successfully sued Gray for negligence and was awarded £50,000 in interim damages. as well as a latter £900,000, the bulk of which was to compensate for the loss of anticipated earnings. Then he joined

in 2002 where he had a nightmare spell playing just 18 games in 16 months. He scored once during his spell at Tranmere; his goal being the winner against former club

. In November 2003, he joined

where he had a successful spell, playing a major part in the

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

and League Two successes and captaining the club. He was released in May 2007. Gray was signed for

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

in July 2008 but didn't play any competitive games after he picked up a knee injury. Gray left at the end of the season after which he retired from football.

Honours

Carlisle United *

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 ...

runner-up: 2005–06

References

External links

* *
Kevin Gray's Carlisle United factfile at News & Star

on Gordon Watson's damages claim {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Kevin 1972 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Mansfield Town F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Workington A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players