Graham Alexander
Encyclopedia
Graham Alexander is a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 international footballer who plays for Preston North End. He is naturally a right back, but has recently been deployed in defensive midfield, as he did early on in his career with Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe United F.C.
Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....

. He is currently the third oldest player to score in Premier League history. He is also a penalty kick
Penalty kick
A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...

 specialist and takes them for his current club. On 16 April 2011, in Burnley's win over Swansea City in a Championship match, Alexander became only the second outfield player in English football history to have made 1,000 professional appearances, after Tony Ford. He is currently sixth on the List of footballers in England and Scotland by number of league appearances.

Scunthorpe United

Alexander began his career in the late 1980s as a youth player with Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United F.C.
Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....

. He made his first-team debut on 27 April 1991, coming on as a substitute for Mark Hine
Mark Hine
Mark Hine is an English former professional association football player who played as a midfielder.-External links:* at the Post-War Players Database...

, and signed his first professional contract the same year. In 1991–92
1991-92 in English football
- First Division :The last-ever league championship before the creation of the Premier League was won by Leeds United who overhauled Manchester United thanks to the efforts of, among others, Gordon Strachan, Lee Chapman, David Batty, Gary Speed and Gary McAllister...

, he established himself as a member of Scunthorpe's first team, usually playing at right back.

Luton Town

Alexander made over 200 appearances at Scunthorpe before moving to Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...

 for a transfer fee of £100,000. He went on to make a similar number of appearances with Luton in his four years with the club.

Preston North End

In 1999 two clubs were vying for his signature; Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...

 and Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...

. Both clubs made offers for the player but Alexander opted for a move to Preston. He became a first team regular at Deepdale
Deepdale
Deepdale is a stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End F.C. and, up to 2010, England's National Football Museum. Preston North End are one of the founder members of the Football League.- History :...

, eventually club captain and an established set-piece taker, particularly in penalties
Penalty kick
A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...

. Alexander has stayed remarkably fit during his career, and has hardly ever suffered a major injury. However, during the 2000–01
2000-01 in English football
The 2000–01 season was the 121st season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Manchester United secured their 3rd Premiership title in succession and their 7th title in just nine seasons...

 season, Alexander missed several weeks of the season after breaking his rib in an away match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. During his eight years at Preston, Alexander made exactly 400 appearances for the club, with his 400th and final match coming against Colchester
Colchester United F.C.
Colchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Colchester. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910....

 on 25 August 2007. He was also in the PFA's Championship Team of the Season for 2004–05
2004-05 in English football
The 2004–05 season was the 125th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*2004–05 was the first season to feature the rebranded Football League. The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were renamed the Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League...



During the summer of 2007 a number of clubs were linked with Alexander including Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

 who had a £50,000 bid turned down by Preston, who said;

"He is club captain and a vital member of this squad and certainly not a player we will allow to leave."

Burnley

On 29 August 2007, he made a surprise move to local rivals Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...

 almost nine years after they had originally tried to sign him. The reasons cited for his departure were that Preston would not extend his contract by another year, so when offered a two year contract by Burnley the player accepted and made a £200,000 move to Turf Moor
Turf Moor
Turf Moor is a football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire. It is the home ground of Burnley Football Club, which has played there since moving from its Calder Vale ground in 1883. The stadium, which is situated on Harry Potts Way, named so after the club's longest serving Manager, has a capacity of...

. Preston Chairman Derek Shaw
Derek Shaw
Derek Shaw is an English businessman, who is a former chairman of English football club, Preston North End. He is the owner of Ribble Valley Shelving Limited.-Background:...

 did not want to lose the player and said;


"We don't particularly want to sell Graham but he has the comfort of a two-year contract at Burnley whereas he only has one year here at Deepdale. We quite possibly would have renewed Graham's contract, he's a fit man."


The £200,000 transfer money was made up of £100,000 payable in 2007 and the final £100,000 payable in the summer of 2008.

In Burnley's promotion season in 2008/09 Alexander at the age of 37 played in all of Burnleys 61 League and Cup games that season ending with the 1-0 Play-Off final victory over Sheffield United at Wembley which took Burnley back to the Top Flight of English Football for the first time in 33 years.

On 29 June 2009, Alexander signed a new one-year contract at Burnley, and on 15 August he became the oldest player to make a Premier League debut. On 19 September, Alexander scored his first Premier League goal, a penalty, in a 3–1 win at home to Sunderland. On 31 October 2009, Alexander scored both goals in a 2–0 home win against Hull City
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...

. A week later he then scored the first for Burnley, from the spot, at Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

 in a thrilling 3–3 draw. On 16 December, he scored his 100th league goal. He scored an equaliser against Arsenal, sending Gunners 'keeper Manuel Almunia
Manuel Almunia
Manuel Almunia Rivero is a professional footballer. He plays as a goalkeeper for Arsenal.-Early career:Born in Pamplona, Navarre, Almunia started his senior career with Osasuna's reserve team in 1997, playing two seasons with the team in Segunda División B...

 the wrong way. On 10 April 2010, Alexander again scored twice against Hull City – both penalties – in a 4–1 win to take his tally for the season to nine, eight of which have been penalties. Alexander takes penalties in an unusual way, opting to use the outside of his foot rather than the inside. On 6 May 2010 he was named Burnley's Player of the year for the 2009/10 season.

On 5 August 2010 Burnley's First Team Manager, Brian Laws
Brian Laws
Brian Laws is an English former footballer and manager, most recently of Burnley.Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of Grimsby Town before taking a similar position with Scunthorpe...

, officially named the 38-year-old as club captain for the 2010–2011 Npower Championship Season. On Alexander's appointment, Laws said "Graham is the consummate professional who has been instrumental in the success that this club has seen in the past few seasons, so it was an easy choice"

In April 2011, Alexander made his 1,000th senior appearance for club and country in a 2-1 win against Swansea City
Swansea City A.F.C.
Swansea City Association Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. One of the most successful clubs in Welsh football, it has won 10 Welsh Cups and led the English Football League First Division in December 1981, before finishing the season in 6th position...

 as an 87th minute substitute. Only Tony Ford has matched this feat as an outfield player. At the end of the season, Alexander looked likely to leave Turf Moor
Turf Moor
Turf Moor is a football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire. It is the home ground of Burnley Football Club, which has played there since moving from its Calder Vale ground in 1883. The stadium, which is situated on Harry Potts Way, named so after the club's longest serving Manager, has a capacity of...

, as he was linked with managerial jobs with Bury
Bury F.C.
Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...

 and Macclesfield Town
Macclesfield Town F.C.
Macclesfield Town Football Club is an English football team. The club was formed in 1874 and is based in the town of Macclesfield in Cheshire. The team play its home games at the 6,355 capacity Moss Rose stadium...

, but Burnley boss Eddie Howe
Eddie Howe
Edward "Eddie" Howe is an English former footballer and manager of Burnley. A defender before retirement who spent much of his career at Bournemouth, he was the youngest manager in the Football League when appointed Bournemouth manager in January 2009.-Playing career:Howe began his professional...

 stated that he was still part of his plans for the following season. On 4 July 2011, Alexander was released by Burnley.

Return to Preston North End

Alexander returned to Preston North End on 3 August 2011, as he signed a one year contract with the club. He was given the number 22 and made his debut against Colchester United
Colchester United F.C.
Colchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Colchester. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910....

.
Alexander scored his first goal for Preston in 4 years with a trademark penalty in a 2-1 home win against Tranmere on the 24th September 2011. This was after his first penalty back in a Preston shirt was saved against Exeter, and before his third was saved against Leyton Orient. It is now unsure whether he will be allowed to take another given his new record of 1 scored from 3 penalties.

International career

Although Alexander was born in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, he was eligible to play for Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

 through his Scottish father. Before his first international call, Alexander said, "To be honest, since I started playing football, I've had two ambitions: to play in the Premier League, and to play for Scotland. I've been brought up supporting Scotland as far back as I can remember." This ambition was fulfilled when he made his Scotland debut on 17 April 2002 in a 2–1 friendly defeat to Nigeria
Nigeria national football team
The Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles or Green Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation . The team has ranked as high as 5th in the FIFA World Rankings, in April 1994...

 at Pittodrie Stadium
Pittodrie Stadium
Pittodrie Stadium is an all-seated football stadium situated in the Scottish city of Aberdeen. It was first used in 1899 and from 1903 has been the home of Aberdeen Football Club...

. Alexander was part of the Scotland squad who won the annual Japanese Kirin Cup
Kirin Cup
The Kirin Cup is an annual association football tournament sponsored in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 as an international club competition. From 1992 onwards the format was changed to a round robin national...

 tournament in 2006, beating Bulgaria
Bulgaria national football team
The FIFA Bulgaria national football team is an association football team fielded by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association of UEFA. The team's home ground is Vasil Levski in Sofia and Luboslav Penev is in charge manager after replacement of Lothar Matthäus...

 5–1 before drawing 0–0 with Japan
Japan national football team
The Japan national football team represents Japan in association football and is operated by the Japan Football Association, the governing body for association football in Japan...

. He gained his 25th Scotland cap
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 in a famous 1–0 victory against France
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...

. He has gained a total of 40 caps for Scotland, picking up only one yellow card for his national team against New Zealand in May 2003.

Club

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Season
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Division
!colspan="2"|League
!colspan="2"|FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...


!colspan="2"|League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...


!colspan="2"|Football League Trophy
Football League Trophy
The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...


!colspan="2"|Play-Offs
Football League Play-Offs
The Football League play-offs are an annual series of football matches to determine some of the promotion places within the Football League. Essentially, each division of the league offers a certain number of automatic promotion places to the top two or three clubs. A further promotion place is...


!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|1990–91
|rowspan="5"|Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United F.C.
Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....


|rowspan="2"|Fourth Division
Football League Fourth Division
The Fourth Division of The Football League was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season...


|1||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||||||||||1||0
|-
|1991–92
|36||5||2||0||4||1||||||||||42||6
|-
|1992–93
|rowspan="3"|Third Division (new)
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...


|41||5||2||0||4||0||||||||||47||5
|-
|1993–94
|41||4||4||0||2||1||||||||||47||5
|-
|1994–95
|40||4||4||1||2||0||||||||||46||5
|-
|1995–96
|rowspan="4"|Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...


|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....


|37||1||1||0||2||0||||||||||40||1
|-
|1996–97
|rowspan="5"|Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...


|45||2||2||0||6||0||0||0||1||0||54||2
|-
|1997–98
|39||8||1||0||1||0||2||0||colspan="2"|—||43||8
|-
|1998–99
|29||4||2||0||7||2||0||0||colspan="2"|—||38||6
|-
|1998–99
|rowspan="10"|Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...


|10||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||0||0||2||0||12||0
|-
|1999–00
|46||6||6||3||5||1||1||0||colspan="2"|—||58||10
|-
|2000–01
|rowspan="4"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....


|34||5||colspan="2"|-||4||2||colspan="2"|—||3||0||41||7
|-
|2001–02
|45||6||3||1||2||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||50||7
|-
|2002–03
|45||10||1||0||4||1||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||50||11
|-
|2003–04
|45||9||3||0||1||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||49||9
|-
|2004–05
|rowspan="6"|Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...


|42||7||1||0||3||1||colspan="2"|—||1||0||47||8
|-
|2005–06
|40||3||2||1||1||1||colspan="2"|—||2||0||45||5
|-
|2006–07
|42||6||3||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||45||6
|-
|2007–08
Football League Championship 2007–08
The Football League 2007–08 , was the sixteenth season under its current league division format and its fourth with its current sponsorship. The leagues started in August 2007 and concluded in May 2008, with the promotion play-off finals.The Football League is contested through three Divisions...


|3||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||3||0
|-
|2007–08
Football League Championship 2007–08
The Football League 2007–08 , was the sixteenth season under its current league division format and its fourth with its current sponsorship. The leagues started in August 2007 and concluded in May 2008, with the promotion play-off finals.The Football League is contested through three Divisions...


|rowspan="4"|Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...


|43||1||1||0||1||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||45||1
|-
|2008–09
Football League Championship 2008–09
The Football League 2008–09 , was the seventeenth season under its current league division format. It began in August 2008 and concluded on 25 May 2009, with the promotion play-off finals...


|46||9||5||1||7||0||colspan="2"|—||3||1||61||11
|-
|2009–10
|rowspan="1"|Premier League
|33||7||2||1||0||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||35||8
|-
|2010–11
2010–11 Football League Championship
The 2010–11 Football League Championship was the seventh season of the league under its current name and nineteenth season under its current league division format...

||Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...


|32||3||2||1||2||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||36||4
|-
|2011–12
2011–12 Preston North End F.C. season
The 2011-12 season will be Preston North End's 123rd year in The Football League, but their 1st outside the second tier of English Football in a decade, after they were relegated from the Championship.-Players info:-Results summary:...


|Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...

||League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....


|16||1||0||0||1||0||1||0||0||0||18||1
|-
831||108||47||9||59||10||4||0||12||1||953||128

International

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align: center"
|-
! National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
| rowspan="8"|Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...


|2002||8||0
|-
|2003||5||0
|-
|2004||1||0
|-
|2005||8||0
|-
|2006||4||0
|-
|2007||6||0
|-
|2008||5||0
|-
|2009||3||0
|-
! colspan=2|Total!!40!!0
|}

External links

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