George Graham, born Bargeddie, Scotland, November 30, 1944. George Graham started out his professional round ball career at Aston Villa, but he only managed to make eight Football League appearances for the once mighty Birmingham club before he was sold to ambitious Chelsea for a fee of £5000 in the summer of 1964.
After playing in 72 English Football League matches for The Blues, George Graham was lured to bitter enemies Arsenal by Bertie Mee for a transfer fee of £75,000 plus Tommy Baldwin in September 1966. While with The Gunners, he won the Inter Cities Fairs Cup in 1970 as well as the coveted Double of League Championship and FA Cup in 1971. Graham was eventually deemed surplus to requirements and past his best by Mee, and he subsequently moved on to relegation battling Manchester United for a transfer fee of £120,000 in December 1972. An extravagantly talented performer, the sublime midfield playmaker made close to 50 first team appearances for Manchester United between 1972 and 1974. At the end of the day, he decided to join Second Division Portsmouth, and later Third Division Crystal Palace where he finished his Football League career in 1977. During the latter stages of his playing days, Graham had a short spell at California Surf in the National American Soccer League in the summer of 1978. Internationally, he was handed his debut for Scotland in a 2–1 European Championship Qualifier win against Portugal at Hampden Park on the 13th of October 1971 and won a total of twelve caps for his native country. When his active career was over, he became a coach at first Crystal Palace, and then Queens Park Rangers before he took the reins at Millwall in December 1982. Arguably, Stroller reached his managerial peak when he led former club Arsenal to the First Division Championship in 1989 and 1991, and although he enjoyed his stay at Manchester United, he is most identified with his time at Highbury. George Graham Playing Career: Aston Villa, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Portsmouth, Crystal Palace, California Surf. Managing Career: Millwall, Arsenal, Leeds United, Tottenham Hotspur.