Dario Gradi facts for kids

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Dario Gradi

Gradi in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Dario Gradi
Date of birth	(1941-07-08) 8 July 1941 (age 83)
Place of birth	Milan, Italy
Playing position	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1969–1970	Sutton United
1971	Tooting & Mitcham United
Teams managed
1976–1977	Sutton United
1978–1981	Wimbledon
1981	Crystal Palace
1983–2007	Crewe Alexandra
2008	Crewe Alexandra (caretaker)
2009–2011	Crewe Alexandra
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Dario Gradi (born 8 July 1941) is an Italian-English former amateur football player, coach and manager. He was associated for more than 36 years with Crewe Alexandra, where he was variously manager, director of football and director of the Academy, until October 2019.

Gradi played as an amateur for clubs in the London area (and won an England amateur cap); he then took on various coaching roles in the region. His first major managerial success was achieved with Wimbledon after which he briefly managed Crystal Palace in 1981.

Gradi had a 24-year first spell as manager of Crewe between 1983 and 2007. He stepped down from his managerial role in 2007, handing first-team responsibilities to Steve Holland, and became technical director. At that time, Gradi was the longest-serving manager of an English football league club. After two further spells as Crewe manager, he finally stepped down in November 2011 to focus on the club's youth system, after managing Crewe in 1,359 first team games.

..... The Chelsea allegations led to Gradi being suspended by The Football Association in November 2016. Gradi denied any wrongdoing and in February 2017 was planning an appeal against his FA suspension. However, he was heavily criticised by Chelsea's inquiry report, published in August 2019, and in the FA's Sheldon Report, published in March 2021 - when the FA said Gradi (who had retired from all football roles in October 2019) was "effectively banned for life" from football "for safeguarding reasons". While accepting he had been suspended indefinitely from certain activities, Gradi said he had not been banned. .....

Early life and playing career

Born to an Italian father (who died when Dario was still a child) and an English mother, Gradi moved to London, aged four, when his mother returned after the Second World War in 1945.

He attended Glyn Grammar School in Epsom, and trained as a teacher of physical education at what is now Loughborough University from 1960 to 1963 (where he played for the university's first XI football team, alongside Bob Wilson and Barry Hines), before returning to teach at his former school.

By this time he had already played as an amateur for Sutton United and for Tooting & Mitcham United in the early 1960s. He was later capped once for England's amateur side (playing in the team's British Amateur Championship tie against Scotland in Dundee in September 1967). He later rejoined Sutton United, playing in the FA Amateur Cup Final against North Shields in April 1969, and in the club's FA Cup 4th round tie against Leeds United in January 1970. Gradi also played for Wycombe Wanderers, long before the club became fully professional.

Coaching career

After a period of teaching, Gradi became a London regional coach for the FA; this caused him to lose his amateur status and become ineligible to continue his playing career. He had a spell coaching at east London's Senrab F.C., and was appointed assistant coach at Chelsea in 1971 at the age of just 29. This was followed by coaching posts at Derby County (first team coach, 1977–78), and, later, a two-year spell at Leyton Orient (youth team coach, 1981–83).

Managerial career

Sutton United

Gradi managed Sutton United from 1976 to 1977.

Wimbledon

He took over as manager of Wimbledon in January 1978, helping the Plough Lane side win promotion from the Football League Fourth Division in 1978–79, although they were relegated after only one season in the Third Division. They were well on course for an immediate return to the Third Division when in February 1981 an offer came for Gradi to manage struggling First Division side Crystal Palace. Palace chairman Ron Noades had only recently left Wimbledon himself and saw Gradi as the ideal man to save his new purchase from relegation.

Crystal Palace

Gradi's time at Selhurst Park was not a success, as he failed to save Crystal Palace from relegation, and he resigned the following November after a disappointing start to the 1981–82 season.

Crewe Alexandra

After a spell coaching at Leyton Orient, Gradi returned to management on 9 June 1983, when he accepted an offer to manage Crewe Alexandra, a team who regularly finished near the bottom of the Fourth Division and had been forced to apply for re-election on several occasions in order to avoid slipping into the Northern Premier League and, since its creation in 1979, the Football Conference. His first season signings included Mark Leonard from Tranmere Rovers, John Crabbe from Hereford United and David Pullar from Exeter City as Gradi looked to build an academy structure to develop players that could be sold to help fund the player development programme. Among his first transfer successes were Dave Waller (sold to Shrewsbury Town), Gary Blissett (sold to Brentford) and Geoff Thomas (sold to Crystal Palace); gradually the club moved forward.

In 1988–89, after six seasons of steady progress, they won promotion to end 25 years in the league's basement division. Gradi signed a then unheard-of ten-year contract with Crewe. They went back down again two years later, but in 1994 won promotion to Division Two and three years after that they reached Division One for the first time in their history.

Shortly after the 1994 promotion, Gradi became the League's longest-serving manager. By 2002 he was one of just two managers, the other being Alex Ferguson, to have held their position since before 1990. He later joined the club's Board of Directors.

Gradi's contract with Crewe was one of the most controversial in the Football League; it included a clause giving him a percentage of the profit on any player sold to another club.

Talent spotting

His keen eye for spotting and rearing young talent is what has gained him some recognition in football. He entered into discussions with Portugal's Benfica over the vacant managerial spot in the 1980s, and was linked with the post of FA Technical Director in 1996.

During the 1980s and 1990s Gradi helped launch the careers of many players who went on to play top division and international football. These include David Platt, Rob Jones, Geoff Thomas, Danny Murphy, Ashley Ward, Wayne Collins, Seth Johnson, Robbie Savage and Neil Lennon. Gradi's success continued into the 2000s, when he helped players including Rob Hulse, Dean Ashton, David Vaughan, Michael O'Connor, Billy Jones, Nicky Maynard and Ashley Westwood.

Crewe Alexandra won the PFA Bobby Moore Fair Play trophy 12 times in 15 years during Gradi's reign.

End of managerial career

On 20 April 2007, Gradi announced that with effect from 1 July he would relinquish first-team responsibilities, becoming technical director while gradually handing over to new first-team coach Steve Holland, with Neil Baker remaining as assistant manager. Gradi was then the longest serving manager of an English Football League club.

On 18 November 2008, Gradi resumed control of Crewe's first team on a caretaker basis after a poor start to the 2008–09 season under Steve Holland had left the club bottom of League One. He was in charge for just over a month before Gudjon Thordarson was announced as his successor on Christmas Eve 2008. Gradi remained in charge of the team for two games during the Christmas period, with Thordarson taking over on 29 December. Following the sacking of Thordarson on 2 October 2009, Gradi was again reinstated as caretaker manager which the board of directors then stated would be until further notice.

After returning as manager in 2009, on 10 November 2011 it was announced that Gradi had chosen to step down as manager, returning to his position as Director of Football. Gradi's assistant manager Steve Davis, who had played for Crewe under Gradi from 1983 to 1987, was appointed as manager with immediate effect.

Gradi announced his retirement from all positions at Crewe Alexandra on 7 October 2019, at the age of 78, ending his 36-year association with the club.

Honours and tributes

In January 1998, Gradi was awarded an MBE for services to football, but was stripped of the award in 2023. In 2003 he was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Crewe and Nantwich and in the same year was awarded an honorary doctorate by Loughborough University.

In 2004, Gradi won the PFA Merit Award and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame for his services to football. In 2011 at the Football League Awards Gradi was again honoured by his peers as he won the 'Outstanding Contribution to League Football' for his work at Crewe. A street in Crewe, Dario Gradi Drive, is named in his honour. The winning school in the Surrey Schools Football Association's boys under-13s competition receive the Dario Gradi Trophy.

Managerial statistics

¹Gradi was absent from his post between 22 September and 17 October 2003, due to heart surgery. Assistant manager Neil Baker took charge of the team for this period (P6, W0, D1, L5).

Honours

Individual

• League Two Manager of the Month: January 2011

See also

• List of football managers with most games
• List of longest managerial reigns in association football