Graham Alexander

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Graham Alexander
Personal information
Full name	Graham Robert Alexander
Date of birth	10 October 1971 (1971-10-10) (age 37)
Place of birth	Coventry, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Burnley
Number	2
Youth career
1988–1991	Scunthorpe United
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1991–1995 1995–1999 1999–2007 2007–	Scunthorpe United Luton Town Preston North End Burnley	159 (18) 152 (15) 354 (52) 089 (10)
National team2
2002–	Scotland	038 0(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:09, 7 June 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 11:55, 29 March 2009 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Graham Robert Alexander (born 10 October 1971 in Coventry, West Midlands) is a Scottish international footballer, currently playing for Burnley. He normally plays as a defender but can play as a midfielder,^[1] as he did early on in his career with Scunthorpe United.^[2]

Contents 1 Club career 2 International career 3 Career statistics 4 Notes 5 External links

[edit] Club career

Alexander began his career in the late 1980s as a youth player with Scunthorpe United and in 1991 he signed his first professional contract, quickly becoming a member of the first team. Alexander made over 200 appearances at Scunthorpe before moving to Luton Town for a transfer fee of £100,000.^[3][4] He went on to make a similar number of appearances with Luton in his four years with the club.

In 1999 two clubs were vying for his signature; Burnley and Preston North End. Both clubs made offers for the player but Alexander opted for a move to Preston.^[5] He became a first team regular at Deepdale, eventually club captain and an established set-piece taker, particularly in penalties.^[6] In the 2000/2001 season Alexander missed several weeks of the season after breaking his rib in an away match against Wolverhampton Wanderers.^[7] During his eight years at Preston, Alexander became the club's then-longest serving player, making 400 appearances with his 400th coming against Colchester on August 25, 2007^[8]. He was also in the PFA's Championship Team of the Season for 2004/05^[6]

During the summer of 2007 a number of clubs were linked with Alexander including Crystal Palace 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."^[9]

On August 29, 2007, he made a surprise move to local rivals Burnley almost 9 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^[10][11] so when offered a two year contract by Burnley the player accepted and made a £200,000 move to Turf Moor.^[12] Preston Chairman Derek Shaw 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." ^[13][12]

Following Alexander's departure, Preston manager Paul Simpson also made similar comment regarding the player's departure but insisted he did not want to offer a 2-year contract to a 35 year old. Many Preston Fans were upset over the decision to sell Alexander, some starting to pressurize Simpson.^[10] 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.^[1]

On 29 June 2009, Alexander signed a new one-year contract with Burnley.^[14]

[edit] International career

Although Alexander was born in England, he was eligible to play for Scotland through his Scottish father.^[15] Alexander said that playing for Scotland was one of his main ambitions in football^[16]. This ambition was fulfilled when he made his debut on April 17, 2002 in a 2–1 friendly defeat to Nigeria at Pittodrie Stadium.^[2] Alexander gained his 25th Scotland cap in a famous 1–0 victory against France. He was also part of the squad who won the annual Japanese Kirin Cup tournament in 2006, beating Bulgaria 5–1 before drawing 0–0 with the hosts.^[17]

[edit] Career statistics

As of 7 May 2009 ^[18][19]

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
England			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
1990–91	Scunthorpe United	Fourth Division	1	0	-		-		1	0
1991–92			36	5	2	0	4	1	42	6
1992–93		Third Division (new)	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	Luton Town	First Division	37	1	1	0	2	0	40	1
1996–97		Second Division	45	2	4	0	6	0	55	2
1997–98			39	8	1	0	2	0	42	8
1998–99			29	4	2	0	7	2	38	6
1998–99	Preston North End	Second Division	10	0	-		-		10	0
1999–00			46	6	6	3	5	1	57	10
2000–01		First Division	34	5	-		4	2	38	7
2001–02			45	6	3	1	2	0	50	7
2002–03			45	10	1	0	4	1	50	11
2003–04			45	9	3	0	1	0	49	9
2004–05		Championship	42	7	1	0	3	1	46	8
2005–06			40	3	2	1	1	1	43	5
2006–07			42	6	3	0	-		45	6
2007–08			3	0	-		-		3	0
2007–08	Burnley	Championship	43	1	1	0	1	0	45	1
2008–09			46	9	5	1	7	0	58	10
Total	England		750	95	45	7	57	10	852	112
Career Total			750	95	45	7	57	10	852	112

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Profile on Burnley's Official site
• Profile on Preston's Official site
• UEFA stats for Euro 2008 qualifiers
• Graham Alexander career stats at Soccerbase

Awards
Preceded by Wade Elliott	Burnley F.C. Player's Player of the Year 2008-09	Succeeded by Incumbent

v • d • e Burnley F.C. – current squad 1 Penny · 2 Alexander · 3 Kalvenes · 4 Duff · 5 Carlisle · 6 Caldwell · 7 McDonald · 8 Guðjónsson · 9 S. Fletcher · 10 Paterson · 11 Elliott · 12 Jensen · 14 Mears · 15 Edgar · 16 McCann · 19 Rodriguez · 20 Blake · 22 Berisha · 23 Jordan · 25 Kay · 26 van der Schaaf · 27 MacDonald · 30 Thompson · 33 Eagles · — Anderson · — W. Fletcher · — Harvey · — Kudiersky · — Lynch · Manager: Coyle