If you were transported back to Elland Road on any Saturday between now and the 1960s, you would almost certainly find someone with Gray’s DNA.
Whether it was Eddie running at full-back, Frank at centre-back or Andy playing up front, they were on the pitch in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Eddie then stayed away, managing the club into the 1980s and working as assistant manager to David O’Leary in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before moving to the commentary box.
Basically, if you knew Leeds United, you knew the Greys.
Eddie should have renounced his comment years ago, but just as the bond with Grace was weakening, the conversation began to revolve around the new Grey… Archie. There was a kid at the gym, Andy’s son, Frank’s grandson, who was important. He began training with the first team at the age of 15 and the club had to agree terms with his school to allow him to do so.
Then, amid injury and the Covid-19 crisis, he was substituted for a Premier League game. Had he played, he would have become Leeds’ youngest ever player – a record previously held by Peter Lorimer (15 years and 289 days) in May 1962.
But Marcelo Bielsa did not replace him. The record was not broken and Gray had to wait until last summer to make his first senior appearance in a Leeds shirt. He was dropped from the start of the campaign under Daniel Farke and barely left the team. At 18, he made 44 appearances in his debut campaign.
Leeds lost the play-off final and it looks like it will happen. It looks like he could be heading to Tottenham, who have been pursued by a number of Premier League and European sides. Not like great-uncle Eddie, who played for one club (Leeds) for 17 years and only wore one other shirt: Scotland. Not like grandad Frank, who left Leeds after nine years to go to Nottingham Forest, where he won the European Cup, but then returned to Leeds – his two spells totalling 15 years.
So what can you expect? Leeds must sell this summer to avoid promotion to the Premier League. Never mind that they have signed a major sponsorship deal with Red Bull, who now own part of the club. Whether Gray’s departure is a result of the losses or the English Football League’s profit and loss system, there is no better way to remedy both of these situations than to sell a player who has come through the academy.
Gray meets fans from last season (George Wood/Getty Images)
So Leeds fan Archie Gray will probably cry on the pitch at the Premier League game when Leeds lose the play-off final at Wembley in May. Celtic fan Eddie will be in his usual spot in the stands at Elland Road next season, with almost no family to watch – although Gray’s brother Harry is considered a potential player in the Leeds academy.
But what hope is there? Will it be any different if Harry makes his debut?
With Archie, in fact, the guns went off at any moment. Leeds may not have been a Championship body after next season, but as a Premier League team they would still fall prey to whichever Big Six birds of prey wanted to attack. Leeds in the Premier League could have one more season with Gray before selling him. They may even have two. But they will fall prey to the rules of profit and stability and sell out local prospects to finance a series of undervalued signings and a desire for the Europa League, or Gray’s own goals.
As a player with great potential, Gray will never be happy without problems at the end of the game. It’s difficult to see a path forward for a club like Leeds. And that’s the difference between the Grays of 2024 and the Grays of the 1960s and 1970s. When Eddie arrived at Leeds in 1965, Leeds were just four years away from struggling in the third division. In the season in which he debuted, Leeds finished second in the top flight and reached the semi-finals of the Fairs Cup, the precursor to the Europa League. Until 1969 they were champions and until 1975 they reached the final of the European Cup. Can anyone realistically imagine Leeds reaching the Champions League final between now and 2033?
Gray’s expected departure will cost fans an extra season, maybe two, of watching the very talented kid sing along to Marching on Together. From the club’s perspective, a season or two in the Premier League would probably double his transfer value. It’s the game’s romance that dates Gray; The idea that he could play with his brother Harry like Eddie did with Frank.
Archie himself would hope so: “I’m not going to tell him this myself, but my dream is to play with Harry one day.” Or there’s the idea that Gray could have been there 15 years ago, driving Leeds forward and developing the club around him, as Don Revie’s boys did when they were developing.
It may be too early to mourn his loss forever. After all, he is a third-generation Grey and his entire lineage has left Leeds and then returned. Frank’s grandfather, as has his father Andy. And at least 49ers Enterprises has learned a lesson about fan sentiment, given the reaction to the move to Brentford on Saturday night. However, football seems to have moved on from players of the past, such as Grey, who have mostly thrived and stayed at the same club. Just look at PSR’s Premier League offerings. The math doesn’t allow for that.
The sadness of Gray’s departure is an example of what could have been. But when it comes to the dream of playing football, one local star who takes pride in being on the pitch seems to belong to another generation.
(Foto superior: George Wood via Getty Images)
2024-06-30 19:01:55
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