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Graham Robert Alexander (born 10 October 1971 in Coventry, England) is a Scottish international footballer, currently playing for Burnley. He normally plays as a right back, but has recently been deployed in defensive midfield,[1] as he did early on in his career with Scunthorpe United.[2] He is currently the fifth oldest player to score in the Premier League.[3] He is also a penalty kick specialist and takes them for his current club.
[edit] Club careerAlexander began his career in the late 1980s as a youth player with Scunthorpe United. He made his first-team debut on 27 April 1991, coming on as a substitute for Mark Hine, and signed his first professional contract the same year. In 1991-92, he established himself as a member of Scunthorpe's first team, usually playing at right-back. Alexander made over 200 appearances at Scunthorpe before moving to Luton Town for a transfer fee of £100,000.[4][5] 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.[6] He became a first team regular at Deepdale, eventually club captain and an established set-piece taker, particularly in penalties.[7] Alexander has stayed remarkably fit during his career, and has hardly ever suffered a major injury. However, during the 2000-01 season, Alexander missed several weeks of the season after breaking his rib in an away match against Wolverhampton Wanderers.[8] During his eight years at Preston, Alexander made exactly 400 appearances for the club, with his 400th and final match coming against Colchester on 25 August 2007[9]. He was also in the PFA's Championship Team of the Season for 2004-05[7] 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;
On 29 August 2007, he made a surprise move to local rivals Burnley 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,[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;
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] and on 15 August 2009 he became the oldest player to make a Premier League debut. On 19 September 2009, Alexander scored his first Premier League goal, a penalty, in a 3-1 win at home to Sunderland.[15] On 31 October 2009, Alexander scored both goals in a 2-0 home win against Hull City.[16] A week later he then scored the first for Burnley, from the spot, at Manchester City in a thrilling 3-3 draw.[17] Notably in this game, Alexander was eleven years older than the referee, Stuart Attwell, who is the youngest ever referee in the English Premier League.On 16th December 2009, he scored his 100th league goal. He scored an equaliser against Arsenal, sending keeper Manuel Almunia, the wrong way. [edit] International careerAlthough Alexander was born in England, he was eligible to play for Scotland through his Scottish father.[18] Alexander said that playing for Scotland was one of his main ambitions in football[19]. This ambition was fulfilled when he made his debut on 17 April 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.[20] [edit] Career statistics
[edit] National team caps
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
Categories: 1971 births | Living people | Burnley F.C. players | English footballers | English people of Scottish descent | Football (soccer) defenders | Football (soccer) utility players | Luton Town F.C. players | People from Coventry | Preston North End F.C. players | Scotland B international footballers | Scotland international footballers | Scottish footballers | Scunthorpe United F.C. players | The Football League players | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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