|
The article below is from the Match day programme against Barnsley during the 2024/2025 season. If you are aware of where Peter Graham currently lives please contact Coconuts.  Peter Graham
Peter Graham was born in Barnsley on the 19th of April 1947 and started his career at Worsbrough Bridge Athletic. In 1966 whilst playing for the part-timers he was offered a professional contract at Barnsley where he spent the next four years appearing only sporadically and in 1970, he had a month’s loan spell at Halifax Town where he made half a dozen appearances. That summer Peter departed for Darlington, having made nineteen appearances for Barnsley, scoring just the single goal and it was at Feethams where he became a regular over the next few years. Peter was on the bench for the Quakers when they played at the Abbey Stadium on the opening day of the 72/73 season and although Peter didn’t come off the bench that day the visitors came away with an impressive 3-0 victory. Peter departed for Lincoln City in September 1973 for £12,500, having made over a century of appearances for Darlington scoring 43 goals along the way. His five-year spell at Sincil Bank was even more productive, scoring 47 goals from 158 appearances winning the fourth division title in the 75/76 season. He even nabbed a goal at the Abbey in a 4-2 win. In the summer of 1978, the now 31-year-old Peter moved to the Abbey Stadium at the start of United’s first ever season in Division 2 and found himself immediately having to fill in for the injured Dave Stringer in the back line. Over the course of that season, he found himself mainly used as a utility player also featuring at right back and in midfield. In November of that season, he was appointed player/coach although he spent a couple of months on the sidelines after suffering a fractured cheekbone against Fulham on Boxing Day. In the summer of 1979 Peter was appointed as youth development officer but continued to play occasionally, often filling in for injured players. His own injuries continued to mount and after being faced with, yet another cartilage operation Peter retired at the end of the season having racked up 41 appearances for the U’s. He continued to coach the reserves and the youth team but was sadly made redundant in March 1982 along with other staff as part of a cost-cutting exercise. He briefly returned to help with the youth side whilst going back to his former profession as a plumber. Peter went on to manage Newmarket Town and I believe he still lives there. Other players to have turned out for both clubs include George Williams, Colin Walker, Korey Smith, Marc Richards, Fola Onibuje, Cameron McGeehan, George Maris, Jabo Ibehre, Bobby Horn, Gary Gardner, Ian Evans, Paul Digby, Luke Berry, Kevin Austin and Victor Adeboyejo Colin Booth 1934-2025 Cambridge United people have learned with regret of the death earlier this month, at the age of 90, of former inside forward Colin Booth. Colin became manager Bill Leivers’ first signing when he came to the Abbey Stadium in May 1967, when United were playing in the Southern League Premier Division. He endured an injury-hit spell in amber and left a year later, having played in 28 first-team games and scored six goals. Born in Middleton, Greater Manchester in December 1934, Colin joined Wolves as an apprentice and graduated to the Molineux first team in 1955, winning an England Under-23 cap the following year. His 82 appearances in old gold brought him 27 goals – including four in one game against Arsenal – and championship winner’s medals in 1958 and 1959. Colin’s move to Nottingham Forest in the latter year saw him continuing to score heavily, but his most productive period came during his time at Doncaster Rovers, where, under Leivers’ management, he was top scorer for two seasons running. The manager signed him from Oxford United, where he had once again scored frequently but had incurred worrying injuries. He opened the scoring in his first Southern League game for the U’s, a 5-0 home win over Worcester City, but could not hold down a regular first-team place as injury continued to beset him. Released in the summer of 1968, Colin joined Cheltenham Town. There he was again hampered by injuries, and he retired to work in an Oxford hospital. Colin died on 12 May 2025. He is survived by three daughters To find out more about Colin's career at Wolverhampton see the video  The Cambridge football community was saddened to hear of the death on Sunday, at the age of 84, of former United inside forward Brian Hart. The first U’s player to earn international honours when he was selected for England Youth in 1959, Brian subsequently followed a career with West Bromwich Albion, Nuneaton Borough, Cambridge City and Wellington Town, which became Telford United in 1969. A creative player of great football intelligence, he also had a goalscoring knack that made him a favourite at every one of those clubs. Born in Cambridge in 1941, Brian grew up in Horningsea, where his parents ran a shop and post office. As a boy he was no stranger to the Abbey Stadium, accompanying his father, an avid U’s supporter, to matches. His football abilities attracted attention during his time at Bottisham Village College, and he joined the United ground staff at the invitation of manager Bert Johnson. He played an important role in the 1958-59 United youth team that swept all before it, winning every game it played apart from a defeat in the FA Youth Cup, scoring over 300 goals and clinching three trophies including the county FA Youth Cup. That season was a triumph for the young Brian in several ways: besides his England Youth call-up, he was part of the Cambridgeshire side that played London at Stamford Bridge in the semi-finals of the FA County Youth Cup, with Brian being marked by future England player and manager Terry Venables. But it was his international honour that was truly groundbreaking. At the time United had only just progressed from the Eastern Counties League to the Southern League and it was a rare event for a youngster at a non-League club to be chosen for England. International players – including the great Wilf Mannion, with whom Brian trained – had played for United before, but Brian was the first to be selected while at the club. Playing against the Republic of Ireland at Anfield on 9 May 1959, he scored with a header in the tenth minute and set up two more goals in a 5-0 win. By that time, Brian had appeared for United’s first team, playing in an East Anglian Cup tie against Norwich City on 27 October 1958. That match was abandoned because of fog, but he also played in the rearranged game the following March. In August 1959, he went for trials with West Ham United and Leicester City before signing professional forms for West Brom at the age of 18. He spent three years at the Hawthorns – marrying local girl Sheila in 1962 – before moving on to Nuneaton, for whom he scored 23 goals in 1962-63. Brian was Nuneaton’s leading scorer when he returned to Cambridge to sign for City in January 1965, and he scored twice the following month when the Milton Road outfit won the Fenland Cup. After 62 games for the Lilywhites first team and reserves – including several against his old friends at United – and having scored 14 goals, he moved on to Wellington, where he enjoyed his most successful period in football. After the club changed its name to Telford, he played at Wembley in two FA Trophy finals as the club lost 2-0 to Macclesfield Town in 1970 but beat Hillingdon Borough 3-2 the following year. After spending time in a care home, Brian died peacefully, surrounded by family members, on May 18. Sheila died in 2018. He leaves a daughter, a son and two grandchildren   The news of the death on Sunday of former Cambridge United forward Tom Youngs, at the tragically early age of 45, came as a shock to all connected with the Club…
Tom, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2014, will be remembered as a gifted player who, with probing, darting runs, intelligent positioning and poise in front of goal, graced the Abbey Stadium between 1997 and 2003. His 180 appearances in all competitions, including 35 as a substitute, brought him 48 goals and many assists. He was part of manager Roy McFarland’s team that won promotion to Division Three in 1998/99, and appeared in the John Taylor side that reached the LDV Vans Trophy final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff in 2002. Born in Bury St Edmunds on 31 August 1979, Tom grew up in Barton Mills and first took part in playground football at Great Heath primary school in nearby Mildenhall. During a short spell in Mildenhall Town’s junior sides, he was spotted by a United scout and joined the club at the age of ten. He signed YTS terms in 1996 while staying on at school to study for A levels, but showed such promise that a year later, at the age of 17, he bypassed the rest of his YTS stint and signed a two-year professional contract. Following his Division Three debut as a substitute in September 1997, he signed a contract extension to take him up to 2001. His first League goal came in September 1999, and he later prolonged his stay at the Abbey until 2003. Taylor paid tribute to his player with the words: ‘I don’t think you’ll find a forward in the lower divisions who understands the game as much as Tom Youngs.’ But in 2003, Tom’s negotiations for a new contract stalled and he was transferred to Northampton Town for a fee of £50,000. ‘You have to think about your career,’ he observed at the time. ‘I’ve had a lot of good times at United, but I think most people will appreciate why I’ve decided to make this move at this time.’ Injury problems that had emerged at United returned while he was at Sixfields. There followed a brief spell at Leyton Orient and then Tom moved to Bury while studying sports journalism at the University of Staffordshire. In 2007 he was persuaded to join Stafford Rangers by former U’s teammate Fred Murray, but he was soon on the move back to East Anglia, signing for Cambridge City. Following a trial spell at Stevenage and a return for a trial at United, Tom moved to St Albans City, Norwich United and, as player and assistant manager, Mildenhall Town. A serious hip injury forced him to retire from playing at the age of 32 in November 2011. In the summer of 2014, while he was working as an accountant at the brewery/pub company Greene King in Bury St Edmunds, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He had first noticed problems with his vision in February of the previous year, while he was watching a game as assistant manager of Mildenhall. Tom described the triumphs and tribulations of life in football in an acclaimed 2016 memoir: What dreams are (not quite) made of: no fame, no fortune, just football… and multiple sclerosis. Tom married Chelle in 2004; they had two daughters. He died on 4 May 2025 in St Nicholas Hospice at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds. Rest in peace, Tom. |
Happy Harry's blogI'm the living embodiment of the spirit of the U's, and I'll be blogging whenever I've got news for you, as long as I don't miss my tea. Archives
May 2025
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed