Leicester City In 100 Players: Graham Cross
Cross’ 600 first team appearances for Leicester City between 1960 and 1975 is a Club record. He also holds Foxes records for making the most appearances in the top flight, in the FA Cup and (jointly) in the League Cup.
Graham joined City in 1959 when he left Linwood Boys’ School. He played in the A team as a wing-half, scored on his debut for the reserves as a 15-year-old, and as a 17-year-old, became Leicester’s youngest-ever top-flight scorer when he netted on his debut.
On his 18th birthday, he made his European debut at Atlético Madrid in the European Cup Winners’ Cup. He was a key player in 1962/63, when City were realistic contenders for the league and FA Cup double. That season, he starred in the FA Cup Final against Manchester United. He also won the first of his 11 England Under-23s caps
Despite Derby County’s Brian Clough and Everton’s Harry Catterick both trying to sign him, Graham continued to be a mainstay of Matt Gillies’ top-flight side, which also won the League Cup in 1964 and reached the final in 1965. Under Gillies’ successor, Frank O’Farrell, who was manager between 1968 and 1971, Graham missed only one game, playing in a long-established centre-back partnership with John Sjoberg.
At the end of O’Farrell’s first season, Graham was in the Foxes side which lost to Manchester City in the 1969 FA Cup Final. The team was relegated three weeks later and, for the first time, Graham found himself playing outside the top division. He was an ever-present for the next two seasons which culminated in the Second Division title and a return to the top-flight in 1971.
Under the new manager Jimmy Bloomfield, Graham was in the side which beat Liverpool to win the Charity Shield (now FA Community Shield) in 1971 and, for the next four seasons, playing at centre-back, Graham hardly missed a game, playing in an attractive footballing side which reached the FA Cup Semi-Final in 1974.
Between 1961 and 1977, Graham also played first-class cricket for Leicestershire. This caused friction with Bloomfield resulting in Graham gong out on loan to Chesterfield in March 1976.
He later signed for Brighton & Hove Albion in 1976 and for Preston North End in 1977.
As a key player, he helped both these clubs to promotion, but it is for his phenomenal career at Leicester City that he will be best remembered.