Under The Spotlight.. Dario Gradi

Dario Gradi was born in Milan in 1941, and moved to England with his mother at the age of 4. The list of clubs Gradi was associated with during his playing years is somewhat less extensive than that of his career as a manager. Dario played for just a few clubs, Sutton United, Tooting and Mitcham and finally, Loughborough University, which is believed to be the most influential on his career. Gradi attended Loughborough University in the 1960?s, studying Physical Education in the hope of becoming a teacher. The Loughborough football team proved to be quite successful, and interestingly, amongst his team mates was author Barry Heins, famous for the novel,?Kes.’

The most significant aspect of playing for Loughborough, was the influence of the coaching staff. Ironically, Gradi’s football mentor at that time was Alan Wade, who went on to become the FA’s Director of coaching.

The start of Gradi’s managerial and coaching career began in 1971, when he became assistant coach at Chelsea. Dario then went on to have coaching and managerial spells at Sutton United, Derby County, Wimbledon, Crystal Palace, and a 2 year spell as youth team coach at Leyton Orient.

Gradi finally took hold of the reins at Crewe Alexandra in June 1983, when they were in the old 4th division and fighting a constantly losing battle. The few Crewe fans at the time would have been happy to have just finished out of the bottom 3, the position they had occupied for 4 of the 5 previous seasons, prior to Gradi’s arrival.

At that time, fans of The Railwaymen would never have dreamt that over the next 20 years Gradi would lead them through 4 promotions, the redevelopment of a quality stadium, and the establishment of a highly accredited youth academy.

The Railwaymen’s first taste of The Championship finally arrived in 1997, and despite relegation in 2002, they quickly fought their way back in to The Championship the following season, and have remained at that level ever since.

Gradi is highly involved in Crewe’s academy and has established himself as a key figure in the youth development aspect of English football, having a hand in the development of successful players such as David Platt, Neil Lennon, Seth Johnson and Robbie Savage.

Gradi’s contract runs out at the end of the season and to date, little of a new contractual agreement has been mentioned. Although, it could be that Gradi is concentrating on the Railwaymen’s current relegation battle, there has been rumours linking Dario to a move to Manchester united. Not to take over from the mighty Sir Alex, but to take up the position of Youth Director.

For his exceptional efforts with Crewe Alexandra, the length of time he has served as manager, and his fantastic eye for young talent, it is no surprise that Gradi was presented with an MBE for outstanding contributions to football in 1998.