If anyone tackled you hard, the theory was you'd jump back up quickly to show that you weren't hurt

Driving through the Midlands countryside to Andy Gray’s house, I suddenly have a terrifying flashback. It’s Andy in the opponent’s box at the height of his Everton career, hard as nails, flying in with his head where other players wouldn’t put their boot. Bloody hell, there’s no denying the bloke was tough. No wonder team-mate Kevin Ratcliffe used to say Gray’s real vocation was a kamikaze pilot.

Next, my mind flits nervously to the Andy Gray of today: television’s ultimate football analyst, the suited master of The Boot Room, Monday Night Football, the chalk board, the telestrator pen and live match commentary. Is there a Premiership match he hasn’t seen?

Exercising the Gray matter

Suddenly, an afternoon with Mr Gray talking football and playing his interactive DVD, FA Premier League Superquiz, seems rather daunting. Especially as I’ve already had a quick go at the superquiz. It’s excellent, but I’m not. I’m the sort of fan who only remembers good results and bins the rest for peace of mind. I mean, could you name the scorers in Manchester United’s 11th FA Cup triumph? No, neither can I. Because at the time, I was trying to pretend it wasn’t happening.

I pull up outside Andy’s house, and he sticks his head out of the door. Slightly less barnet than in the old days, of course, but at least he’s not flying in. Instead, he grins as a pair of black Labradors jump all over us. Then we sit down to drink coffee in front of a muted Sky Sports News. I come clean about the quiz. He would beat me hands down. I know he always has a small bet with Martin Tyler before a live Sky match. So we’re definitely not playing for money today.

‘We’re not going to play it now, anyway,’ says Andy, bursting into laughter. ‘But let me tell you, it’s bloody difficult. Even remembering information about a game you’re going to commentate on is tricky. I have to prepare four or five hours before a live game and get my facts straight. I absolutely have to be fully prepared.

‘Martin Tyler, or “The Voice”, as we call him, probably has the best memory for things like this. Then again, Rob Hawthorne and Ian Darke would probably say they know as much. But I need to put in the work!’

‘Putting in the work’ is the trademark of Gray’s career. He grew up in a Glasgow council flat and fell in love with Rangers and the beautiful game. He broke into the Scottish professional youth side in 1973 while playing for part-timers Clydebank Strollers and then worked his backside off with sergeant-major Jim McClean at Dundee United.

The extra toil paid off so handsomely that Aston Villa paid a then-astronomical fee of £110,000 for him in 1975. During his time there, he was voted the PFA Player of the Year and the PFA Young Player of the Year in 1977, a unique double. He moved to Wolves in 1979, where, aged 23, he became Britain’s most expensive footballer, at £1.4 million.

‘I wasn’t naturally a skilful player,’ admits Andy, reflecting on his days on the pitch. ‘Football isn’t all about talent. I worked and got lucky. If you put in the work, most players can improve their game, unless you’re a one-off like Rooney, Best or Henry. Because of that, I had a decent career. And I always got stuck in, of course!’

When men were men

‘Stuck in’! He isn’t kidding there. So how long does he think he would stay on the pitch these days, then?

‘I don’t know,’ smiles Andy, ‘but I’d like to think I’m smart enough to have coped with it. You adapt your game to suit your era and play right on the limits of what’s acceptable. There was more honesty in my day, mind: none of the shirt-pulling and diving. If anyone tackled you hard, the theory was you’d jump back up quickly to show you weren’t hurt. It’s a total role-reversal now: anyone touches you and you go down.’

As Wolves collapsed financially by building a stand they didn’t need, Gray was off-loaded to Howard Kendall’s Everton in 1983 at the age of 27. With the Toffees, he won the FA Cup against Watford in 1984 and the Cup Winners Cup against Rapid Vienna the following year. Replaced by Gary Lineker in 1985, and unwilling to play in the reserves, he moved back to Villa before fulfilling his boyhood dream and pulling on the blue of Rangers. He retired and went on to coach at Aston Villa. Then Sky came calling.

In 1990, Gray was assistant manager to Ron Atkinson at Villa and performing occasional commentary duties for satellite broadcaster BSB. Sky TV took over BSB to form BSkyB and bid £214m for English football rights. This was football’s Big Bang. Money poured into the game, both to clubs and into the way it was covered on TV.

‘When the Sky deal was done,’ says Andy, ‘it was obvious there was going to be a lot more work to do on TV and this was going to be a full-time job. So I left Villa for the third time.’

But does he think all that money in the Premiership has necessarily been a good thing? ‘Well,’ ponders Gray, ‘I hope today’s players realise how lucky they are. I was quite happy with my three-bed semi and a Ford Escort. I don’t know whether money has corrupted the game, but it’s a shame players would rather sit at a club, collect a salary and not play football. I could never have done that; I couldn’t have played in the reserves for any amount of time. We see too many players now who’re happy to sit on contracts and take the big bucks, and if they don’t play, they don’t care. I was always a fan in a football shirt. That’s the way it should be.

‘The influx of foreign players is something to consider, too,’ he adds. ‘And foreign managers naturally recruit from the leagues they know best, which are overseas.’

Sven deadly sins

The foreign manager on everyone’s lips – especially after his sudden resignation – is Sven Goran Eriksson. So what does Gray, as a neutral, Scottish outsider, think of England’s chances? ‘If you ask me whether England have gone forward in any shape or form since Eriksson took over, I would say no. Has he shown he has the ability to make a decision, a change, to do something to win the game when it matters? No, he hasn’t. If England win the World Cup, it will be despite Sven, not because of him. I could name half a dozen Englishmen who could have taken the same players five years ago and not done any worse. I think it’s sad for England. I don’t see any other major footballing nation that has anyone other than a national for coach.’

And so our afternoon of football chat rolls on. What started as a formal interview has turned into a rollicking conversation: this is like being round a mate’s house – just one who knows a hell of a lot about football. In person, Gray is warmer and funnier than on the box, and he’s as interested in other people’s views as much as his own. Most evidently, though, his love for football remains as strong as ever.

‘You never feel anything ever again in your life to replace the feeling of playing football. I talk a lot with Graeme Souness and we often talk about how much we would give to have one more cup final, one more big game, at the peak of our careers. The answer is we’d give everything. Absolutely everything.’

Think of that the next time Andy Gray is live on Sky, and you’ll know the passion in his voice – just like the man – is 100% real.