Perry Groves

Infobox Football biography
playername = Perry Groves


fullname = Perry Groves
height = height|ft=5|in=9
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1965|4|19|df=y
cityofbirth = Bow, London
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
position = Right Wing
youthyears = 1981-1982
youthclubs = Colchester United
years = 1982-1986
1986-1992
1992-1994 1994?
clubs = Colchester United
Arsenal
Southampton
Dagenham & Redbridge
caps(goals) = 142 (26)
155 (21)
015 0(2)
04 00(?)
manageryears =
managerclubs =
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Perry Groves (born 19 April 1965) is a former English footballer, known chiefly for his time at Arsenal, where he remains a fans' favourite to this day. He was a fast-paced player who usually played as winger, and less often as a striker. His uncle Vic Groves also played for Arsenal.

Playing career

Colchester United

Groves was born in Bow, London, but as a boy he played for Cornard Dynamos in the village of Great Cornard on the Suffolk - Essex border. Groves then had a trial with Wolves as a schoolboy before signing as an apprentice for Colchester United in 1981. He turned professional a year later and over the next four seasons he played 142 league games for the U's, scoring 26 goals.

Arsenal

In September 1986 he signed for Arsenal for £50,000, becoming the first signing by new manager George Graham. In his first season at the club he helped set up Charlie Nicholas for the winner in the 1987 League Cup final, dribbling past three Liverpool players before laying the ball off.

Noted for his enthusiasm and hard work, he started most of Arsenal's games in the 1987-88 season, helping the Gunners reach a second League Cup final the following season by scoring the only goal of the away leg of the semi-final against Everton; Arsenal however lost the final to Luton Town. Although Groves made 46 appearances in all competitions that season, the arrival of Brian Marwood reduced his opportunities to play, and he was mainly used as a substitute in Arsenal's title-winning 1988-89 season, coming off the bench 15 times during the league campaign, on top of 6 starts.

Although an injury to Marwood opened the door for him again in 1989-90, Groves returned to the bench after Marwood recovered. This did not however stop him from winning a second league title winners' medal in 1990-91, again with most of his appearances coming as a sub. As Graham's Arsenal became more defensive Groves found himself in the team less and less, and after making only 13 league appearances in 1991-92 he was sold to Southampton.

outhampton

He moved to Southampton in 1992 for £750,000 but only played 15 times in two years before retiring from professional football at the age of 28, following two serious Achilles tendon injuries.

Dagenham & Redbridge

He then played four games in the Conference for Dagenham & Redbridge before ending his playing career completely.

Post-retirement

Groves currently works as a sales representative for Permaplay, a company that designs school playgrounds run by former Manchester City star Francis Lee. He also appears for Arsenal in the London Masters football tournament, Perry also features on various Talksport shows filling in for presenters such as Alvin Martin or Gary Stevens.

Cult status

Groves became a cult player among Arsenal fans, who commemorate him with the chant "We all live in a Perry Groves World", which listed Perry in every position from 1 to 12 (except 7, which is instead taken by Liam Brady), to the tune of The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine". He still has a large following, with a fanclub and website devoted to him. In October 2006 Perry Groves published his autobiography, entitled "We All Live In A Perry Groves World" (ISBN 1-84454-319-6). With it came an Arsenal fans' campaign on the web to purchase the book, in an attempt to outsell former Arsenal defender Ashley Cole's autobiography, "My Defence", which was out at the same time. [cite web | url=http://www.oleole.com/blogs/arseblog/posts/lets-make-perry-groves-better-than-ashley-cole | title=Let's make Perry Groves better than Ashley Cole | work=Arseblog ] His autobiography has since outsold that of Cole, as well as the autobiographies of other much more high-profile players including Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand. [cite news | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/sport/2006/12/29/sophil29.xml | title=How life in fast lane paid off for Arsenal icon | work=Daily Telegraph | date=2007-01-07 ]

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.weloveperry.com/ Unofficial Perry Groves fansite]
* [http://arseblog.com/podcasts/arsecast_episode4.mp3 Perry Groves on arseblog.com's "arsecast"] on 10 November 2006 (MP3, 17 MB)
* [http://sport.guardian.co.uk/smalltalk/story/0,,1943857,00.html Interview with Perry Groves in "The Guardian"]