Graham Anthony Fenton (born 22 May 1974 in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear) is an English former professional footballer and manager of North Shields.
As a player he played as a midfielder, notably played in the Premier League for Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City, as well as in the Football League for West Bromwich Albion, Walsall, Stoke City, Blackpool and Darlington. He also spent a year in Scotland with St. Mirren before later playing for Non-league Blyth Spartans. He was also capped once by England at under-21 level. He took over as manager of North Shields on 6 April 2012.
Fenton joined Aston Villa as a trainee in June 1990, turning professional in February 1992. He was loaned out to West Bromwich Albion in January 1994, making his league debut against Leicester City in the same month. His loan spell at Albion was very successful, producing three goals in seven games and contributing to Albion’s eventual survival in Division One, leaving many Albion fans “bitterly disappointed” when he did not sign permanently. He instead returned to Villa, making his club debut in a 0–0Premiership draw at home to Manchester City on 22 February 1994. In March 1994 he played in Villa’sLeague Cup winning side, playing all of the 3–1 victory against Manchester United at Wembley. Fenton made his only appearance for the England Under-21s on 15 November 1994 in a 1–0 win against Ireland U-21s at St James’ Park; the team included several future full internationals, including Sol Campbell and Nicky Butt.
In November 1995, having never claimed a regular place in the Villa first team, Fenton made a £1,500,000 move to reigning Premiership champions Blackburn, but with Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton in rich goal scoring form his first team opportunities were limited. He scored seven times for Blackburn, including two as a late substitute against Newcastle United, the team Fenton has supported since childhood, in April 1996 which effectively ended Newcastle’s title challenge.
In August 1997 he moved to Martin O’Neill’s Leicester City for a fee of £1,100,000. He scored on his Leicester debut, having replaced Ian Marshall as a late substitute in the 2–1 win away to Liverpool, but again struggled to establish himself, making only 34 league appearances (21 as substitute) over three seasons.
He joined Walsall on loan in March 2000, scoring once against Port Vale, and had an unsuccessful trial with Barnsley in July 2000. In August 2000 he joined Stoke City on a monthly contract, scoring once against Reading, and at the end of the following month signed for St Mirren on a two-year contract.
In August 2001 Fenton joined Blackpool on a free transfer, but once more struggled to establish himself in the first team. He had a spell on loan with Darlington between September and December 2002, scoring once against Bournemouth, and was one of nine players released by Blackpool manager Steve McMahon in May 2003.
In July 2003 Fenton returned to the North East of England, joining Blyth Spartans. Blyth manager Paul Baker appointed Fenton as player-assistant manager in July 2004. Fenton took over as caretaker-manager of Blyth when Baker left that September, returning to his player-assistant manager role in October 2004 after the appointment of Harry Dunn as manager. In the 2005–06 season he was part of the Spartans’ side that gained promotion to the Conference North by winning the Northern Premier League. He was assistant manager and player at North Shields F.C. from April 2012.
Graham took over as manager of former Amateur Cup Winners North Shields in April 2012 after previous manager Anthony Woodhouse resigned. Graham took over with 4 games remaining with the club missing out on promotion from a strong position for the second consecutive season. Two years later, he led Shields to winning theNorthern League Division Two title and promotion to Division One.
| Youth career | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Wallsend Boys Club | |||
| 1990–1992 | Aston Villa | ||
| Senior career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1995 | Aston Villa | 30 | (3) |
| 1994 | West Bromwich Albion (loan) | 7 | (3) |
| 1995–1997 | Blackburn Rovers | 27 | (7) |
| 1997–2000 | Leicester City | 34 | (3) |
| 2000 | Walsall (loan) | 9 | (1) |
| 2000 | Stoke City | 5 | (1) |
| 2000–2001 | St. Mirren | 26 | (2) |
| 2001–2003 | Blackpool | 15 | (5) |
| 2002 | Darlington (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| 2003–2009 | Blyth Spartans | 116 | (9) |
| 2009–2010 | North Shields | 4 | (2) |
| Total | 279 | (37) | |
| National team | |||
| 1994 | England U21 | 1 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2012- | North Shields | ||
Mikes WFC Players History 