Archie Gray: 16 years old, GCSEs freshly in hand and part of the Leeds first team - The Athletic 26/8/22

Phil Hay

An age gap of 14 years exists between Leeds United’s captain, Liam Cooper, and Archie Gray, the youngest face in their squad, and it showed on the morning after the final game of last season.

Cooper had steered Leeds through a 2-1 win at Brentford, a result that staved off relegation, and the 30-year-old was soon on a plane to the USA, destined for a stag do in Las Vegas. As he was in the air, Gray sat in a quiet school hall in North Yorkshire completing his GSCE geography exam.

Yesterday, Gray did what other students across the UK were doing and went to collect his results. No one else at his school and very few teenagers in the country were checking out of secondary education with their GCSEs complete and a professional football debut so close to touch. He leaves St John Fisher Catholic High School in Harrogate too young to drink, too young to drive but in the eyes of his sport, good enough and old enough.

“We got the word that he got his GCSEs,” Jesse Marsch said yesterday. “I asked him in front of the team and he said he got Bs and As — Bs first, which made me think he got more Bs than As! Clearly, he’s a bright kid.” And at 16 years old, a story like few others at Thorp Arch.

There are ways in which Gray could be classed as a conventional academy player, following an established path of development. He signed for Leeds as an under-nine, the earliest moment English clubs can formally recruit players so young, and Thorp Arch is awash with budding footballers who have been on the scene since their primary school years. But Gray was destined to attract attention for two reasons: the speed of his progression over the past 12 months and his genes, which cannot pass without mention.

He is the grandson of Frank, Leeds’ former defender, and the great nephew of Eddie, as brilliant a footballer the club has ever produced. He is the son of Andy, a talented striker in his time and, many say, the only shining light in Leeds’ League Cup defeat to Aston Villa in 1996. The line of blood is exceptionally strong and Gray is not the only family member working his way through the club’s junior ranks. His younger brother Harry is making people talk in the same way, an irrepressible forward who scores for fun. The family tree says it was always meant to be.

Last season, Gray expected to tick over in the background at Thorp Arch, an under-16s scholar who often played up a level but whose training schedule was standard: fitting around school and consisting of three midweek nights. He was 15 when the term started and, as far as he was aware, a long way from any high-profile exposure. But from nowhere, his talent and other circumstances brought about extreme elevation. One minute he was appearing for the club’s under-18s against Chelsea, the next he was making the trip to Tottenham Hotspur with Marcelo Bielsa’s senior squad, then making the bench for a Premier League game against Arsenal in December.

Injuries at first-team level helped bring him to that point and as Bielsa said himself, he was risking asking too much of Gray too soon. But it was still true that had Gray, a ball-playing midfielder, not possessed so much skill and poise, he would not have caught Bielsa’s eye in the first place. Bielsa admired him and the Argentinian’s coaching staff echoed his confidence in him. Gray was so young that had he appeared as a substitute against Arsenal, he would have broken a hitherto untouchable record: that held by Peter Lorimer, Leeds’ youngest ever player, who made his debut for the club aged 15 years and 289 days in 1962.

The speed of his step up from youth team to first team, and the age he was taking that step at, created unusual considerations. Bielsa wanted Gray to train with the main squad during the day and Gray, with his school’s permission, arranged to miss classes. Leeds had educational facilities at Thorp Arch ready to support him and he underwent specially arranged sessions of one-to-one tuition to make sure that, in spite of his plan to finish school this summer and fully commit to football, he was in a position to sit and pass his GCSEs as planned.

Huge congratulations to Year 11 student Archie Gray who scored for the @LUFC under 23 team last night. https://t.co/6HaRJ3bwnU

— St John Fisher Catholic High School, Harrogate (@sjfchs) March 16, 2022

Because he was 15 and did not turn 16 until March, it was also necessary for Leeds to implement safeguarding measures. Gray would change for games in a separate dressing room, giving him privacy and space. He was offered a chaperone for the club’s recent pre-season tour of Australia, on account of the fact he was the youngest travelling member by a distance. The club and his school worked closely together, cooperating to make sure his academic work could be finished without hindering his footballing prospects. St John Fisher tweeted in March to congratulate Gray on a goal scored in an under-23s game against Manchester United, a ridiculously casual finish from 35 yards. Leeds tried hard to limit hype around him, but deflecting attention became increasingly impossible.

The thing everyone notices about Gray is that a player so raw does not look raw at all. He was used by Jesse Marsch in pre-season and the only obstacle for him was a foul by Aston Villa’s John McGinn that injured his ankle in Australia. When he played he was slick and effective, a fast-thinker who showed intelligence with his moving and passing, mature enough to captain England’s Under-16s. “I consider Archie a first-team player at 16,” Marsh said after a pre-season win over Blackpool in July. “I think he’s got the full package.”

Wednesday’s League Cup tie against Barnsley was a potential opportunity for Gray to make his first-team debut, but he suffered from a virus last week and Marsch decided to leave him out of the 20. The day will come before long, though, and Marsch is able to promise him that. “He’s a big part of our plans,” Leeds’ head coach said. “It’s not like we have a 16-year-old kid in with the first team. He’s one of the players. That’s a big compliment for him.”

It is no surprise to hear on the grapevine that the Premier League’s leading clubs are watching Gray constantly, Manchester City included. He is on a scholarship at Leeds and the club will be ready to finalise professional forms as soon as he is able to sign them when he turns 17 next March. His surname goes before him and it will be there for the duration of his career, a genetic link like very few others in the game, but school is behind him, he has the ability to be his own man and, in the eyes of the Grays and those who know him, the potential to match up to any of them.