Leeds United Gray was born in
Glasgow and brought up in the city's
Castlemilk district. He was one of the new generation of
Leeds United players of the mid-1970s charged with the task of maintaining the club's success after the
Don Revie era. Gray, younger brother of
Eddie, joined the club under Revie as a 17-year-old left-winger and made his debut in 1973, scoring a goal in his first start. Revie had lost regular left back
Terry Cooper to a broken leg the year before and needed to find replacements, and Gray was given his chance as a left-back as a result. He did not stay in the side, with a reshuffled defence allowing
Trevor Cherry to take the left back spot for the end of the season which consisted of two cup finals (the
FA Cup and the
European Cup Winners Cup) both of which Leeds lost. Revie did invite Gray to travel with the squad to
Wembley and he sat next to his manager during the defeat to
Sunderland. Gray was similarly spared regular football in the first team at such an early age the following year, with Cherry settled into the left back role. Leeds won the
League championship thanks to an unbeaten start to the season of 29 games. Gray played only six times and did not qualify for a medal. The following season, he made 18 appearances in the League and usurped Cherry for the No. 3 shirt in the
European Cup final in
Paris, which Leeds lost 2–0 to
Bayern Munich. As the Revie team disbanded due to age – Revie himself had quit for the
England manager's job the year before – Gray found himself tagged as one of the bright young things who would maintain the work of the previous team, alongside
Gordon McQueen and
Joe Jordan.
Nottingham Forest In 1979, Gray joined
Nottingham Forest for £500,000. Forest were managed by
Brian Clough, who had previously managed Gray at Leeds. Gray slotted into the team and played in his second European Cup final in 1980, making him the first player to appear in the final for two different English clubs. This time he was successful as Forest won 1–0 against a
Hamburg SV side which included
Kevin Keegan. Gray also finished on the losing side earlier in the season when Forest were beaten in the
League Cup final by
Wolves, thanks to a single goal from unrelated fellow Scotsman
Andy Gray.
Return to Elland Road Despite his success with Forest, in 1981 Gray returned to Leeds, accepting an invitation from manager – and former teammate –
Allan Clarke. It was a £300,000 deal which took Gray back to Elland Road, but in the first season of his return Leeds were relegated. Clarke was sacked by Leeds after relegation and Gray's brother Eddie took over. The younger Gray played for four years under his brother's stewardship but Leeds could not gain promotion and Gray left for
Sunderland in 1985. His tally for Leeds stood up at 396 appearances and 35 goals. == International career ==