Graham Hawkins

Graham Norman Hawkins was born on 5 March 1946 at 10 Castle Street, Darlaston to Ernest Norman Hawkins – a die miller at a forging works – and Ida Mary Hawkins (née Skitt). He had four siblings: Ernie (born 1935) – who drowned at the age of seven, Maureen (born 1950), Susan (born 1954) and Andrew (born 1962). He represented both Staffordshire Boys and Birmingham Boys, playing as a full-back. He married Jane on 26 June 1967, a secretary from Wolverhampton, who he had first met at the age of 16. Ian became a financial adviser and played non-League football, whilst Richard attained a PhD in sports science and went on to work for various Football League and Premier League clubs. Hawkins was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in August 2009. He died on 27 September 2016, at the age of 70. ==Playing career==

Wolverhampton Wanderers Hawkins was spotted playing for Staffordshire Boys by Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) scouts and was taken on as an apprentice on wages of £8-a-week. He made his professional debut in the Black Country derby against West Bromwich Albion on 10 October 1964, which ended in a 5–1 defeat, with West Brom debutant Jeff Astle scoring two of the goals. Under the stewardship of Andy Beattie, Wolves suffered relegation out of the First Division in 1964–65, though Hawkins did not play in any further games. His second appearance came on 11 December 1965, when first-team defenders David Woodfield and John Holsgrove were both out injured, in a 4–1 victory over Ipswich Town at Molineux. His third appearance came on 26 Match 1966, when a win at Norwich City started a run of six unbeaten games, and Hawkins kept his place in the team until the end of the 1965–66 season. Wolves secured a return to the top flight after finishing second in the Second Division in the 1966–67 campaign, though Hawkins spent most of the season on the bench behind Woodfield and Holsgrove. He also had to spend three months on the sidelines after tearing his ankle ligaments in a clash with Derby County's Kevin Hector. He did start the game that secured promotion, a 4–1 win at Bury on 22 April. However, Wolves missed the chance to win the division after losing on the season's final day. In the summer he spent three weeks on tour with the club's affiliated soccer team in the United States, Los Angeles Wolves, where he shared a room with Derek Dougan. He made seven appearances in the first half of the 1967–68 season, playing his final game for the club in a 3–2 defeat to Manchester United on 30 December. Preston North End Hawkins joined Preston North End for a £35,000 transfer fee on 13 January 1968. After a slow start to his Deepdale career, primarily due to injury, he became a regular in the starting eleven. He was appointed captain by manager Jimmy Milne at the young age of 21. However, he would relinquish the captaincy after finding it too much of a burden. He was selected by Jimmy Armfield to tour Asia and New Zealand with an England "A" team in the summer of 1969, taking the place of the absent Alan Bloor, for five uncapped matches in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Tahiti and New Zealand. {{Quote box Preston finished bottom of the division in 1969–70, though finished only three points short of safety, and Seith was dismissed. Hawkins put in a transfer request, as did many of his teammates, but the board asked him to reconsider. He was an ever-present as the "Lilywhites" made an immediate return to the second tier, winning the Third Division championship by a one-point margin over Fulham in 1970–71. Preston finished 18th in the Second Division in the 1971–72 season, with the highlight of the campaign coming in the FA Cup, where they came close to taking Manchester United to a replay. Hawkins missed the match with an injury, and Ball stated that Preston could have got a positive result if Hawkins had played. Ball was sacked in February 1973 and Preston ended the 1972–73 season above the relegation zone only on goal average. Plymouth Argyle and Blackburn Rovers made bids for Hawkins in January 1974, though he rejected the former as he did not wish to relocate to the south coast. Recently appointed manager Gordon Lee was in the process of revamping the first-team, as he also signed Ken Beamish, Pat Hilton, Don Hutchins, Jimmy Mullen and Graham Oates. Hawkins credited Lee with teaching him the concept of playing the ball out from the back, permitting him to use flair and patience rather than direct football tactics. Now managed by Jim Smith, the club finished mid-table in the Second Division in 1975–76 despite Hawkins and other players struggling with various injuries. Hawkins won the club's Player's Player of the Year award, though lost out the Fan's Player of the Year award after receiving only one vote fewer than winner Tony Parkes. Now aged 31, Hawkins became more of a reserve team player at Ewood Park in the first half of the 1977–78 season, and though he looked for a move away he rejected an approach from Shrewsbury Town as he wanted to secure a coaching role as well as a playing one. He scored one goal in 16 Third Division appearances in the 1977–78 relegation campaign. He was appointed the first-team coach in May 1978 before being promoted to assistant manager by new boss Dennis Butler in September 1978. Chairman Arthur McPherson described the 1979–80 season as "probably the worst season in the club's history". ==Style of play==

Hawkins was a defender with a commanding presence and excellent ability to read, play, and organise the backline. ==Coaching and management career==

Upon leaving Vale Park, Hawkins coached the reserves at Blackburn Rovers and the youth team at Stoke City. Wolverhampton Wanderers Hawkins returned to Wolverhampton Wanderers as manager, having been appointed after the Derek Dougan-led takeover saved the club from extinction in August 1982. Hawkins accepted wages of £20,000-a-year. However, the job offer was an unexpected one as he had only applied for the vacant management post at Wrexham. He installed Jim Barron as his assistant, whilst Frank Upton was put in charge of the youth team on the understanding that young players would be important to the first-team due to the club's tight budget. He got the players to devise their own bonus structure, which rewarded them for winning matches; he told the press that "they must stay in the top bracket if they want to earn their corn". With regular goalkeeper Paul Bradshaw unavailable, Hawkins signed experienced goalkeeper John Burridge from Queens Park Rangers, who would prove to reliable on the pitch and inspirational in the dressing room, winning the club's Player of the Year award. The club's star striker, Andy Gray, openly agitated for a move away and was also injured. The team were fortunate to be only one goal down to Blackburn at half-time, but Hawkins remained calm and instructed the team to put in crosses to Butler, who went on to score a brace in the second half to give Wolves a 2–1 victory. {{Quote box He refused to change his matchday suit until the team were beaten, resulting in a 3–0 home defeat to Leicester City on 16 October, ending a run of 817 minutes without conceding a league goal. Gray returned to fitness to play the following game, a 5–0 defeat to First Division Sunderland in the FA Cup. Mixed results in November were followed by four wins and a draw in December, which saw Hawkins named as Second Division Manager of the Month with the club three points clear at the top of the table. Rangers went on to win the league by a ten-point margin as Wolves struggled for form in the latter half of the campaign. Tony Towner was on the list, though as a winger was not considered a priority, and Hawkins was furious when Dougan signed him for £100,000 whilst both Hawkins and Barron were out of the country on holiday. Wolves secured a 1–1 draw with reigning champions Liverpool on the opening day of the season, with Geoff Palmer converting a penalty won by Gray. Yet promised investment from Bhatti brothers was not forthcoming after their company, Allied Properties, were denied planning permission by the City of Wolverhampton Council, leaving the squad poorly equipped to handle life in the top-flight. In fact, Gray was sold to Everton the following month for £250,000. The team finally won their first First Division game on 26 November, with new loan signing Danny Crainie scoring two goals in a 3–1 victory at local rivals West Bromwich Albion; this ended a run of 19 games without a win. Despite being beaten by Coventry City in a second replay in the FA Cup, January saw Wolves beat Liverpool 1–0 at Anfield. It took seven years of legal battles for the club to pay him his compensation, by which time Wolves were in the Fourth Division. Middle East Hawkins emigrated to Bahrain and managed Bahrain SC in the Bahraini Premier League, winning the league title in the 1984–85 season after a crucial game with Al-Muharraq SC was replayed because of dubious refereeing and the fact that the Muharraq goalkeeper punched Hawkins in the face. Muharraq won the 1985–86 title and Hawkins services were not retained after Riffa SC were crowned champions at the end of the 1986–87 campaign. He successfully applied for the management position at Al Hala SC. He left Al Hala at the end of the 1988–89 campaign and returned to the UK in December 1989. He returned to Blackburn Rovers as chief scout in 1990, though left this position to take up the lucrative management post at Kuwait club Al-Arabi SC, before his time in the Middle East was ended by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait during pre-season training. Later career He later did part-time scouting for Blackburn Rovers, as the chief scout post had been filled in his absence. He also took up employment at John Ritchie's wholesaler business as a door-to-door salesman. In October 1991, he took on the lease of the Coopers Arms public house in Woore. He re-entered the football industry after being employed by Elite Sports, helping the company to earn screening contracts to prevent the sudden cardiac death of athletes. Jimmy Armfield then recruited him to work as the Football League's head of player development. There he expanded the Football League's exit trials to cover players released from Centres of Excellence rather than just Academies. He retired in March 2011, at the age of 65. ==Career statistics==

Playing statistics } :A.  The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the League Cup, Football League Trophy, English Football League play-offs and Full Members Cup. Managerial statistics ==Honours==

Playing Individual • PFA Third Division Team of the Year: 1974–75 Managerial Individual • Football League Second Division Manager of the Month: December 1982 Wolverhampton Wanderers • Football League Second Division second-place promotion: 1982–83 Bahrain SC • Bahraini Premier League: 1984–85 ==References==