Steve Gritt

Infobox Football biography
playername = Steve Gritt


fullname = Stephen John Gritt
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1957|10|31
cityofbirth = Bournemouth
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height =
nickname =
position = Midfielder
currentclub =
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1975–1977
1977–1989
1989
1989–1993
clubs = Bournemouth
Charlton Athletic
Walsall
Charlton Athletic
caps(goals) = 006 0(3)
347 (24)
020 0(1)
033 0(1)
manageryears = 1991–1995
1996–1998
2000
2004–
managerclubs = Charlton Athletic
Brighton & Hove Albion
Millwall "(caretaker)"
Charlton Athletic Academy

Stephen John "Steve" Gritt (born 31 October 1957 in Bournemouth) is a former English football player and manager. His playing career included spells at Charlton Athletic, Bournemouth and Walsall.

Playing career

Gritt spent most of his playing career with Charlton Athletic, after joining from home town club Bournemouth in 1977. In his first spell with Charlton, he experienced one relegation to the Third Division (1980), one promotion to the Second Division (1981) and one promotion to the First Division (1986). In 1989 he moved to Walsall for a brief spell but soon returned to Charlton. In his second spell, he experienced another relegation in 1990.

In all, Gritt made 435 appearances for Charlton, with 26 goals, placing him fifth on Charlton's all time appearance list. He played a further two seasons after being appointed manager, retiring in 1993. He later had brief spells with non-league teams Welling United and Tooting & Mitcham after leaving Charlton in 1995.

Managerial career

Gritt was named as joint player-manager of Charlton in 1991, alongside Alan Curbishley. In his four year tenure, Gritt helped to lay the foundations for future successes under Curbishley, who succeeded him as sole manager in 1995. Several key players were debuted under the joint managers, including Lee Bowyer, John Robinson, Richard Rufus and Shaun Newton, and went on to be important components of Charlton's successful team of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Gritt was made manager of Brighton & Hove Albion in 1996, who were at the time eleven points adrift at the bottom of the Football League. He was able to turn Brighton's form around, and they successfully avoided relegation to the Conference on the final day of the 1996–97 season. Brighton were never in danger of relegation the following season, but the club's board had higher expectations and Gritt was fired in 1998. Nevertheless, Gritt is still fondly remembered by the Seagulls' supporters. [Cite web
title = Steve Gritt - Message Book
accessdate = 2007-11-20
url = http://www.domtech.co.uk/Seagulls/gritt.nsf]

Gritt later moved to Millwall and became reserve-team manager. In 2000, he had a short spell as caretaker manager of the Lions and was then assistant manager to Mark McGhee until 2003. In June 2004, Gritt returned to Charlton in the role of academy manager. [Cite news
title = New Charlton role for Gritt
work = BBC
accessdate = 2007-11-20
date = 2004-06-17
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/charlton_athletic/3815011.stm]

Personal life

Gritt suffered a tragedy on 7 December 2002 when his 18-year-old daughter Hayley died as a result of cancer. Hayley had been a lifelong supporter and a season ticket holder at The Valley, even after her father's departure from the club in 1995. [Cite web
title = Valley View (from This Is Local London)
accessdate = 2007-11-20
url = http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/archive/display.var.256431.0.valley_view.php]

References

External links

* [http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=1150 Steve Gritt managerial statistics] at soccerbase.com
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=5716 Steve Gritt - Football Heroes profile]