Graham to lead Gala's challenge

David Knox • Published 14 Jul 2009 15:38 0 Comments

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FORMER Border Reivers coach George Graham will spearhead Gala"s challenge in Premier Division 2 this season.

The 44-year-old, who was capped 25 times as a prop for Scotland, was unveiled as the new head coach at Netherdale last Thursday.

Officials at the club were forced to search for a new team boss following the shock resignations of Richie Gray and Gary Parker.

But Graham, who was a player coach with Gala five years ago, isn"t yet predicting promotion in his first season back in charge.

He told the Border Telegraph: 'There is a lot of good young talent at Gala and Richie and Gary have done very well bringing this team together.

'I don"t want to make any predictions as I"ve yet to properly work with the boys. I"ll have to work out our strengths and weaknesses during the pre-season and formulate some plan of action for the season.

'It"s very close to the start of the league campaign and most players who were available have already been picked up by other clubs so it will be a case of maximising what we already have at Netherdale.'

Graham left Gala in 2004 to assist Steve Bates with the Border Reivers.

And his most recent role took him to Italy as chief of Petrarca.

He added: 'It didn"t work out in Italy because my family never really settled and coaching jobs don"t come along very often so I"m just delighted to be involved again.

'I feel very fortunate to be back coaching at Gala - I have nothing but fond memories from my last time at the club.'

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