Editing Dario Gradi (section)

===Crewe Alexandra===
After a spell coaching at Leyton Orient, Gradi returned to management on 9 June 1983,<ref name="BriefHistory" /> when he accepted an offer to manage [[Crewe Alexandra F.C.|Crewe Alexandra]], a team who regularly finished near the bottom of the Fourth Division and had been forced to apply for re-election on several occasions in order to avoid slipping into the [[Northern Premier League]] and, since its creation in 1979, the [[Football Conference]]. His first season signings included [[Mark Leonard (footballer)|Mark Leonard]] from [[Tranmere Rovers F.C.|Tranmere Rovers]], [[John Crabbe (footballer)|John Crabbe]] from [[Hereford United F.C.|Hereford United]] and [[David Pullar]] from [[Exeter City F.C.|Exeter City]]<ref name="Hornbrook">{{cite book|last1=Hornbrook|first1=Jules|title=The Gradi Years|date=2000|publisher=Jules Hornbrook|location=Crewe|isbn=0953887707|page=14}}</ref> as Gradi looked to build an academy structure to develop players that could be sold to help fund the player development programme. Among his first transfer successes were [[Dave Waller]] (sold to [[Shrewsbury Town F.C.|Shrewsbury Town]]), [[Gary Blissett]] (sold to [[Brentford F.C.|Brentford]]) and [[Geoff Thomas (footballer, born 1964)|Geoff Thomas]] (sold to Crystal Palace);<ref name="Thomas">{{cite book|last1=Thomas|first1=Geoff|title=Riding Through The Storm: My Fight Back to Fitness on the Tour de France|date=2008|publisher=Hachette|location=London}}</ref> gradually the club moved forward.

In [[1988-89 in English football|1988–89]], after six seasons of steady progress, they won promotion to end 25 years in the league's basement division. Gradi signed a then unheard-of ten-year contract with Crewe.<ref name="Conn259">Conn, D. (2005), p.259.</ref> They went back down again two years later, but in 1994 won promotion to [[Football League Second Division|Division Two]] and three years after that they reached [[Football League First Division|Division One]] for the first time in their history.

Shortly after the 1994 promotion, Gradi became the League's longest-serving manager. By 2002 he was one of just two managers, the other being [[Alex Ferguson]], to have held their position since before 1990. He later joined the club's [[Board of Directors]].

Gradi's contract with Crewe was one of the most controversial in the Football League; it included a clause giving him a percentage of the profit on any player sold to another club.<ref name="Conn257">Conn, D. (2005), p.257.</ref>

====Talent spotting====
{{Quote box|width=250|align=right|quote="Dario is honest, diligent and remarkable. He did a great job at Crewe and proved himself to be one of our best managers."|source=[[Bobby Robson|Sir Bobby Robson]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/pages/fame/Inductees/dariogradi.htm|title=Dario Gradi Football Hall of Fame profile|access-date=19 November 2007|publisher=English Football Hall of Fame|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071115234525/http://www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/pages/fame/Inductees/dariogradi.htm|archive-date=15 November 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref>}}
His keen eye for spotting and rearing young talent is what has gained him some recognition in football. He entered into discussions with Portugal's [[S.L. Benfica|Benfica]] over the vacant managerial spot in the 1980s, and was linked with the post of [[The Football Association|FA]] Technical Director in 1996.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/crewe_alexandra/2331129.stm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021226011023/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/crewe_alexandra/2331129.stm|url-status=dead|title=Gradi stays at Crewe|date=15 October 2002|archive-date=26 December 2002|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

During the 1980s and 1990s Gradi helped launch the careers of many players who went on to play top division and international football. These include [[David Platt (footballer)|David Platt]], [[Rob Jones (footballer born 1971)|Rob Jones]], [[Geoff Thomas (footballer born 1964)|Geoff Thomas]], [[Danny Murphy (footballer born 1977)|Danny Murphy]], [[Ashley Ward]], [[Wayne Collins (footballer)|Wayne Collins]], [[Seth Johnson (footballer)|Seth Johnson]], [[Robbie Savage]] and [[Neil Lennon]]. Gradi's success continued into the 2000s, when he helped players including [[Rob Hulse]], [[Dean Ashton]], [[David Vaughan (footballer)|David Vaughan]], [[Michael O'Connor (footballer born 1987)|Michael O'Connor]], [[Billy Jones (footballer born 1987)|Billy Jones]], [[Nicky Maynard]] and [[Ashley Westwood (footballer born 1990)|Ashley Westwood]].

Crewe Alexandra won the PFA Bobby Moore Fair Play trophy 12 times in 15 years during Gradi's reign.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crewe.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a%3D108479 |title=Crewe Alexandra – We've Won It 12 Times |access-date=9 May 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174651/http://www.crewe.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=108479 |archive-date=3 March 2016  }}</ref>

====End of managerial career====
On 20 April 2007, Gradi announced that with effect from 1 July he would relinquish first-team responsibilities, becoming technical director while gradually handing over to new first-team coach [[Steve Holland (footballer)|Steve Holland]], with Neil Baker remaining as assistant manager. Gradi was then the [[List of English Football League managers by date of appointment|longest serving manager]] of an English Football League club.<ref name=greedy /> Gradi told the club website:
<blockquote>I didn't want to be a 75-year-old manager working seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. That is not healthy for the future of the club. I will probably drop dead doing the job at some point but I wanted to put that day off a bit. This is a better way to do things, to introduce this gradual transition because it will take some of the workload off me.<ref>{{Cite web | last = Times Online and agencies | title = Gradi reaches end of the line at Crewe-Sport-Football-League One-TimesOnline | work = Times Online | access-date =20 April 2007 | date = 20 April 2007 | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/league_one/article1682979.ece  | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130505153752/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/league_one/article1682979.ece  | url-status=dead  | archive-date = 5 May 2013  | location=London}}</ref></blockquote>

On 18 November 2008, Gradi resumed control of Crewe's first team on a caretaker basis after a poor start to the [[2008-09 in English football|2008–09]] season under Steve Holland had left the club bottom of League One.<ref>{{Cite web | title = Gradi replaces Holland at Crewe| work = BBC Sport| access-date =18 November 2008 | date = 18 November 2008 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/crewe_alexandra/7736343.stm}}</ref> He was in charge for just over a month before [[Guðjón Þórðarson|Gudjon Thordarson]] was announced as his successor on [[Christmas Eve]] 2008.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/crewe_alexandra/7799134.stm Thordarson appointed Crewe boss]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227003812/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/crewe_alexandra/7799134.stm |date=27 December 2008 }} BBC Sport; 24 December 2008</ref> Gradi remained in charge of the team for two games during the Christmas period, with Thordarson taking over on 29 December. Following the sacking of Thordarson on 2 October 2009,<ref>[https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20091002101248/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/crewe_alexandra/8286658.stm Thordarson sacked as Crewe boss] BBC Sport; 2 October 2009</ref> Gradi was again reinstated as caretaker manager which the board of directors then stated would be until further notice.

After returning as manager in 2009, on 10 November 2011 it was announced that Gradi had chosen to step down as manager, returning to his position as Director of Football. Gradi's assistant manager [[Steve Davis (footballer born 1965)|Steve Davis]], who had played for Crewe under Gradi from 1983 to 1987, was appointed as manager with immediate effect.<ref name=steps>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15675372.stm Dario Gradi steps down as Crewe Alexandra manager], BBC Sport, 10 November 2011. Retrieved on 10 November 2011.</ref>

Gradi announced his retirement from all positions at Crewe Alexandra on 7 October 2019, at the age of 78, ending his 36-year association with the club.<ref name="Morse-07Oct2019">{{cite news |last1=Morse |first1=Peter |title=Dario Gradi retires from positions at Crewe Alex |url=https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/sport/football/dario-gradi-retires-positions-crewe-17044705 |access-date=7 October 2019 |work=Cheshire Live |date=7 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49963883|title=Dario Gradi retires from Crewe Alexandra director of football and board roles|work=BBC Sport|date=7 October 2019}}</ref>