
A product of City’s highly successful youth policy in the early 1970s, Graham appeared in the same youth team as Mick Ferguson and Alan Green. Gordon Milne gave Oakey his promotion to the first team in 1974 and his impact was enormous. His energy and enthusiasm allied to a liking for overlapping earned him the Supporters Club Player of the Year award in his very first season and he kept seasoned right-backs Wilf Smith and Mick Coop out of the team. The following two seasons saw him dogged by injuries and although he was never able to reproduce the form of his first season he was an outstanding full-back. In the famous 1977-78 season he was back to his best in Gordon Milne’s attacking 4-2-4 formation and was an ever-present until tragedy struck at Villa Park on Boxing Day. He was nowhere near another player when his studs caught on the muddy surface and he suffered severe knee ligament damage. The injury was so bad he never played again for City and two years later he was advised to retire. He attempted to play again for Worcester City and Stourport Swifts but could not play without pain-killing injections.



































































































































































































































