Graham Paddon

Graham was one of the stars of the Coventry City youth set up in the late 1960s and after being sold for a song in 1969 he went on to become a legend at both Norwich City and West Ham, making over 400 appearances in a 12-year career.

The blond Manchester-born midfielder joined City on the strength of his father’s close friendship with Alan Ball senior, father of the 1966 World Cup hero. Ball senior recommended the 15-year old to City’s chief scout Bob Dennison and he came to Coventry as an apprentice. He made a name for himself in City’s 1968 FA Youth Cup final when he scored a stunning goal against Burnley.

Nine months later he got his first taste of first team football when he came on for 19 minutes as a substitute in a 5-0 home win over QPR. At the start of the next season an injury to Willie Carr gave him his chance and after another substitute appearance at Anfield he made his full debut in a 2-2 home draw with Crystal Palace. Three days later he scored the winning goal in a 3-2 home win over Nottingham Forest and was suddenly the talk of the town.

Competition for midfield roles was enormous however with Ian Gibson, Willie Carr and Dave Clements at the peak of their powers and two weeks later, after just five appearances, manager Noel Cantwell accepted a bid of £25,000 from Second Division Norwich for the nineteen-year old. With his sweet left foot and powerful shooting he was an instant success at Carrow Road and was a virtual ever-present for the next four years helping the Canaries to promotion to Division One for the first time in 1972 and the League Cup final in 1973, where they lost to Spurs.

He moved to West Ham in exchange for Ted MacDougall in December 1973 and helped the Hammers to win the FA Cup against Fulham in 1975 and reach the European Cup Winners Cup final the following year, his trademark blond hair and beard giving him the look of a Viking. He rejoined Norwich in November 1976 and despite breaking his leg in only his third game he had five more successful years. After brief spells in the USA with Tampa Bay Rowdies, Millwall and in Hong Kong he returned to run a pub in Norfolk and a leisure centre at South Walsham. He later joined Portsmouth as reserve team coach and youth team supervisor under Alan Ball in August 1985 and then moved to Stoke City as Assistant manager with Ball in December 1989 later becoming caretaker manger. He returned to Fratton Park in May 1991 as Assistant Manager to Jim Smith but lost his position at Fratton Park in 1995

. He subsequently did some scouting for Derby and Oldham, and coached in Yemen and in Brunei where he worked for the Crown Prince. They won the league and cup double in Brunei in 2004-05. His death in November 2007 came as a big shock to everyone that knew him.