Graham Westley
Born: Hounslow (04/03/1968)
Previous Clubs as Manager: Farnborough, Stevenage, Rushden & Diamonds, Kettering
Joined: January 2003-May 2006 May 2008-Present
Graham Westley began his career as a trainee at QPR. After spells at Gillingham and then Barnet, GW moved into the non-league scene and played for numerous clubs including Enfield, Kingstonian, Aylesbury and Farnborough of whom he took over as chairman/manager in 1999.
In 2001 Westley helped the club gain promotion back into the Conference after being relegated into the Ryman Premier League in 1999. Farnborough continued to make strides in the Conference and even enjoyed a Cup run in 2002/2003 when they got to the 4th round before being knocked out by eventual winners Arsenal. Shortly after that game, Westley left Farnborough and took over as manager at Stevenage Borough replacing Wayne Turner who had been sacked with the club in the relegation zone.
When Westley arrived in 2003 he also brought along with him a number of Farnborough players as well as his assistant Graham Pearce to try and keep Boro in the Conference. Along with other shrewd signings including Dino Maamria, Anthony Elding and Lionel Perez, Westley kept Boro up and in the end finished the season strongly in 12th position.
By the end of the 2004/2005 season Westley had turned Boro into promotion contenders as they reached the Conference play-off final against Carlisle United at Stoke’s Britannia Stadium. Boro lost on that occasion 1-0, but were again challenging in 2005/2006. After missing out on the play-offs in 2006, Westley left the club.
Late in 2006 Rushden appointed Westley as the successor for Paul Hart. With Rushden struggling his record at the Diamonds was good winning 7 of his 13 games, only losing 3. However, he left the Northants club after new owners took over and decided to appoint Garry Hill instead. A brief spell as caretaker manager at Kettering Town followed, but was unsuccessful as Kettering were knocked out the Conference North play-offs.
In May 2008, Westley returned to Broadhall Way for a second time replacing Peter Taylor as manager. Although a lot of fans were against the move, GW proved his critics wrong and steered Boro to a play-off finish and FA Trophy success for the second time in 3 years. The 2009/2010 season brought more of the same, but this time Boro went the whole way by winning the Conference and gaining promotion to the football league for the first time in the club’s history. It was a massive achievement by Westley, who had once again defied his critics.
Westley will manage in the football league for the first time in the 2010/2011 season.
Links
BoroGuide Profile
Wikipedia Profile
