Perry Groves
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
Perry Groves (born April 19 1965 in Bow, London) is a former English footballer, known chiefly for his time at Arsenal, where he remains a fans' favourite to this day. He was a fast-paced player who usually played as winger, and less often as a striker. His uncle Vic Groves also played for Arsenal.
Playing career
As a boy Groves played for Cornard Dynamos, which is now a very succesful club. Groves then had a trial with Wolves as a schoolboy before signing as an apprentice for Colchester United in 1981. He turned professional a year later and over the next four seasons he played 142 league games for the U's, scoring 26 goals. In September 1986 he signed for Arsenal for £50,000 in 1986, becoming the first signing by new manager George Graham. In his first season at the club he helped set up Charlie Nicholas for the winner in the 1987 League Cup final, dribbling past three Liverpool players before laying the ball off.
Noted for his enthusiasm and hard work, he started most of Arsenal's games in the 1987-88 season, helping the Gunners reach a second League Cup final the following season by scoring the only goal of the away leg of the semi-final against Everton; Arsenal however lost the final to Luton Town. Although Groves made 46 appearances in all competitions that season, the arrival of Brian Marwood reduced his opportunities to play, and he was mainly used as a substitute in Arsenal's title-winning 1988-89 season, coming off the bench 15 times during the league campaign, on top of 6 starts.
Although an injury to Marwood opened the door for him again in 1989-90, Groves returned to the bench after Marwood recovered. This did not however stop him from winning a second league title winners' medal in 1990-91, again with most of his appearances coming as a sub. As Graham's Arsenal became more defensive Groves found himself in the team less and less, and after making only 13 league appearances in 1991-92. He moved to Southampton in 1992 for £750,000 but only played 15 times in two years before retiring from professional football at the age of 28, following two serious Achilles tendon injuries. He then played four games in the Conference for Dagenham and Redbridge before quitting the game for good.
Post-retirement
Groves currently works as a sales representative for Permaplay, a company that designs school playgrounds run by former Manchester City star Francis Lee. He also appears for Arsenal in the London Masters football tournament.
Cult status
Groves became a cult player among Arsenal fans, who commemorate him with the chant "We all live in a Perry Groves World", which listed Perry in every position from 1 to 12 (except 7, which is instead taken by Liam Brady), to the tune of The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine". He still has a large following, with a fanclub and website devoted to him.
In October 2006 Perry Groves published his autobiography, entitled We All Live In A Perry Groves World (ISBN 1-84454-319-6). With it came an Arsenal fans' campaign on the web to purchase the book, in an attempt to outsell former Arsenal defender Ashley Cole's autobiography, My Defence, which was out at the same time.[1]