Graham Westley

Graham Neil Westley (born 4 March 1968) is an English professional football manager and former professional footballer.

He was most recently manager of League Two club Stevenage.

Westley's playing career, spent mostly as a striker in non-League football, was curtailed due to injury whilst playing for Kingstonian.

It was at Kingstonian that he started his managerial career, at the age of 28, managing them for five months before spending a year as manager of Enfield.

He then joined Gillingham in March 1986.

He made two Third Division appearances for the club before joining Barnet.

He made three appearances and scored one goal for them in the Football Conference during the 1987–88 season, making his debut for the club in a 2–2 draw against Macclesfield Town at Moss Rose.

Westley joined Wycombe Wanderers in the latter stages of 1987 for a fee of £7,500, making a scoring debut in a 2–1 away victory at Telford United.

He played 24 times for Wycombe, scoring five goals in all competitions during the club's 1987–88 campaign.

He later played for a number of non-League clubs, including Kingstonian, Wealdstone, Farnborough Town, Harlow Town, Enfield, Aylesbury United, Harrow Borough, Tooting & Mitcham United, Molesey and Walton & Hersham – three of which he would later go on to manage.

He scored in Wycombe's next two games, and was a first team regular until manager Peter Suddaby left the club in January 1988.

Westley played just once under new manager Jim Kelman and left soon afterwards to sign for Kingstonian.

He was voted Player of the Season at Enfield, before being swapped to Aylesbury in exchange for Darren Collins in December 1992.

During his time at Kingstonian, he suffered a dislocated ankle and broken leg in three places, which subsequently cut his playing career short as he never fully recovered from the injury.

While recovering from a broken leg, at the age of 28, Westley was appointed as manager of Kingstonian in December 1996 after approaching the club about their vacant managerial post.

His first two games as manager of the club both ended in 4–4 draws against Walton & Hersham and Harrow Borough, with Westley saying "at the time, there was something raw and exciting about the team that I sent out. Although there was also something evidently missing".

His first victory as manager was a 2–0 victory against Wokingham Town in the Isthmian League Cup, before securing his first league win in the following game, a 5–2 win away at Aylesbury United.

Kingstonian drew clear of relegation, with Westley recalling a 3–2 victory over champions Yeovil Town at Huish Park as a "memorable victory".

Despite helping Kingstonian avoid relegation, he was sacked after five months, being replaced by Geoff Chapple.

He managed Kingstonian for 25 games, recording nine wins, eight losses, and eight draws.

In September 1997, Westley was appointed as manager of another club he had previously played for in the form of Isthmian League Premier Division club Enfield.

He appointed Graham Pearce as his assistant, who had also previously played for, and managed, Enfield.

He outlined his ambition of ensuring the club returned to the top tier in non-League, despite the club struggling with financial difficulties, he stated "my ambition is to see silverware in the table, and if you can't take the pressure, you shouldn't take big jobs like this one".

His first game as manager of Enfield was a 2–0 home defeat to St Albans City.

Enfield finished in seventh place in Westley's first season there and he left the club after nine months in charge.

In 1999, Westley became manager of Farnborough Town, helping the club earn promotion to the Football Conference in 2002.

He left Farnborough the following season, to become manager of Stevenage Borough in January 2003.

He took the club to within one game of promotion to the Football League, but left the club in 2006 when his contract expired.

Westley then had a brief spell as manager of Rushden & Diamonds, as well as acting as caretaker manager at Conference North club Kettering Town.

Westley rejoined Stevenage in May 2008 and managed the club to FA Trophy success in 2009, before securing promotion to the Football League for the first time in the club's history after finishing the 2009–10 season as league champions.

The club won back-to-back promotions in his first season as a Football League manager, via the League Two play-offs.

Westley left Stevenage to join fellow League One club Preston North End in January 2012.

He was sacked by the club in February 2013.

A month later, Westley rejoined Stevenage, his third spell at the club.

He managed the club for another two years, before leaving in May 2015.

He took charge at Peterborough United four months later, before being sacked shortly before the end of the 2015–16 season.

Westley was appointed manager at League Two club Newport County in October 2016, with the club lying bottom of the Football League, and was sacked five months later.

He was appointed as head coach of Barnet in January 2018, before managing Stevenage for a fourth time for two months from December 2019.

Westley was born in Hounslow, London and he started his footballing career as an apprentice with Queens Park Rangers.

During his time at QPR, Westley represented England at under-18 level.