PLAYER PROFILE

Graeme Murty

Position: Defence

Height: 5'10

Weight: 11st 12lbs

Date of Birth: 1974-11-13 Middlesbrough, England

Graeme Murty

Graeme Murty is Reading's captain, right-back and longester serving player, having signed for the club from York City in the summer of 1998 for £700,000.

His career began in earnest as a trainee at City in 1991. He went on to play over 120 games for the Misterman, playing a part in their famous victory over Manchester United in the 1995/96 season Coca Cola Cup and even scoring against Everton in a 3-2 victory in the same competiton.

He had certainly proven his pedigree and was snapped up by Tommy Burns in 1998 as the manager sought to build a squad which could handle the rigours of the increasingly competative Football League.

However, his first season in Royals colours was ended by injury, having played only eight games while the following campaign saw little improvement as he played only ten more games before injury kept him out.

The next season saw another injury keeping him on the sidelines for three months this time, but he made a comeback in January 2001, going on to play a further 20 games, helping the Royals into the Divison Two Play-Off Final and even scoring his only goal for the club in a 3-1 defeat against Bristol City.

The 2001/02 season saw the Scottish international really come into his own as a series of valient performances at the back helped him pick up the club's Player of the Season award and the club itself gain promotion back into Divison 1.

It was his first season in English football's second tier with any team and he continued to shine, proving a rock at the back once again and earning himself a call up for the Scotland squad to face Wales in February 2004.

The 2004/05 season saw even more success come his way as he was named new club captain and made his 200th appearance in August.

It was joy only matched the following campaign as he led his side to a stunning promotion season.

The Royals were among the favourites to go right back down in 2006/07, but some great performances from Murty guided them to amazing success as they stayed in the top half of the league pretty much throughout the season.