Graham was born in Worksop in 1944 and played fullback for Grimsby Town and Lincoln City before retiring due to a hip injury. He then became the youngest person to qualify as an FA coach at just 21 years of age.

At 28, he became the youngest manager in the league at Lincoln City, whom he led to a record-breaking Division 4 Championship.

After five years at Lincoln, he left to take over at Watford, who were then also in Division 4. Inspired by Graham's talent, and Sir Elton John's cash, Watford rapidly won promotion to Division 1 in just five years, reaching the UEFA Cup in 1983 and the FA Cup final in 1984.

Looking for a new challenge, Graham joined newly relegated Aston Villa, taking them back to the top flight at his first attempt and quickly earning European football.

After the 1990 World Cup, he was the natural choice to succeed Bobby Robson as England manager but, after just one defeat in his first 23 games, the team had a poor Euro 92 and then famously failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup.

After a spell at Wolves, Graham returned to Watford, winning a Premiership place for the club. When they went straight back down he decided to retire, but he wasn't yet destined for the quiet life and was lured back to Villa as a non-executive director to look into the club's structure and facilities.

He was on the spot when the manager's job became vacant and couldn't resist one last shot at management – but he says those days are now definitely behind him.

In 2002, Graham was awarded the OBE for services to football, won the Football Writers' Association Tribute Award for outstanding contribution to the national game and was inducted into the Football Association Hall of Fame.

He is now a familiar voice on Radio 5 Live as one of the network's most regular expert summarisers, and has covered several major tournaments for them – including Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup.