Graham Rix

Did You Know?

• Rix made five appearances for England at the 1982 World Cup.
• In 2018, Rix and assistant manager Gwyn Williams were accused of racism and physical assault by several Chelsea trainees; both denied the allegations and police found insufficient evidence to act.
• Chelsea agreed to make payments to several former players who sued the club in February 2022.

Club career

Rix joined Arsenal as an apprentice in 1974 and turned professional the following year. He made his debut against Leicester City on 2 April 1977, scoring the opening goal, and soon became a regular left winger. Arsenal reached the European Cup Winners' Cup final the next season, but Rix missed a penalty in the shoot-out and they lost. He became club captain in 1983, but Arsenal's form declined and he won no silverware as skipper. Injuries to his achilles tendon cost him his place in the mid-1980s, and after a loan at Brentford he was released in 1988. In total he played 464 times for Arsenal, scoring 51 goals. He then signed for French club Caen, later moved to Le Havre, and finished his playing career at Dundee before retiring in 1993.

Coaching career

Rix joined Chelsea as youth team coach in mid-1993 and briefly played one Premier League match for the club in May 1995 during an injury crisis. He became assistant manager in 1996 under Ruud Gullit and continued under Gianluca Vialli, winning the FA Cup in 1997, the League Cup and Cup Winners' Cup in 1998, and another FA Cup in 2000. He managed Portsmouth from 2001 to 2002; his enthusiastic start faded, and after poor results including a 4–1 FA Cup home loss to Leyton Orient, Harry Redknapp took over as manager.

Rix managed Oxford United for seven months in 2004, but the team fell from automatic promotion places to ninth in Division Three and he was dismissed after poor form continued into the next season. In November 2005 he became head coach of Heart of Midlothian, but was sacked on 22 March 2006 after four months, with the club citing poor results; reports indicated he was unhappy with Vladimir Romanov's hands-on approach. On 13 August 2012 he was named first manager of Central FC in Trinidad and Tobago, recording his first league win on 19 October 2012, and left by mutual consent on 21 December 2012.

He became head coach of AFC Portchester in February 2013, leaving in August 2017, and managed Fareham Town from August 2022 until his dismissal in May 2024.

Underage sex conviction

In March 1999, Rix was found guilty of having sex with a 15-year-old girl and received a one-year prison sentence, of which he served half. He was added to the sex offender register for a decade and barred by the FA from coaching players under 16. He later told The Independent in 2013 that he believed the girl was of legal age, and has also said there were mitigating circumstances he has never disclosed.