Graham Lovett

Early life Lovett was born in Sheldon, Warwickshire, and attended Cockshut Hill and Sheldon Heath schools, whom he represented at football, as well as playing for the Birmingham & County Schools team.

Football career Lovett signed as a professional in November 1964 and made his first team debut within three weeks as Albion lost 2–0 at home to Chelsea. As a youngster he was compared by his manager, Jimmy Hagan, to Duncan Edwards, the Manchester United and England player who had died in the Munich air disaster in 1958. Lovett's return to the side added "a new precision" to the team who went on to defeat Colchester 4–0 in the replay, in which Lovett made his first start in just over a year.

In the fourth round of the cup, Albion met Southampton who held them to a 1–1 draw at The Hawthorns; in the replay at The Dell, goalkeeper John Osborne had to go to hospital at half-time with concussion. Captain Graham Williams went in goal, with Lovett coming on as substitute. Hugh Fisher then scored for the "Saints" to bring the scores level at 2–2 before, with two minutes remaining, Lovett ran through the midfield unchecked. His shot hit the post and rebounded to Clive Clark who passed to the unmarked Jeff Astle to score and put Albion through to the next round. After defeating Portsmouth in Round Five, Albion had a long drawn-out tie against Liverpool which went to a second replay, before defeating local rivals Birmingham City in the semi-final to set up a final at Wembley against Everton.

In the final, played on 18 May 1968, Lovett was selected at outside right and had an early opportunity to score but was too slow to make the most of his chance. There was no score until Astle scored the only goal of the match in the first half of extra time, enabling Albion to win the cup for the fifth time.

Following their victory in the FA Cup, Albion entered the Cup Winners' Cup where they were drawn against Dinamo Bucharest in the second round. After a 1–1 draw in the first leg, Albion defeated their Romanian opponents 4–0 at The Hawthorns, with Lovett opening the scoring in the 35th minute. In the next round, they were defeated 1–0 by Scottish side, Dunfermline Athletic.

By the end of the 1968–69 season, Lovett had become an established fixture in the Albion side. On 31 May 1969, following an international tournament in Palo Alto, California, Lovett was driving home from the airport when a bus, which had rounded a corner on the wrong side of the road in Quinton, collided with his car. As a result of the accident, Lovett was out of action for nearly two years and was never to successfully return to first-team football. In 1973, in Birmingham Crown Court, he was awarded £14,000 damages against the West Midlands Transport Executive.

In an attempt to rebuild his career, he was loaned to Southampton for a month in November 1971 with a view to a possible permanent transfer. Lovett's trial was not considered a success by the Southampton management and he returned to West Bromwich Albion. —before retiring completely. In March 2008, he flew to England to join in the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the FA Cup victory.

In 2017 he settled back in England with his wife Kate and after a short illness died on 10 May 2018, aged 70. At West Bromwich Albion's home match against Queens Park Rangers in August 2018, Lovett's family were presented with a special cap commemorating his service to the club.

Honours West Bromwich Albion FA Cup: 1967–68 Football League Cup: 1965–66