Steven Graham

[DarrenW]

Sadly Steve has passed away as announced by his brother.

Played in goal for us perhaps most memorably against Saffron Walden in the FA Cup.

My thoughts with his family RIP Stevie.

[Brian]

Absolutely gobsmacked when I heard the news today.

The penalty shoot out win at Saffron Walden goes down as one of my favourite moments as a HTFC fan.

RIP Stevie Graham.

[mattf]

Unfortunately found out this really sad news this afternoon. Steve and I played youth football together for many years and we always stayed in touch. Often saw his face around town and at games, where we’d always have a good chat about his beloved Newcastle.

A lovely guy & gentle giant. RIP Steve.

[DarrenW]

Unfortunately found out this really sad news this afternoon. Steve and I played youth football together for many years and we always stayed in touch. Often saw his face around town and at games, where we’d always have a good chat about his beloved Newcastle.

A lovely guy & gentle giant. RIP Steve.

Hope you won a few trophies with him in goal. He was a couple of years younger than us but always joined us for a "Kick about" One save he done I will always remember when he would have been about 14. Beyond remarkable.

Refereed many youth games but Steve was full of natural talent.

[DarrenW]

Absolutely gobsmacked when I heard the news today.

The penalty shoot out win at Saffron Walden goes down as one of my favourite moments as a HTFC fan.

RIP Stevie Graham.

If memory is right didnt he concede a pen and saved it in the last minute of extra time? Then fully redeemed himself in the shootout.

Definitely came away that night thinking he'd won us the game.

[RST]

Terrible news and my heart goes out to his family and friends at such a sad time.

[Brian]

If memory is right didnt he concede a pen and saved it in the last minute of extra time? Then fully redeemed himself in the shootout.

Definitely came away that night thinking he'd won us the game.

You could be right Darren.

I'm sure he saved a couple of penalties in the shoot out. I do vaguely remember us conceding a penalty late in extra time.

[Chris_N]

Absolutely gobsmacked when I heard the news today.

The penalty shoot out win at Saffron Walden goes down as one of my favourite moments as a HTFC fan.

RIP Stevie Graham.

Very sad news. Remember Steve as a kid. He was taken on by Watford as a junior, sadly it never materialised. Made five starts for our First Team plus one a a sub. Saffron Walden was clearly his moment, but I actually remember just as vividly a pre-season "why are we doing this?" friendly (not) at Royston in August 2003. Royston at the time were still a South Midlands League club at Step 5. They had one mission that night - to inflict as much physical damage to us as they could. Kicked us off the park EXCEPT......for the forward who tried to go in over the top and put young Steve in goal out of action. 45 minutes later the ambulance turned up to collect the forward and take him off to hospital. Steve's account of what happened was: "His knee collided with me". RIP Steve.

[DarrenW]

Absolutely gobsmacked when I heard the news today.

The penalty shoot out win at Saffron Walden goes down as one of my favourite moments as a HTFC fan.

RIP Stevie Graham.

Very sad news. Remember Steve as a kid. He was taken on by Watford as a junior, sadly it never materialised. Made five starts for our First Team plus one a a sub. Saffron Walden was clearly his moment, but I actually remember just as vividly a pre-season "why are we doing this?" friendly (not) at Royston in August 2003. Royston at the time were still a South Midlands League club at Step 5. They had one mission that night - to inflict as much physical damage to us as they could. Kicked us off the park EXCEPT......for the forward who tried to go in over the top and put young Steve in goal out of action. 45 minutes later the ambulance turned up to collect the forward and take him off to hospital. Steve's account of what happened was: "His knee collided with me". RIP Steve.

Great story Chris.

I was told a similar story about his time at Watford on Saturday night. He actually trained with the first team with Heiðar Helguson. Long story short he took Heiðar Helguson out and he had 2-3 weeks out due to it.

Heiðar Helguson everytime they had a training game afterwards and had to pick a team always picked Steve first after!

[admin]

The match report of that memorable game.

Saffron Walden 1 (2) Hitchin Town 1 (4)
Thursday, September 21 2006
Hitchin threw in their “Get out of jail free” card at Saffron Walden and thanked their lucky stars as they overcame a truly tricky hurdle in the FA Cup.
The Canaries were reprieved with five seconds left on the clock as the home side missed a penalty that would have won the game and caused a major upset. Then, in the penalty shoot-out, Hitchin kept their nerve and went through by 4-2 after a 1-1 draw.

Manager Darren Salton shuffled his pack and changed almost 50% of his starting line-up. He brought in young goalkeeper Stephen Graham, Ryan Frater, Scott Cretton, Gavin Jaggard and Glen Lamacraft. The gamble paid off, but only just!

The first half echoed the Top Field meeting. Ben Riches shot wide for Saffron Walden and Carl Williams went close for Hitchin. A free kick from Mark Ducket sailed over the bar, but the best chance fell to the home side, who saw a Kevin Vallis free kick pushed for a corner by Graham.
Hitchin opened the scoring after 51 minutes. Chris Dillon was upended in the area and a penalty was awarded, despite protests from the Saffron Walden players. Dillon fired straight down the middle to score.
It was from the penalty spot that Saffron Walden equalised with a quarter of an hour to go. Ryan Frater, who had a good game at the back, handballed and from the kick, Vallis made no mistake. This had an unsettling effect on the Hitchin side.

There was another blow three minutes from time when Lamacraft was red-carded after colliding with goalkeeper Jason Harvey. For a while, Hitchin were hanging on for dear life.
In extra time, Saffron Walden had the upper hand, with Ben Riches and Scott Chadwick both having chances to put their side ahead. Hitchin’s best chance fell to Daniel French who went on a long run before shooting over the bar.

There was high drama in the 120th minute, however, when Graham brought down Chadwick and a penalty was awarded. Vallis lost his composure and shot wide and with that, Saffron Walden’s confidence evaporated. In the penalty shoot-out, the imposing frame of Graham saved their first two kicks, while Dillon and Ducket both converted their chances. Although Saffron Walden scored their next two, Hitchin maintained their 100% record with successful kicks by David Deeney and Carl Williams, the latter securing the tie by 4-2.
Elated Hitchin may have been, but nobody was under any illusion: Saffron Walden won the plaudits over the two games. Hitchin will never be as fortunate as they were in the final minute of the tie.

Saffron Walden: Harvey, Clark, Strong, A.Riches, Godden, Butchart, Green (Barker 65), Vallis, B.Riches (Richardson 107)
Hitchin: Graham, Cretton, Ducket, Frater, Folds, Deeney, Williams, Lamacraft, Dillon, Jaggard (Mills 83 – Pugh 101), French
Referee: R.Jaye
Attendance: 517