20 Facts About Graham Daniels

Dr Graham Daniels is a former professional footballer, now the General Director of Christians in Sport.

Graham Daniels holds associate positions at St Andrew the Great Church and Ridley Hall Theological College in Cambridge.

Graham Daniels was signed by Cardiff City when playing for Wales Schools under 18s.

Graham Daniels joined Cardiff City as a schoolboy, then continued playing for the youth and reserve teams alongside studying philosophy at Cardiff University from 1980 to 1983.

Graham Daniels left United in 1985 to join neighbours Cambridge City, and stayed with the Lilywhites until 1991.

At the age of 29, Graham Daniels took up the role of player-coach at Sudbury Town in the Southern League.

Graham Daniels became the manager of Histon in the Eastern Counties League in 1994, before returning to manage Cambridge City in 1996, where he remained for three seasons.

Graham Daniels was a member of the Cambridgeshire FA Council between 2013 and 2018.

Graham Daniels returned to Cambridge United to inaugurate and chair the Cambridge United Community Trust in 2010.

When Paul Barry purchased the club, he seconded Graham Daniels to become Director of Football from 2017 to 2020.

Graham Daniels helped guide the club through a turbulent time on and off the pitch, and worked alongside Ben Strang, who was appointed Head of Football, to develop a long-term leadership and management strategy.

At that point, Strang was promoted to Sporting Director and Graham Daniels stepped back from the Director of Football role to return to his previous, non-executive role on the board as the U's went on to win promotion to League One in 2021.

When Cambridge United created a women's team board in 2022, Graham Daniels became an inaugural member.

Graham Daniels became a Christian during his playing career at Cambridge United and moved to Cambridge City in order to combine his football career with theological studies at the University of London and Tyndale House between 1985 and 1989.

On completing his training for Christian ministry, Graham Daniels joined the staff of Christians in Sport in 1989 and was appointed General Director in April 2002.

In light of his experience in combining the Christian faith with professional football, Graham Daniels has published two popular books explaining the relationship between Christianity and Sport - Born to Play and My Mate's Gone Mad.

The growing cultural interest in mental health led Graham Daniels to explore the relationship between Christian faith and athletic well-being.

Graham Daniels gained a PhD for his thesis entitled 'Identity Formation in Christian Professional Footballers' from the University of Gloucestershire in 2022 and was appointed Associate of Ridley Hall Theological College, Cambridge.

Graham Daniels has been a regular speaker at St Andrew the Great Church, Cambridge since October 2000 and frequently hosts the Christians in Sport podcast.

Graham Daniels has spoken widely about the themes of faith and sport on mainstream media channels including Sky Sports, Talksport, the BBC and in podcast interviews.