One of the more unique rugby union career trajectories is set to take another twist next season.

Former Carlisle Rugby Club player Gary Graham will be on the move after it was announced at a Newcastle fans’ forum earlier this month, that he will be joining the Falcons for the 2017/18 season from Greene King IPA Championship outfit Jersey Reds.

Gary will be following in the footsteps of his father George, a former Scotland international who won the Premiership title with Newcastle in the 1997/98 campaign.

And a move to the Kingston Park side may well have come about much sooner in slightly different circumstances.

Speaking about the upcoming move, Gary says: “It couldn’t have gone any better, to be honest.

“It was the club I wanted to go to. Last year, they said they were interested but nothing came of it.

“My friend, Sam Lockwood, plays there and I went over to see him. The club got in touch to say can we meet up and it went from there, really.”

But for now, Graham is still playing for Jersey Reds and, more often than not at the moment, is winning with the Islanders.

Jersey extended their current winning run to nine matches on Saturday as they beat London Irish, who had won all 17 of their league matches this season ahead of their visit to St Peter, 15-11 with Graham scoring a late try to seal Reds’ success.

The win over the Championship leaders, which Jersey chairman Mark Morgan described as “the finest” win in their history, Jersey are now just two points off the play-off places with two games to go.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, in the British & Irish Cup Semi-Final the same two teams will again lock horns when Jersey travel to the Madejski Stadium, which London Irish ground share with Reading Football Club.

Despite his impending move to Falcons, Cumbrian Graham still has plenty of rugby to play this season before his move.

“We’re onto something possibly very special. I’m not even thinking about next season,” he admits.

“I’m not sure where it [Jersey’s turn in form] came from, to be honest. Beating an undefeated Premiership team in the making at the weekend was class.

“I just want to keep playing and have a strong finish to a good season.”

The 24-year-old first joined the Islanders in February 2015 and has stayed at the club a lot longer than he initially planned.

He says: “It was a strange one. I was only supposed to come over for three months.

“So, I quit my job and left. I didn’t really plan on staying. But they asked me to stay on.”

On living in the Island away from the rugby field, he adds: “It’s really nice. The island is beautiful but you do start to get cabin fever sometimes.”

Graham clearly is a player who doesn’t shy away from a challenge, having joined Scottish side Gala from Carlisle and then gone on to link-up with Jersey.

One down side to the location of the Islanders is the amount of travelling that is involved on away days. But the ex-Carlisle man, whose family had lived in Harraby, feels the logistics are easier for Jersey who are more used to the travelling.


Gary Graham, aged 19 “It’s not as bad with us flying everywhere. We’re normally there within a few hours,” he says.

“With me at Gala, I was travelling for my rugby. Carlisle are obviously a really good team but there was a better one for me in Scotland. That obviously opened the door to Jersey and that opened the door to Newcastle.”

Looking ahead to next season, and settling in with his new team-mate at Newcastle Falcons, Graham – who has predominantly featured at open-side flanker this season – says: “Hopefully, I can settle quickly.

“I know Chris Harris, we played at Carlisle at the same time. I know Sam Lockwood and I know a few of the boys through Scottish rugby.”

With the move to the Aviva Premiership team will come an increased competition for places.

But Cumbrian Graham, who played for Scotland in the 2012 Junior World Cup, admits he isn’t overly-concerned about it.

He says: “It doesn’t concern me. There is always competition for places. So, it doesn’t really concern me.”

After a spell away from home, Stirling-born Graham is looking forward to returning nearer his family when he moves to Newcastle.

“Newcastle was always going to be the team I wanted to go to. They are a lot closer to home,” he says.

“With dad playing there and and doing some special in the 1990s, it was always the team I wanted to play for. They are doing really well at Falcons.”

At 24, there should still be plenty more chapters to write in Graham’s career – and maybe, like his father, Gary could enjoy his own “special” period with Newcastle Falcons.