Graham Bell
Appointed Caretaker Manager: September 1988
Departed:

October 1988

First game in charge: 10th September.1988
v Southport Away L 1-4
Last game in charge: 1st October 1988
v Leek Town (FA Cup) Away L 0-2
Games in charge: Played 7 Won 2 Drawn 1 Lost 4
Honours with Mossley Northern Premier League Cup winner 1988/89

Clubs as Player:

Chadderton
Oldham Athletic
- Denver Dynamos (loan)
Preston North End
- Huddersfield Town (loan)
Carlisle United
Bolton Wanderers
Tranmere Rovers
Hyde United (2 spells)
Mossley (2 spells)
Horwich RMI

Previous Clubs as Manager   none
Later Clubs as Manager   Hyde United (Caretaker Manager)

Graham Thomas Bell was born in Middleton, Manchester on 30th March 1955 and began his playing career with Chadderton before being signed by Oldham Athletic in December 1973.

He quickly established himself as a lively attacking midfielder with good vision and he went on to make 170 appearances scoring 9 goals. He was transferred to Preston North End in March 1979 for a £80,000 fee and he made 143 appearances for the Deepdale club before being given a free transfer in 1983. Then followed a short spell with Carlisle United before a move to Bolton Wanderers where he made 92 appearances scoring 3 goals and his Football League career ended with a 42 game spell at Tranmere Rovers in the 1986-87 season.

Following a short stay at Hyde, in January 1988 he again followed his father's footsteps when he moved to Mossley. as player-assistant manager – his father Tommy Bell having played for the Lilywhites before joining Oldham in 1946 then returning again for the 1958–59 season.

Bell's arrival as a player at Mossley was hugely controversial at the time as his former Oldham (and Hyde United) team-mate and the then Mossley manager Keith Hicks arranged an exchange deal to bring in Bell along with young midfielder Tony Valentine from Hyde United in exchange for crowd favourites Joe Connor and Walter Nisbett. A very unpopular move with the Mossley faithful.

He served as caretaker manager at Mossley in September and into October 1988 following Keith Hick's dismissal taking charge for seven games in that period. It was no secret that Bell had applied for the manager's position on a permanent basis. However, form had not improved in his seven games in charge.

Despite not getting the job Bell remained as a player following the appointment of Bryan Griffiths in October 1988.

He rejoined Hicks at Hyde at the end of the 1988-89 season after winning a League Cup winners medal with Mossley and having made 83 appearances scoring 6 goals.

He then had a brief spell as caretaker manager at Hyde United sandwiched between Pete O'Brien and Cliff Roberts tenures in 1990.

Bell, along with Hicks both amazingly returned to Mossley as players under Les Sutton in October 1991. Bell making 27 appearances and Hicks 23 before both were released by Sutton's successor Ged Coyne in February 1992.

Bell then had a spell with Horwich RMI before retiring from football in 1992.

Graham Bell features amongst both 'The Legends of Oldham Athletic' and 'The 100 Greatest Preston North End Post War Players'.