Murphy is Crewe graduate

Crewe is famous for trains and the order to all change at the nearby railway station - except at a football club were stability has been a trademark since Gradi was appointed in June 1983.

Gradi has watched 750 managers go through the managerial doorway elsewhere in the course of what will be 836 league games, 152 cup ties and 12 play-off games after the First Division game at Norwich City.

He has been a model of consistency, a benchmark for all the best values in football and the prime example of how a lower division club should operate.

Gradi has concentrated on setting up a production line of young talent designed to sustain Crewe in the present and act as a financial safeguard for its future.

I'm addicted to this place - I work seven days a week and I trek the country looking for players

Crewe manager Dario Gradi

Savage worked alongside Gradi

And Liverpool think so highly of Gradi that they are now party to a gentleman's agreement with Crewe to ensure they have first refusal on any promising youngsters.

It serves Crewe well, but Liverpool have also had their rewards in the shape of Murphy.

Indeed it was a spell on loan back at Crewe that is widely regarded as the catalyst that pushed Murphy away from the Anfield scrapheap and on to the international stage.

Gradi is proud of his record, a testimony to hard work and one club's faith in a manager they know is right for them.

Bigger clubs may have eyed Gradi, but he is happy at a club where a seat on the board guarantees him more than the average influence.

He says: "I'm addicted to this place. I work seven days a week. I trek the country looking for players. I'd have enjoyed the Premiership, working with top class players, but it didn't happen."

Gradi believes his place on the board is important, saying: "The good thing is, my vote counts for as much as anyone else's. It also lets me have my say.

"The people who sit on the board are my friends and it means there is never any hostility - that must be unique."

Gradi's legacy of 1,000 games in charge is a youth set-up that is the envy of many bigger clubs.

He explains: "A lot of our coaches here are former players so we don't chop and change our methods."

Platt - surprise package

He is never sure whether a player will cut it in the top flight, but his record suggests he has a better idea than most.

"An awful lot depends on their physical development.

"Danny Murphy, Neil Lennon and Rob Jones all grew and got more pace.

"It gives you more time to avoid tackles and when that happens you have a greater chance of making it.

"The player whose development always surprised me most was David Platt, though I don't know why. I shouldn't have been surprised really.

"Having spoken to David several times after he left, you could see how his experience abroad had affected his thinking."

And as he prepares to celebrate his place in history in typically low-key fashion, the forward-thinking Gradi is probably already turning his attention to the next thousand games.