after breaking his rib in an away match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. During his eight years at Preston, Alexander made exactly 400 appearances for the club, with his 400th and final match coming against Colchester United on 25 August 2007. He was also in the PFA's Championship Team of the Season for 2004–05 During the summer of 2007 a number of clubs were linked with him including Crystal Palace who had a £50,000 bid turned down by Preston, who said: "He is club captain and a vital member of this squad and certainly not a player we will allow to leave." Burnley On 29 August 2007, he made a surprise move to local rivals Burnley almost nine years after they had originally tried to sign him. The reasons cited for his departure were that Preston would not extend his contract by another year, so when offered a two-year contract by Burnley the player accepted and made a £200,000 move to Turf Moor. Preston chairman Derek Shaw did not want to lose the player and said: We don't particularly want to sell Graham but he has the comfort of a two-year contract at Burnley whereas he only has one year here at Deepdale. We quite possibly would have renewed Graham's contract, he's a fit man. The £200,000 transfer money was made up of £100,000 payable in 2007 and the final £100,000 payable in the summer of 2008. In Burnley's promotion season in 2008–09 Alexander at the age of 37 played in all 61 league and cup games ending with the 1–0 play-off final victory over Sheffield United at Wembley which took Burnley back to the top flight of English football for the first time in 33 years. On 29 June 2009, Alexander signed a new one-year contract at Burnley, and on 15 August he became the oldest player to make a Premier League debut. On 19 September, he scored his first Premier League goal, a penalty, in a 3–1 win at home to Sunderland. On 31 October 2009, He scored both goals in a 2–0 home win against Hull City. A week later he then scored the first for Burnley, from the spot, at Manchester City in a thrilling 3–3 draw. On 16 December, he scored his 100th league goal. He scored an equaliser against Arsenal, sending Gunners 'keeper Manuel Almunia the wrong way. On 10 April 2010, Alexander again scored twice