- Ray Mathias
Infobox Football biography
playername = Ray Mathias
fullname = Raymond Mathias
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1946|12|13
cityofbirth =Liverpool
countryofbirth =England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height = height|ft=5|in=9
position = Full Back
youthyears =
youthclubs =
currentclub = fc|Blackburn Rovers (assistant manager)
years = 1964–1985
clubs = Tranmere Rovers
caps(goals) = 567 0(6)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears = 1986–1989 1998–1999 2001 2002–2003 2004
managerclubs =Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Tranmere Rovers (caretaker)Tranmere Rovers Chester City (caretaker)Raymond "Ray" Mathias (born
13 December 1946 ) is an English football coach and former player. He has spent most of his career in the lower leagues ofEnglish football but is currently assistant manager ofPremier League side fc|Blackburn Rovers.Career
Playing
Born in
Liverpool , Mathias spent his entire playing career with fc|Tranmere Rovers from 1964 to 1985 and earning two testimonials in the process; a true one-club man, making 567Football League appearances. His time at Tranmere was not very fruitful, his most notable achievement being winning promotion from the Fourth Division in the 1975–76 season.Coaching
After retiring from playing, Mathias joined the coaching staff at fc|Wigan Athletic and spent three years in charge of the Latics from 1986–89. The highlight of this spell was leading Wigan to the
FA Cup quarter-finals in 1987. He later returned to Tranmere as a coach but then returned to Wigan as manager for the 1998–99 season; despite leading the club to victory in theFootball League Trophy final at Wembley and the Second Division play-offs he lost his job shortly afterwards.After once again becoming part of the managerial set-up at Tranmere and spells as caretaker manager, he was finally handed the reins on a permanent basis in 2002 but sacked a year later. Mathias then had an unsuccessful caretaker spell at Chester City in 2004 and briefly worked as assistant manager at Bury in 2005. In October 2006 he was appointed as assistant manager to
Paul Ince at League Two strugglers fc|Macclesfield Town. The pair were able to guide the Silkmen to an unlikely survival before moving to fc|Milton Keynes Dons where they achieved more success, winning the League Two championship and the Football League Trophy. They subsequently moved on to top flight team fc|Blackburn Rovers in June 2008.Honours
Player
* sport honours|
Football League Fourth Division Promotion|1|1975–76Coach
* sport honours|
Football League Trophy |2|1998–99, 2007–08
* sport honours|Football League Two Winner|1|2007–08Managerial stats
ee also
*
List of one-club men External links
*soccerbase (manager)|id=1058
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