- Dick Ray
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Dick Ray 
Personal information Full name Richard Ray Date of birth 4 February 1876 Place of birth Newcastle-under-Lyme, England Date of death 28 December 1952 (aged 76) Place of death Leeds, England Playing position Left Back Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1893–1894 Macclesfield 1894–1895 Burslem Port Vale 29 (1) Manchester City Stockport County Chesterfield Leeds City Total 29+ (1+) Teams managed 1919–1920 Leeds United 1923–1927 Doncaster Rovers 1927–1935 Leeds United 1935–1938 Bradford City * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Richard "Dick" Ray (4 February 1876, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire – 28 December 1952, Leeds) was a professional footballer and manager. He became a manager for Leeds United, Doncaster Rovers and Bradford City.
Contents
Playing career
Ray was born in the Potteries town of Newcastle under Lyme on February 4, 1876, and began his footballing career with local club Audley, before joining Macclesfield in 1893, before moving to Burslem Port Vale a year later. He was a solid performer for the club, however failed to turn up for one match after misreading a train timetable, being fined five shillings for his trouble, he departed in the summer of 1895.[1]
Over the next few years he played for Manchester City, Stockport County, Chesterfield and Leeds City. After Gilbert Gillies, his manager at Chesterfield, was appointed as Leeds City's first manager in March 1905, Ray followed him to Elland Road. He was a dependable left back, and even captained the side before leaving the club when the board declined not to renew Gillies' contract in March 1908.
Managerial career
Leeds United and Doncaster Rovers
Ray retired from playing in 1912 and then served in the RASC during World War I. He remained close to Leeds City however, and was invited to become a member of the original committee that was elected too manage the new Leeds United following City's expulsion from the League in October 1919. He then became the first Leeds United manager, running the club for part of their 1919–20 Midland League campaign.
New Leeds United chairman Hilton Crowther went back to his old club Huddersfield Town to recruit Arthur Fairclough as manager in February 1920. Ray became Fairclough's assistant for a while, eventually leaving Elland Road in June 1923 to take over at Doncaster Rovers when they were elected to the old Third Division (North). Ray never got them above a mid table finish, but when Fairclough resigned following Leeds United's relegation to Division Two at the end of 1926-27, the Leeds board recalled Ray as manager.
Ray steered Leeds back 2 the First Division at the first attempt in 1927–28, and then guided the club to 5th place in 1929–30 – their best placing until the arrival of Don Revie. However, the club was relegated the following season. Leeds were immediately promoted back to the First Division in 1931–32, and enjoyed two seasons at mid-table.
Leeds now had the England international half back line of Willis Edwards, Ernest Hart and Wilf Copping, but in 1934 Copping was sold to Arsenal. The loss of such a key player had a large impact, and in 1934–35, Leeds finished 4th. Ray resigned on 5 March 1938, with Leeds flirting once more with relegation.
The Football League recognised Ray's achievements by appointing him the first manager of a League representative team, for the 2–2 draw with the Scottish League at Ibrox in February 1938.
Bradford City and beyond
After Ray left Elland Road, he became Bradford City manager in April 1935. They avoided relegation from Division Two at the end of that season, but were relegated in 1937. Ray left the club a year later when he was relieved of responsibility for team selection.
He was then 62 and spent some time as chief scout for Millwall, but was out of football two years later, spending his time running a garage business and billiard clubs.
References
- General
- Frost, Terry (1988). Bradford City A Complete Record 1903-1988. Breedon Books Sport. pp. pp68–69. ISBN 0907969380.
- Specific
- ^ Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 246. ISBN 0952915200. http://www.amazon.ca/Port-Vale-Personalities-Jeff-Kent/dp/0952915200.
External links
Leeds United A.F.C. – managers (c) caretakerRay (1919–20) · Fairclough (1920–1927) · Ray (1927–35) · Hampson (1935–47) · Edwards (1947–48) · Buckley (1948–53) · Carter (1953–58) · Edwards (1958(c)) · Lambton (1958–59) · Taylor (1959–61) · Revie (1961–74) · Clough (1974) · Lindley (1974(c)) · Armfield (1974–78) · Lindley (1978(c)) · Stein (1978) · Lindley (1978(c)) · Adamson (1978–80) · Lindley (1980(c)) · Merrington (1980(c)) · Clarke (1980–82) · Gray (1982–85) · Gunby (1985(c)) · Bremner (1985–88) · Hunter (1988(c)) · Wilkinson (1988–96) · Graham (1996–98) · O'Leary (1998–2002) · Venables (2002–03) · Reid (2003) · Gray (2003–04(c)) · Blackwell (2004–06) · Carver (2006(c)) · Geddis (2006(c)) · Wise (2006–08) · Williams (2008(c)) · McAllister (2008) · Grayson (2008–)
Doncaster Rovers F.C. – managers Porter (1920–21) · Tufnell (1921–22) · Porter (1922–23) · Ray (1923–27) · Menzies (1928–36) · Emery (1936–40) · Marsden (1944–46) · Bestall (1946–49) · Doherty (1949–58) · Bycroft (1958) · Hodgson (1958) · Crayston (1958–59) · Bestall (1959–60) · Curtis (1960–61) · Malloy (1961–62) · Marshall (1962) · Hold (1962–64) · Leivers (1964–66) · Kettleborough (1966–67) · Raynor (1967–68) · McMenemy (1968–71) · Setters (1971–74) · Anderson (1975–78) · Bremner (1978–85) · Cusack (1985–87) · Mackay (1987–89) · Bremner (1989–91) · Beaglehole (1991–93) · I. Atkins (1993–94) · Chung (1994–96) · Dixon (1996–97) · Weaver (1997) · Cowling (1997) · Bergara (1997) · Weaver (1997–98) · Snodin (1998–00) · M. Atkins (2000) · Penney (player) (2000) · Wignall (2000–01) · Penney (player) (2001–02) · Penney (2002–06) · Walker (2006) · O'Driscoll (2006–11) · Saunders (2011–)
Bradford City A.F.C. – managers Campbell (1903–05) · O'Rourke (1905–21) · Menzies (1921–26) · Veitch (1926–28) · Foster (1928) · O'Rourke (1928–30) · Peart (1930–35) · Ray (1935–37) · Westgarth (1938–43) · Sharp (1943–46) · Barker (1946–47) · Milburn (1947–48) · Steele (1948–52) · A. Harris (1952) · Powell (1952–55) · P. Jackson (1955–61) · Brocklebank (1961–64) · B. Harris (1965–66) · Watson (1966–67) · Hair (1967–68) · McAnearney & Hallett (1968) · Wheeler (1968–71) · Wilson (1971) · Edwards (1971–75) · Kennedy (1975–78) · Napier (1978) · Mulhall (1978–81) · McFarland (1981–82) · Cherry (1982–87) · Dolan (1987–89) · Yorath (1989–90) · Docherty (1990–91) · Stapleton (1991–94) · Lawrence (1994–95) · Kamara (1995–98) · Jewell (1998–2000) · Hutchings (2000) · McCall (2000) · Jefferies (2000–01) · Smith (2001) · Law (2002–03) · Atherton, Jacobs, Wetherall and Windass (joint caretakers) (2003) · Robson (2003–04) · Todd (2004–07) · Wetherall (2007) · McCall (2007–10) · Jacobs (2010) · Taylor (2010–11) · P. A. Jackson (2011) · Cooper (2011) · Parkinson (2011–)
Categories:- People from Newcastle-under-Lyme
- English footballers
- Association football defenders
- The Football League players
- Macclesfield Town F.C. players
- Port Vale F.C. players
- Manchester City F.C. players
- Stockport County F.C. players
- Chesterfield F.C. players
- Leeds City F.C. players
- English football managers
- Leeds United A.F.C. managers
- Doncaster Rovers F.C. managers
- Bradford City A.F.C. managers
- 1876 births
- 1952 deaths
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