Ray Wood

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Ray Wood
Personnel
Surname Raymond Ernest Wood
birthday June 11, 1931
place of birth Hebburn ,  England
date of death July 7, 2002
Place of death Bexhill-on-Sea ,  England
position goalkeeper
Juniors
Years station
1948-1949 Newcastle United
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1949 Darlington FC 12 (0)
1949-1958 Manchester United 178 (0)
1958-1965 Huddersfield Town 207 (0)
1965-1966 Bradford City 32 (0)
1966-1968 Barnsley FC 30 (0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1954 England U-23 1 (0)
1954 England B 1 (0)
1954-1956 England 3 (0)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
1968 Los Angeles Wolves
1969-1972 Cyprus
1972-1973 APOEL Nicosia
1973 FC Trikala
1973-1974 Salymia, Kuwait
1975 Kenya
1 Only league games are given.

Raymond Ernest "Ray" Wood (born June 11, 1931 in Hebburn , † July 7, 2002 in Bexhill-on-Sea ) was an English football goalkeeper and coach . He was a regular for Manchester United , which won two English championships in a row in the seasons 1955/56 and 1956/57.

Athletic career

Wood began his footballing career as an amateur at Newcastle United before joining third division club Darlington FC in September 1949 . There he was just once in twelve championship games between the posts before joining Manchester United in December 1949 . On December 3, 1949 he made his debut against his ex-club Newcastle United in the local first team, but it was his only appearance in the 1949/50 season. In the following years he was behind regular goalkeeper Reg Allen only the role of a substitute keeper, which he shared with Jack Crompton . After Allen's departure in 1953, Wood dueled Jack Crompton, ten years his senior, and after coach Matt Busby initially trusted Crompton more, Wood became the new "number 1" of "United" in the 1954/55 season. His goalkeeping game was characterized by the fact that he acted very courageously and was quick to react "on the line". Due to his speed, which he occasionally demonstrated outside of his penalty area, he was not infrequently certified as a talent as a sprinter. Wood won two English championships in a row in 1956 and 1957, missing only four of 84 league games and in addition he played three full international matches for England between October 1954 and May 1956. The personal highlight was his performance in the European Cup against Borussia Dortmund in November 1956 . After United had won the home game 3-2 in the first round, the "Busby Babes" came under heavy pressure in the second leg and with numerous saves Wood prevented a goal, which enabled them to advance to the next round.

Disappointing, however, was the 1957 FA Cup final , which Manchester United played against Aston Villa as a favorite. After a foul by Peter McParland , Wood broke his jaw after six minutes and had to leave the field. Since substitutions were not yet allowed at that time, field player Jackie Blanchflower switched to goal and Villa won the game 2-1. As Wood repeatedly showed weaknesses in high crosses in his penalty area, coach Busby decided to change the goalkeeper position and Wood lost his place to the high-profile newcomer Harry Gregg . In February 1958 he was one of the passengers on the plane that crashed in Munich , but was only slightly injured in the process. He then came only once for United before moving on to Huddersfield Town in December 1958 .

For seven years Wood was active for the second division club from Huddersfield, with Busby in 1960 after Gregg was injured again in favor of Woods return to Manchester. After more than 250 competitive games for Huddersfield, he then ended his active career at Bradford City and Barnsley FC . Wood then switched to coaching, briefly supervising the Los Angeles Wolves in the United States and then working as a “globetrotter” in Cyprus, Greece, Kuwait, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates. In July 2002, Wood died at the age of 71 after a heart attack.

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "England - U-23 International Results - Details" (RSSSF)
  2. ^ "England - International Results B-Team - Details" (RSSSF)
  3. ^ Ponting, Ivan: Manchester United Player by Player . Hamlyn, London 1998, ISBN 0-600-59496-3 , pp. 27 .
  4. ^ "Ray Wood: Man U goalkeeper who survived Munich crash" (The Guardian)
personal data
SURNAME Wood, Ray
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wood, Raymond Ernest
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English football goalkeeper
DATE OF BIRTH June 11, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Hebburn , England
DATE OF DEATH July 7, 2002
Place of death Bexhill-on-Sea , England