Raymond Spencer (25 March 1933 – 2016) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who made 156 appearances in the Football League playing as a

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

for Darlington and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. He began his career with Aston Villa without playing for their first team, and went on to play non-league football for

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

and Bridgwater Town. He represented England at schoolboy level.

Life and career

Raymond Spencer was born in

Kings Norton Kings Norton, alternatively King's Norton, is an area of Birmingham, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Worcestershire, it was also a Birmingham City Council ward (politics), ward within the Government of Birmingham, Engl ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, on 25 March 1933. He played at

inside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for England schoolboys against their Welsh counterparts at

Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City F.C. for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game ...

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

, in 1948; a match preview described him as "a born footballer who uses his head and both feet." His younger brother Malcolm, also a schoolboy international, was on the books of

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

but never went on to League football. Spencer joined Aston Villa as a junior, and turned professional in June 1950. After four years with no first-team appearances, Villa listed him on a free transfer, but changed their minds and re-engaged him. Despite remaining a Villa player for a further four years, which included a spell of

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, he never made the first team. He signed for Darlington, and finally made his Football League debut just days short of his 25th birthday, on 19 March 1958 in a 2–1 defeat at home to

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

in the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

. His first senior goal arrived three days later, again in a home defeat, this time against Chester. His progress was interrupted when he broke a leg during a match in October 1958 and was out for five months, but once restored to fitness, he was a regular in the side playing mainly at left half or

for the next two years. His Darlington career is best remembered for his opening goal in the shock defeat of First Division team

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

in the inaugural season of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. The ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

'' reported how, "after only twenty seconds, swung the ball over to inside right Bobby Baxter, who teed it up for left half Ray Spencer to slam in a glorious goal from ." Spencer made 106 appearances for Darlington and scored seven goals. In June 1961, Spencer joined

. Although Darlington manager Eddie Carr thought he was worth more than the small fee received, the player wanted to relocate to his wife's home town and the club were "doing a good turn to a good club man." He made 59 league appearances for Torquay, scoring once, in three years at the club. He moved into non-league football, first with

, for which he made 10 appearances in all competitions, and then with Bridgwater Town. Spencer was married to Maeve. He died in 2016.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Ray 1933 births 2016 deaths People from Kings Norton Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers England men's schools international footballers Men's association football wing halves Aston Villa F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Bridgwater United F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players