Raymond Ernest Wood (11 June 1931 – 7 July 2002) 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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. Representing

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, he played in the 1956 and 1957

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

championship-winning teams. Known for his pace and agility, Wood had the opportunity to be a professional sprinter, but opted instead to play football. He played for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at international level on three occasions between 1954 and 1956 and, after retiring from playing in 1968, managed football clubs in the US,

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Playing career

Wood started his career as an amateur with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, though he failed to make a first team appearance and moved to

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

in 1949. He only stayed for three months though before joining

, making his first team debut against Newcastle at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in the league on 3 December 1949. Over the next few seasons he gradually displaced the ageing Jack Crompton as United's first choice goalkeeper. During the 1957 FA Cup Final against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, Wood was the victim of what was then a perfectly legal shoulder charge. In the sixth minute of the game Wood successfully claimed a cross; however, Villa outside-left Peter McParland clattered into him, breaking Wood's

jaw The jaws are a pair of opposable articulated structures at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth ...

due to him ducking to avoid the challenge. As this game was played in the era before substitutes

Jackie Blanchflower John Blanchflower (7 March 1933 – 2 September 1998) was a footballer from Northern Ireland. He graduated from Manchester United's youth system and played for the club on 117 occasions, winning one league title, before his career was cut short ...

was forced to play in goal following the incident, Wood eventually came back on after treatment to play as a forward, United went on to lose the game 2–1. His compensation for this was a

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

title medal to add to the first medal he had gained a year earlier. In 1954, when only 23 years old, he was selected to play for the England team. In December 1957, United signed Harry Gregg from

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

for £23,500 – the world record fee for a goalkeeper at the time – and Wood found his first-team opportunities limited. Wood was among the survivors of the

Munich air disaster The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. The aircraft was carrying the Manchester United F.C., Manche ...

on 6 February 1958, suffering minor injuries, but played just one first-team game afterwards and was later sold to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

within a year. He spent seven seasons at Huddersfield, playing more than 250 first-team games, although he was unable to help them win promotion to the First Division. In 1965, he played in the

Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League The Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada. The league operated for six seasons from 1961 to 1966 across four cities in two Canadian provinces and one American state. In the 1960s, the Eastern Canada Professional ...

with Toronto Inter-Roma. He then played one season at Bradford City, before finishing his career with two seasons at

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

. Several years after leaving Manchester United, Matt Busby unsuccessfully tried to re-sign him for Manchester United when Harry Gregg was injured.

Managerial career

He continued as a manager in several countries including United States, Ireland,

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, Canada,

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

and

. He coached

and Kenya national football teams. He also coached the NASL team

Los Angeles Wolves The Los Angeles Wolves were an American professional Association football, soccer team that played for two seasons. In 1967 they played in the United Soccer Association, finishing as champions, and in 1968 North American Soccer League season, ...

and the Cypriot team APOEL in 1971–72.

Personal life

Wood married his wife Elizabeth in 1954. They had two daughters, but the couple divorced during the 1970s. He died in July 2002 aged 71 in

Bexhill-on-Sea Bexhill-on-Sea (often shortened to Bexhill) is a seaside town and civil parish in the Rother District in the county of East Sussex in South East England. It is located along the Sussex Coast and between the towns of Hastings, England, Hastings ...

, having returned to England after the end of his coaching career overseas. His death was the result of a heart attack.

Honours

Manchester United *

: 1951–52, 1955–56, 1956–57 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 1956–57

References

External links

Obituary, The Independent
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Ray 1931 births 2002 deaths Footballers from Hebburn Men's association football goalkeepers English men's footballers England men's international footballers England men's under-23 international footballers Newcastle United F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Toronto Roma players Bradford City A.F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players English Football League players Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League players English football managers Cyprus national football team managers Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents Expatriate football managers in Kenya Kenya national football team managers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) head coaches English expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus APOEL FC managers English Football League representative players Trikala F.C. managers 20th-century English sportsmen