Roy Gratrix (9 February 1932 – 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 ...

. He played as a defender. Gratrix began his professional career with

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

as a 20-year-old in September 1952, joining from

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

side Taylor Bros. He made his debut for Blackpool on 13 March 1954, succeeding

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Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...

. The following campaign, 1954–55, he retained his position, teaming-up with Tommy Garrett, although occasionally being asked to play at left-back. In 1955–56, with

Harry Johnston Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston (12 June 1858 – 31 July 1927) was a British explorer, botanist, artist, colonial administrator, and linguist who travelled widely across Africa to speak some of the languages spoken by people on that continent. ...

leaving to manage

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, Gratrix moved to centre-half and remained there for the rest of his career. Also during the 1955–56 season, Gratrix represented England at " B" level, playing against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

at The Dell. England B won 4–1.England - International Results B-Team - Details
- RSSSF.com For the 1956–57 campaign, Gratrix was an ever-present in Blackpool's 46 league and cup fixtures, helping them to their second consecutive top-four finish in Division One. He repeated the feat the following season and also in 1961–62 (52 league and cup games). On 19 October 1957, Gratrix had the chance to open his scoring account with the club. He took a penalty against

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 ...

at Bloomfield Road, but he put it over the bar. He remained without a goal in his 436 games for Blackpool. In 1964, after eleven years and four hundred league appearances for Blackpool, Gratrix was sold to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. He made fifteen league appearances for City before trying his hand at playing in Canada with

Toronto City Toronto City was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario. Between 1961 and 1967, teams using this name competed in both the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League and the United Soccer Association. History ECPSL In 1961, along wit ...

, where he finally experienced the sweet sensation of scoring a goal (away v Montreal Italica, 4 July 1965). He returned to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to finish his playing career with Welsh club

Bangor City Bangor City Football Club () was a Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. Founded in 1876, Bangor City have been founder members of the North Wales Coast League, the Welsh National League, the North Wales Combination, the W ...

and Lancashire Combination club

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...

, who were at that time managed by his old Blackpool teammate Jimmy Kelly. Gratrix died in 2002.

References

;Specific ;General
Gratrix's Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Transfer Database profile's statistics site
* 1932 births 2002 deaths Footballers from Salford English men's footballers Blackpool F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players England men's B international footballers English Football League players English Football League representative players Men's association football central defenders Bangor City F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Toronto City players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League players 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-defender-1930s-stub