Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Raymond Ogden Charnley | ||
Date of birth | 29 May 1935 | ||
Place of birth | Lancaster, England | ||
Date of death | 15 November 2009 | (aged 74)||
Place of death | Rossall, England | ||
Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
Playing position | Centre forward | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1954–1957 | Morecambe | ? | (?) |
1957–1967 | Blackpool | 363 | (193) |
1967–1968 | Preston North End | 23 | (4) |
1968–1969 | Wrexham | 20 | (5) |
1969–1970 | Bradford Park Avenue | 59 | (15) |
1970–1972 | Morecambe | ? | (?) |
Total | 605 | (293) | |
National team | |||
1962 | England | 1 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Raymond Ogden "Ray" Charnley (29 May 1935 – 15 November 2009) was an English professional footballer. He was a centre forward and was one of the most prolific scorers for Blackpool, with whom he spent ten years, including all but one season in the top flight of English football.
With 193 goals in 363 league games, Charnley is the third-highest scorer in Blackpool's history, behind Jimmy Hampson and Stan Mortensen.
In a playing career spanning eighteen years, Charnley also played for Morecambe (with whom he began and ended his career), Preston North End, Wrexham and Bradford Park Avenue. He scored a total of 293 career league goals in 605 games.
He won one England cap, in 1962.
There have been Blackpool footballers who have played more games for the club than Ray Charnley; and there have been men who have contributed more league goals to the Bloomfield Road cause than the tall, rangy Lancastrian centre-forward. But on both counts, from faithful fans of the Seasiders whose memories stretch back half a century and beyond, there would have to come the heartfelt and grateful rider: not many
Born in Lancaster, Lancashire, Charnley started out as a teenager in the Preston North End B team. When the team was disbanded, he joined North Lancashire and District Football League side Bolton-le-Sands. He later signed as a part-time professional with non-League Morecambe, in the Lancashire Combination, joining them from for £15 in September 1954, whilst also working as a painter and decorater apprentice.