Ray King (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Raymond King | ||
| Date of birth | 15 August 1924 | ||
| Place of birth | Radcliffe, Northumberland, England | ||
| Date of death | 19 July 2014 (aged 89) | ||
| Place of death | Bangkok, Thailand | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1942–1945 | Newcastle United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1945–1946 | Newcastle United | 0 | (0) |
| 1946–1947 | Leyton Orient | 1 | (0) |
| 1948–1949 | Ashington | ||
| 1949–1957 | Port Vale | 252 | (0) |
| 1957–1960 | Boston United | ||
| Total | 253 | (0) | |
| National team | |||
| 1954 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1957–1960 | Boston United | ||
| 1960–1963 | Poole Town | ||
| 1963 | Sittingbourne | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Raymond "Ray" King (15 August 1924 – 19 July 2014) was an English football goalkeeper. He made 254 league appearances in an 11-year career in the Football League. He was the younger brother of Frank and George King.
He began his career with Newcastle United, but spent World War II in the army, and also had to contend with a catalogue of injuries. After the war, he played for Leyton Orient, before injury again forced him out of the professional game. He spent time with Ashington, before making another comeback in May 1949, this time with Port Vale. He was in goal for the "Valiants" in one of the club's brightest periods, helping them to win the Third Division North title and to reach the FA Cup semi-finals in 1953–54. He won one cap for the England "B" team, and later went into management with non-league clubs Boston United, Poole Town and Sittingbourne. He later worked as a physiotherapist, and also spent time behind the scenes at Oxford United, Luton Town, Southampton.
Raymond King, the youngest of three brothers, was born in the Northumberland mining village of Radcliffe on 15 August 1924. The family were evicted from their colliery house after his father was suspected of instigating a miner's strike. They briefly attempted to run a fish and chip shop, but had to give up the business when elder brother Frank accidentally burnt the house down. At age eight, he moved with his family to the town of Amble, where his father had secured a position as a check weighman. After he left school at age 14, King began a five-year painter and decorator apprenticeship. Not long after the outbreak of World War II, he spent two years serving in the Home Guard, under the command of his father. He was enlisted into the army in December 1942. He served in the King's Own Royal Regiment, leading his comrades to remark that "he even has his own regiment!".
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