Ray Mathias
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Raymond Mathias | ||
| Date of birth | 13 December 1946 | ||
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Playing position | Full back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1964–1985 | Tranmere Rovers | 567 | (6) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1986–1989 | Wigan Athletic | ||
| 1998–1999 | Wigan Athletic | ||
| 2001 | Tranmere Rovers (caretaker) | ||
| 2002–2003 | Tranmere Rovers | ||
| 2004 | Chester City (caretaker) | ||
| 2011 | (Interim Manager) | ||
| 2011 | |||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
Raymond "Ray" Mathias (born 13 December 1946) is an English football coach and former player. He has spent most of his career in the lower leagues of English football. Mathias played for Tranmere Rovers between 1964 and 1985, and remains their record appearance holder having played 637 games for the club. After his retirement he spent three years as manager of Wigan Athletic, briefly returning to the role for the 1998–99 season; between these two spells he returned to Tranmere as a coach, and later managed the side before moving on to Chester City in a caretaker role. He was appointed interim manager of Stockport County on 9 March 2011 until the end of the season, when County were relegated from the Football League for the first time in 106 years. Owing in part to an impressive home record, Mathias was appointed full-time County manager in May 2011, but departed just two weeks later following the takeover of the club by Tony Evans.
Born in Liverpool, Mathias spent his entire playing career with Tranmere Rovers from 1964 to 1985 and earning two testimonials in the process; a true one-club man, making 567 Football League appearances. His most notable achievement being winning promotion from the Fourth Division in the 1975–76 season. He made 637 appearances for Tranmere in all competitions, a club record.
After retiring from playing, Mathias joined the coaching staff at Wigan Athletic and spent three years in charge of the Latics from 1986–89. The highlight of this spell was leading Wigan to the FA Cup quarter-finals in 1987. He later returned to Tranmere as a coach but then returned to Wigan as manager for the 1998–99 season; despite leading the club to victory in the Football League Trophy final at Wembley and the Second Division play-offs he lost his job shortly afterwards.
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