Ray Wood
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Raymond Ernest Wood | ||
| Date of birth | 11 June 1931 | ||
| Place of birth | Hebburn, County Durham, England | ||
| Date of death | 7 July 2002 (aged 71) | ||
| Place of death | Bexhill-on-Sea, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1948–1949 | Newcastle United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1949 | Darlington | 12 | (0) |
| 1949–1958 | Manchester United | 178 | (0) |
| 1958–1965 | Huddersfield Town | 207 | (0) |
| 1965–1966 | Bradford City | 32 | (0) |
| 1966–1968 | Barnsley | 30 | (0) |
| Total | 459 | (0) | |
| National team | |||
| 1954 | England U23 | 1 | (0) |
| 1954–1956 | England | 3 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1968 | Los Angeles Wolves | ||
| 1969–1972 | Cyprus | ||
| 1972–1973 | APOEL | ||
| 1973 | Trikala | ||
| 1973–1974 | Salymia | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Raymond Ernest "Ray" Wood (11 June 1931 – 7 July 2002) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Representing Manchester United, he played in the 1956 and 1957 Football League 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 at international level on three occasions between 1954 and 1956 and, after retiring from playing in 1968, managed football clubs in the United States, Cyprus, Greece, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates.
Wood started his career as an amateur with Newcastle United, though he failed to make a first team appearance and moved to Darlington in 1949. He only stayed for three months though before joining Manchester United, making his first team debut against Newcastle at Old Trafford 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, 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 due to him ducking to avoid the challenge. As this game was played in the era before substitutes Jackie Blanchflower 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 title medal to add to the first medal he had gained a year earlier.
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