Ray Wood
Ray Wood was born in Hebburn, England, United Kingdom on June 11th, 1931 and is the Soccer Player. At the age of 71, Ray Wood biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
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Raymond Ernest 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 USA, Cyprus, Greece, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates.
Personal life
Wood married his wife Elizabeth in 1954. They had two daughters, but the couple divorced during the 1970s. He died in July 2002 aged 71 in Bexhill-on-Sea, having returned to England after the end of his coaching career overseas. His death was the result of a heart attack.
Playing career
Wood started his playing days with Newcastle United, but he was unable to make his first team appearance and moved to Darlington in 1949. He stayed for three months before joining Manchester United, making his first team debut against Newcastle at Old Trafford in the league on December 3rd 1949. He gradually replaced Jack Crompton as United's first choice goalkeeper over the next few seasons.
Wood was the perpetrator of what was then a perfectly legal shoulder charge during the 1957 FA Cup Final against Aston Villa. Wood scored a cross in the sixth minute of the game, but Villa outside-left Peter McParland clattered into him, breaking Wood's jaw due to his ducking to escape the challenge. United did not win the game 2–1 when it was played in the period before substitutes Jackie Blanchflower was forced to play in goal after the incident, but Wood eventually returned to action after being forced to play as a forward following the injury. His reward for this was a Football League First Division championship medal to go with his first medal he had received a year ago.
In 1954, when he was just 23 years old, he was chosen to play for the England team.
United signed Harry Gregg from Doncaster Rovers for £23,500 – the highest price for a goalkeeper at the time – but Wood found his first-team debuts limited.
Wood was one of the victims of the Munich air disaster on February 6, 1958, suffering minor injuries, but he played just one first-team game later, and was later sold to Huddersfield Town within a year. He spent seven years with Huddersfield, playing more than 250 first-team games, but was unable to assist them in winning promotion to the First Division. He appeared in the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League with Toronto Inter-Roma in 1965. He spent one season with Bradford City before concluding his career with two seasons at Barnsley.
Matt Busby failed to re-sign him for Manchester United after Harry Gregg was hurt.
Managerial career
He served as a manager in numerous countries, including United States, Ireland, Zambia, Canada, Greece, Kenya, Kuwait, and the UAE. He coached national football teams in Cyprus and Kenya. In 1971-72, he coached the Los Angeles Wolves and the Cypriot team APOEL.