Ray Gooding (born 16 February 1959) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He made 59 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

and

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

Playing career

Gooding began his career with

, having been signed by

Gordon Milne Gordon Milne (born 29 March 1937) is an English former football player and manager. Personal life Gordon Milne was born in Preston, Lancashire, England and is the son of the Scottish former Preston player Jimmy Milne and Jesse Milne. Club car ...

in 1976. He scored five goals in 49 league appearances over the next six years and spent a month on loan with

during the 1981–82 season. Gooding joined

in 1982 and scored once in nine league and cup games before suffering a

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...

injury. Having been forced to give up professional football, he played briefly for

Bedworth United Bedworth United Football Club is a football club based in Bedworth, Warwickshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Oval. History The first club from which the modern Bedworth United traces its lineage was Bedworth ...

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

before ending his career.

Coaching career

Gooding returned to Coventry in 1988 when

John Sillett John Charles Sillett (20 July 1936 – 30 November 2021) was an English football player and manager. He played for Chelsea, Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle. He won the Championship with Chelsea in 1955, playing alongside his brother Peter ...

appointed him to work with John Peacock as a football development officer in the community at the club's centre of excellence. He went on to be responsible for young player recruitment and first met

Richard Money Richard Money (born 13 October 1955) is an English former footballer and manager who was most recently manager of National League club Hartlepool United. Before this, he managed Cambridge United, overseeing the side's return to the Football Leag ...

when he was appointed academy director during

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...

's tenure as manager. Under their stewardship, Coventry's youth team reached two

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

finals. Gooding took redundancy in the summer of 2008 and became a member of Money's academy staff at

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

. He later worked for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

as a recruitment officer and scout for their academy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gooding, Ray 1959 births Living people Footballers from Hartlepool English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Coventry City F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Bedworth United F.C. players English Football League players Coventry City F.C. non-playing staff Newcastle United F.C. non-playing staff Birmingham City F.C. non-playing staff Association football scouts