Ron Gray (25 June 1920 – 11 October 2002) is a former

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player, manager and scout. Born in North Shields, wing half Gray started his professional year in 1938 with Sheffield United, later moving to Lincoln City, Notts County and finally

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

, before retiring at the age of 26 due to injury. He started his managerial career at Watford, but his tenure was not particularly successful. The club recorded their lowest ever football league finish, having to apply for re-election to 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 ...

in 1950–51. His next managerial role was at Millwall. After his first spell as manager, Gray stayed at the club as assistant manager to

Reg Smith James Christopher Reginald Smith (20 January 1912 – 6 January 2004), was an English footballer and manager, who played Outside left (the pre-modern day equivalent of left wing). Playing career The son of a South African rugby union intern ...

. Gray was re-appointed as manager after Smith was sacked, and led the club to promotion as

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

champions in 1961–62. Gray later spent four seasons at Lincoln City from 1966 to 1970, when he signed future Watford manager Graham Taylor as a player. After leaving Lincoln, Gray joined

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

as a scout, where he remained until his retirement in 1987. and discovered many of the 1978

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

and 1981

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

winning team's under the management of Bobby Robson.

References

Lincoln City F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Watford F.C. players Aldershot F.C. wartime guest players Grimsby Town F.C. wartime guest players Millwall F.C. wartime guest players Watford F.C. managers Millwall F.C. managers Lincoln City F.C. managers English Football League players Sportspeople from North Shields Footballers from Tyne and Wear 1920 births 2002 deaths English Football League managers Association football wing halves English footballers {{England-footy-manager-stub