Raymond Lambert (18 July 1922 – 22 October 2009) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

footballer who played for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Life and playing career

Born in

Bagillt Bagillt (; ) is a market town and community in Flintshire, Wales. The town overlooks the Dee Estuary and is between the towns of Holywell and Flint. At the 2001 Census the population was recorded as 3,918, increasing to 4,165 at the 2011 census. ...

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, Wales, Lambert joined the Reds as an amateur schoolboy in 1936 aged 13. In doing so, he set the record for being the youngest ever player to join a league side. He impressed Liverpool manager

George Kay George Kay (21 September 1891 – 18 April 1954) was an English football player and manager of Luton Town, Southampton and Liverpool. The highlight of his playing career was when he captained West Ham United in the first FA Cup final to be play ...

so much that he had Lambert sign professional forms on his 17th birthday in 1939. This was just a month before the

F.A FA, Fa or fa may refer to: People * Fa of Xia, King of China 1747–1728 BC * Fa Ngum (1316–1393), founder and ruler of the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang Places * Fa, Aude, a commune of the Aude ' in France * Falmouth Academy, a private colleg ...

brought a premature halt to the league season because of the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Upon the conclusion of the war Lambert, now 23, returned to

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

but had to wait to make his debut, which came on 5 January 1946 in the first official competition after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

—the

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 ...

. Liverpool made the journey to Sealand Road to face Chester City in the 3rd round 1st leg, a game that the Reds won 2–0. Also making their debuts that day were Liverpool greats

Billy Liddell William Beveridge Liddell (10 January 1922 – 3 July 2001) was a Scottish footballer, who played his entire professional career with Liverpool. He signed with the club as a teenager in 1938 and retired in 1961, having scored 228 goals in 534 ap ...

and

Bob Paisley Robert Paisley OBE (23 January 1919 – 14 February 1996) was an English professional football manager and player who played as a wing-half. He spent almost 50 years with Liverpool and is regarded, due to his achievements with the club, ...

. The full-back's first goal for the Reds came via a 77th-minute penalty on 8 October 1949 at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

in a league game against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. This also finished 2–0 to the Reds. Lambert fitted straight into the Liverpool line-up and held on to his place, which might be either left or right back as he was comfortable in each. He averaged 30 games a season for the following decade and become a favourite with the Anfield masses. He appeared in 36 of the 42 league games as Liverpool went on to clinch the first post-war championship by one point over

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

and bitter rivals

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. Lambert was also an integral member of the Reds squad that took Liverpool to their first ever

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

final in 1950, Arsenal were the opponents on 29 April and spoilt the Merseysiders day by taking the cup back to

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

after a 2–0 win. Liverpool's and Lambert's luck took a sharp turn for the worse as the Reds struggled with their league form and were finally relegated at the end of the 1953/54 season. Ray Lambert won 5 caps for Wales, his first coming on 19 October 1946 in a

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground ( cy, Y Cae Ras) is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C. It is the world's oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales' first home i ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, it was a day to remember for Lambert as the Welsh ran out 3–1 victors with all the goals coming in the 2nd half. Upon retiring, Ray ran a newsagents in Garden City in

Deeside Deeside ( cy, Glannau Dyfrdwy) is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the ...

. His son, Wayne, had trials with Manchester City Ray finally called an end to his Anfield days just before his 34th birthday in 1956 after playing 341 appearances. Ray is the

great-uncle An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an uncle is an aunt, and the reciprocal rela ...

of the music composer

Daniel Liam Glyn Daniel Liam Glyn (born 3 October 1986) is a British music composer. He is most known for combining his music writing with his neurological condition, synaesthesia. Glyn's work has been heavily influenced by his unique way of visualising numbers, ...

. He died on the 22 October 2009, at the age of 87.

Honours

* Division 1 (Level 1): 1947 *

: Runner-up 1950

References

External links

Player profile at LFChistory.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Ray 1922 births 2009 deaths Liverpool F.C. players Footballers from Flintshire Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Men's association football defenders English Football League players

Life and playing career

Honours

See also

References

External links