George Edward Ray (born 13 October 1993) is a former professional

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 lea ...

who played as a defender. He is a former Wales under-21 international. Ray started his professional career at

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

and made his first-team debut in the 2013 Football League Trophy final, becoming the first player to make his professional debut in a cup final held at Wembley. He later played for

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

(loan), Barrow and

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

Club career

Crewe Alexandra

Ray came through the Crewe Alexandra F.C. Academy to sign professional forms in 2011. He was loaned out to

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

side Leek Town in the 2011–12 season. He made his senior debut for the "Railwaymen" at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

on 7 April 2013, in the Football League Trophy final victory over

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

– the first player to make his professional debut in a Wembley cup final. On 11 February 2014, Ray signed a new two-and-a-half-year deal at

. In March 2017, Ray revealed that he had considered leaving Crewe, declaring "the first six months (of the current season) were the worst times of my career," but was now playing for a new contract under Crewe's new manager.

David Artell David John Artell (born 22 November 1980) is a association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former professional Football player, player who is head coach of club Grimsby Town F.C., Grimsby Town. He began his caree ...

had replaced

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, DJ, electronic musician and author. He dominated professional snooker in the 1980s, when he reached eight ...

in January 2017 and he recalled Ray to the first team and then made him team captain following an injury to

Danny Hollands Daniel Timothy Hollands (born 6 November 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays for Gosport Borough. Career Chelsea Born in Ashford, England, Hollands played for Hampton & Richmond at a young age before being offered a trial a ...

in February 2017. On 9 May 2017, Crewe announced that Ray had been offered a new contract by the club, and in June 2017 he signed a two-year deal running to June 2019. Ray suffered a back injury at the end of the 2016–17 season that required prolonged treatment and kept him out of first-team action until early 2018. He made his first appearance of the season at Lincoln City on 24 February 2018. On 5 May 2018, Ray appeared in a Crewe starting 11 who were all Crewe Academy graduates, one of two players (with

Ben Garratt Benjamin Jack Garratt (born 25 April 1994) is an English professional football goalkeeper who plays for Nantwich Town . He began his career at Crewe Alexandra, making his senior debut in April 2013, shortly after finishing a loan spell at ...

) to feature both times this has been achieved. At the end of the 2018–19 season, he declined a new deal and was set to leave the club.

Tranmere Rovers

On 24 June 2019, Ray signed a two-year deal with League One side

, becoming

Micky Mellon Michael Joseph Mellon (born 18 March 1972) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who is the manager of club Oldham Athletic. As a player, he was a midfielder for clubs including Bristol City, West Bromwich Albion, Blackp ...

's first signing of the season. He made his debut in an opening day loss to

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

. He scored his first goal for the club in an

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

tie against Aston Villa U21 on 8 October 2019.

Exeter City

On 28 June 2021, Ray joined League Two side

on a free transfer following his release from Tranmere Rovers. He made his debut on the opening day of the season, helping his new side keep a clean sheet in a goalless draw with

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 27 November 2021, in a 1–1 draw with

Leyton Orient (loan)

On 31 January 2022, Ray joined League Two

on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season.

Barrow

On 27 June 2022, Ray joined League Two club Barrow on a two-year deal having had his Exeter contract terminated by mutual consent. On 1 May 2024, the club said Ray had been released.

Morecambe

Ray was one of 15 free agents that signed for League Two club

on 12 July 2024, after the club's embargo on registering new players was lifted. Ray announced his retirement at the end of the 2024–25 season.

International career

Ray was called up to the Wales under-21 side in March 2013, at the age of 19.

Personal life

Following his retirement, Ray moved to

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

to start a career in real estate.

Career statistics

Honours

Crewe Alexandra *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Tranmere Rovers *

runner-up:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, George 1993 births Living people Footballers from Warrington English people of Welsh descent English men's footballers Welsh men's footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football defenders Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Leek Town F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Northern Premier League players English Football League players Morecambe F.C. players 21st-century English sportsmen