Réginald Ray (born 31 October 1968) is a French

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player. Ray spent the majority of his 15-year career in the French lower divisions. In 1991, while playing in the

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

with Montceau, he was the league's top scorer. Ray was top scorer again in 1998, this time in

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

while playing for

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

Managerial career

In 2008, Ray became the under-21 manager for

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

. As well as managing the under-21s, Ray also helped coach the team's strikers. In 2010, after two years at Boulogne, he left the club in order to become assistant manager to Frédéric Hantz at

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

. On 1 November 2015, it was reported that former

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

manager Rémi Garde was on the verge of becoming the new manager of Aston Villa, and after unsuccessful attempts to bring his former coaching staff with him, would be appointing Ray as his assistant manager. On 1 April 2016, a club statement stated Ray had left Aston Villa. Ray returned to manage

in June 2017. In October 2017, Ray became new manager of

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

. He left after two seasons at the end of his contract. In March 2020, he was appointed manager of

. He was released from duties when the club were relegated at the end of the 2019–20 Ligue 2 season. On 25 June 2024, Ray was hired by

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

as an assistant to

Patrick Vieira Patrick Paul Vieira (; born 23 June 1976) is a French professional association football, football manager and former player who is the head coach of Serie A club Genoa CFC, Genoa. He was named in the FIFA 100 of the greatest living footballers i ...

. However, Vieira left Strasbourg less than a month later. Ray left as well.

Honours

Istres *Coupe de Provence: 1993 Guingamp *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Individual * Division 3 top scorer: 1990–91 * Division 2 top scorer: 1997–98

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Reginald 1968 births Living people French men's footballers FC Montceau Bourgogne players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Istres FC players Stade Briochin players FC Gueugnon players Le Mans FC players LB Châteauroux players AS Beauvais Oise players Nîmes Olympique players En Avant Guingamp players SC Bastia non-playing staff Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff Paris FC managers SC Bastia managers Valenciennes FC managers Le Mans FC managers Ligue 2 managers Men's association football forwards French football managers Footballers from Pas-de-Calais People from Cucq French football coaches French expatriate sportspeople in England 20th-century French sportsmen