Ray Bloomfield
{{short description|English footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Ray Bloomfield
| fullname =
| image =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1944|10|15}}
| birth_place = London, England
| height =
| position = Winger
| youthyears1 =
| youthyears2 = 1960–1964
| youthclubs1 = Kensington Boys
| youthclubs2 = Arsenal
| years1 = 1964–1966
| years2 = 1967–1970
| years3 = 1971–1973
| clubs1 = Aston Villa
| clubs2 = Atlanta Chiefs
| clubs3 = Dallas Tornado
| caps1 = 3
| caps2 = 67
| caps3 = 29
| goals1 = 0
| goals2 = 7
| goals3 = 1
| nationalyears1 =
| nationalteam1 =
| nationalcaps1 =
| nationalgoals1 =
| manageryears1 =
| managerclubs1 =
}}
Raymond George Bloomfield (born 15 October 1944 in Kensington, London){{Cite web|url=http://www.astonvillaplayerdatabase.com/132.html |title=Bloomfield, Raymond George |work=Aston Villa Player Database |publisher=Jörn Mårtensson |accessdate=4 February 2010}} is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League as a winger for Aston Villa,{{Cite web|url=http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/villa/villa.html |title=Aston Villa : 1946/47 – 2008/09 |work=UK A–Z Transfers |publisher=Neil Brown |accessdate=4 February 2010}} in the National Professional Soccer League for the Atlanta Chiefs, and in the North American Soccer League for Atlanta and the Dallas Tornado.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasljerseys.com/Players/B/Bloomfield.Ray.htm |title=North American Soccer League Players Ray Bloomfield |work=NASL Jerseys |publisher=Dave Morrison |accessdate=4 February 2010}} He is the nephew of footballer and manager Jimmy Bloomfield.{{Cite news|title=Pegasus Lose To F.A. Schools XI |newspaper=The Times |date=17 April 1961 |page=4 |quote=After the break, Bloomfield, the talented younger brother of the Birmingham City player, scored against the run of play... R.Bloomfield (Arsenal)}}
Career
As a young player he represented England at schoolboy level, where he played alongside David Pleat, Barry Fry and Ron Harris,{{Cite news|title=Schoolboys' Team Unchanged |newspaper=The Times |date=22 April 1960 |page=21}} and at youth level.
Bloomfield signed for Arsenal as an apprentice in 1960 and appeared in the youth and reserve set up, but was never selected for a senior competitive match. In August 1964, Bloomfield signed with Aston Villa, before following fellow team-mate Phil Woosnam to the United States in 1967. He joined Phil at the newly formed Atlanta Chiefs in the first professional league, the National Professional Soccer League which then became the North American Soccer League. He won two NASL championships, the first-ever professional sports title for the city of Atlanta in 1968 and the second in 1971 with Dallas Tornado, where he ended his professional playing career.{{Cite web|url=http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/nasl/nasl-standings.html |title=North American Soccer League (NASL) 1967-1984 |work=American Soccer History Archives |publisher=Dave Litterer |date=8 February 2005 |accessdate=4 February 2010}}
He later became a players' agent involved in bringing a number of Croatian internationals to the Premier League.{{Cite news|url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:LNWB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0F933C455D7EDBF3&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 |title=I brought Bilic to West Ham – but I never got paid! |first=Rob |last=Beasley |newspaper=News of the World |format=reprint |publisher=NewsBank |date=1 February 1998 |accessdate=4 February 2010}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{1970 NASL All-Stars}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloomfield, Ray}}
Category:Footballers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Category:People from Kensington
Category:English men's footballers
Category:Men's association football forwards
Category:Aston Villa F.C. players
Category:Atlanta Chiefs players
Category:Dallas Tornado players
Category:English Football League players
Category:National Professional Soccer League (1967) players
Category:North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
Category:British sports agents
Category:English expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Category:Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
Category:English expatriate men's footballers
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