Ray Spencer
{{short description|English footballer (1933–2016)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Ray Spencer
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1933|3|25|df=y}}
| birth_place = Kings Norton, England
| death_date = {{death year and age|2016|1933}}
| death_place =
| height =
| position = Wing half
| youthyears1 = 19??–1950
| youthclubs1 = Aston Villa
| years1 = 1950–1958 | clubs1 = Aston Villa | caps1 = 0 | goals1 = 0
| years2 = 1958–1961 | clubs2 = Darlington | caps2 = 97 | goals2 = 5
| years3 = 1961–1964 | clubs3 = Torquay United | caps3 = 59 | goals3 = 1
| years4 = 1964–1965 | clubs4 = Bath City
| years5 = 1965–196? | clubs5 = Bridgwater Town
}}
Raymond Spencer (25 March 1933 – 2016) was an English professional footballer who made 156 appearances in the Football League playing as a wing half or centre half for Darlington and Torquay United. He began his career with Aston Villa without playing for their first team, and went on to play non-league football for Bath City and Bridgwater Town. He represented England at schoolboy level.
Life and career
Raymond Spencer was born in Kings Norton, Birmingham, on 25 March 1933.{{cite web |url=http://www.astonvillaplayerdatabase.com/1761.html |title=Spencer, Raymond (Ray) |website=Aston Villa Player Database |publisher=Jörn Mårtensson |access-date=16 October 2021}} He played at inside left for England schoolboys against their Welsh counterparts at Highfield Road, Coventry, in 1948; a match preview described him as "a born footballer who uses his head and both feet."{{cite news |title=Boys' international at Highfield Road |newspaper=Coventry Evening Telegraph |date=8 April 1948 |page=6}}{{cite news |title=Schoolboy International. England beat Wales |newspaper=Sports Argus |location=Birmingham |date=10 April 1948 |page=1}} His younger brother Malcolm, also a schoolboy international, was on the books of Wolverhampton Wanderers but never went on to League football.{{cite news |title=Villa new boy will always remember Cup day |newspaper=Sports Argus |location=Birmingham |date=9 May 1953 |page=4}}
Spencer joined Aston Villa as a junior, and turned professional in June 1950. After four years with no first-team appearances, Villa listed him on a free transfer, but changed their minds and re-engaged him.{{cite news |title=Happy ending to Johnny Dixon's German misadventure |first=Charles |last=Matheson |newspaper=Sports Argus |location=Birmingham |date=22 May 1954 |page=4}} Despite remaining a Villa player for a further four years, which included a spell of National Service in the Royal Air Force,{{cite news |title=Second Scot to follow Clem? |newspaper=Sports Argus |location=Birmingham |date=18 August 1956 |page=4}} he never made the first team.
He signed for Darlington, and finally made his Football League debut just days short of his 25th birthday, on 19 March 1958 in a 2–1 defeat at home to Southport in the Third Division North. His first senior goal arrived three days later, again in a home defeat, this time against Chester.{{sfnp|Tweddle|2000|p=54}} His progress was interrupted when he broke a leg during a match in October 1958 and was out for five months, but once restored to fitness, he was a regular in the side playing mainly at left half or centre half for the next two years.{{cite news |title=Uproar at three League games |first=Albert |last=Sewell |newspaper=Sunday Dispatch |location=London |date=19 October 1958 |page=12}}{{sfnp|Tweddle|2000|pp=55–57}} His Darlington career is best remembered for his opening goal in the shock defeat of First Division team West Ham United in the inaugural season of the League Cup.{{cite web |url=http://www.dafts.co.uk/steve/Feethams4.html |title=Looking back at the past |website=Farewell to Feethams |publisher=Darlington Supporters' Trust |access-date=16 October 2021}}{{cite web |url=http://darlingtonfootballclub.co.uk/tribute-to-ray-spencer/ |title=Tribute to Ray Spencer |publisher=Darlington F.C. |date=9 July 2016 |access-date=23 September 2021}} The Daily Mirror reported how, "after only twenty seconds, {{bracket|Lance Robson}} swung the ball over to inside right Bobby Baxter, who teed it up for left half Ray Spencer to slam in a glorious goal from {{convert|30|yards|spell=in}}."{{cite news |title=Cup rout for Hammers |newspaper=Daily Mirror |location=London |date=25 October 1960 |page=29}} Spencer made 106 appearances for Darlington and scored seven goals.{{sfnp|Tweddle|2000|p=108}}
In June 1961, Spencer joined Torquay United. Although Darlington manager Eddie Carr thought he was worth more than the small fee received, the player wanted to relocate to his wife's home town and the club were "doing a good turn to a good club man."{{cite news |title=Torquay sign Spencer |newspaper=Evening Express |location=Aberdeen |date=10 June 1961 |page=6}} He made 59 league appearances for Torquay, scoring once, in three years at the club.{{cite web |url=http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player11/rayspencer.htm |title=Ray Spencer |website=UK A–Z Transfers |publisher=Neil Brown |access-date=15 October 2021}} He moved into non-league football, first with Bath City, for which he made 10 appearances in all competitions,{{cite web |url=http://www.bathcityfc.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/players_bath_city_310718.xlsx |title=All time list of Bath City FC players |publisher=Bath City F.C. |access-date=15 October 2021 |archive-date=11 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811144649/https://www.bathcityfc.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/players_bath_city_310718.xlsx |url-status=dead }} and then with Bridgwater Town.{{cite web |url=http://www.enfa.co.uk/playersearch.php |title=Player search: Spencer, R (Ray) |website=English National Football Archive |access-date=16 October 2021 |url-access=subscription}}
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book |last=Tweddle |first=Frank |title=The Definitive Darlington F.C. |publisher=Soccerdata |location=Nottingham |date=2000 |isbn=978-1-899468-15-7}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Ray}}
Category:Sportspeople from Kings Norton
Category:Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands
Category:English men's footballers
Category:England men's schools international footballers
Category:Men's association football wing halves
Category:Aston Villa F.C. players
Category:Darlington F.C. players
Category:Torquay United F.C. players
Category:Bath City F.C. players
Category:Bridgwater United F.C. players
Category:English Football League players