Billy Gray (footballer)

Billy Gray
Personal information
Full name	William Patrick Gray
Date of birth	24 May 1927
Place of birth	Ashington, Northumberland, England
Date of death	11 April 2011 (aged 83)
Place of death	Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
Position(s)	Winger
Senior career*
Years	Team
1947–1948	Leyton Orient
1948–1953	Chelsea
1953–1957	Burnley
1957–1963	Nottingham Forest
1963–1965	Millwall
Total
Managerial career
1963–1966	Millwall
1966–1967	Brentford
1967–1968	Notts County
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Patrick "Billy" Gray (24 May 1927 – 11 April 2011) was an English professional association footballer and manager who played initially as a winger.

Career

Gray was signed by Leyton Orient after being spotted playing for Dinnington Colliery.^[1]

On his transfer to Nottingham Forest for £4,500^[1] in 1957 he played in his accustomed position of outside right; in the summer of 1958 Forest signed Roy Dwight, also an outside right, from Fulham, and Gray moved to inside forward. In this position he played in every game of that season's FA Cup winning run, and scored 5 goals, including 3 penalties and one in the 4th round vs Grimsby Town directly from a corner.

In later years at Forest he moved to full back, finally leaving the club in 1963 to become player manager at Millwall.

On retirement from football management Gray ran a greengrocer and convenience store on Wollaton Road Nottingham,^[1] but continued his involvement in sport, acting as a groundsman for various clubs.^[1]

Personal life

Gray's nephew was John Richardson, whom he managed at Millwall and Brentford.^[2] His death in April 2011 at the age of 83 leaves Jeff Whitefoot as the only survivor from the 1959 Cup-winning team.

Honours

As a player

Nottingham Forest

FA Cup (1): 1958–59

As a manager

Brentford

London Challenge Cup (1): 1966–67

External links

Billy Gray management career statistics at Soccerbase
Billy Gray career stats at the Post-War Player Database
Billy Gray profile at clarets-mad.co.uk
FA Cup Final 1959 at www.nottinghamforest.co.uk

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Forest FA Cup winner recalls Wembley triumph". Evening Post. Nottingham. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
^ Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopaedia. Yore Publications. ISBN 1 874427 57 7.

This biographical article related to association football in England, about a midfielder born in the 1920s, is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[NEP2009-1] "Forest FA Cup winner recalls Wembley triumph". Evening Post. Nottingham. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2016.

[2] Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopaedia. Yore Publications. ISBN 1 874427 57 7.

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