Billy Gray (footballer)

Billy Gray

Personal information
Full name	William Patrick Gray
Date of birth	24 May 1927
Place of birth	Ashington, England
Date of death	11 April 2011 (aged 83)
Place of death	Nottingham, England
Playing position	Winger
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1947–1948	Leyton Orient	19	(1)
1948–1953	Chelsea	146	(12)
1953–1957	Burnley	120	(30)
1957–1963	Nottingham Forest	201	(29)
1963–1965	Millwall	20	(1)
Total		506	(73)
Teams managed
1963–1966	Millwall
1966–1967	Brentford
1967–1968	Notts County
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (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

On his transfer to Nottingham Forest 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.

Personal life

Gray's nephew was John Richardson, whom he managed at Millwall and Brentford.^[1] 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 manager

Brentford

• London Challenge Cup (1): 1966/67

External links

• 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

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