George Ray (footballer)

George Edward Ray (born 13 October 1993) is an English-born Welsh professional footballer currently on the books of League One side Tranmere Rovers, as a centre-half. He started his professional career at Crewe Alexandra and made his first team debut in the 2013 Football League Trophy Final, becoming the first player to make his professional debut in a Wembley cup final.

For the earlier footballer, see George Ray (1920s footballer).

George Ray
George Ray applauds Crewe fans at Crawley Town, 28 April 2018.
Personal information
Full name George Edward Ray[1]
Date of birth (1993-10-13) 13 October 1993[2]
Place of birth Warrington, England
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Tranmere Rovers
Number 5
Youth career
2004–2011 Crewe Alexandra
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2019 Crewe Alexandra 137 (5)
2012 → Leek Town (loan) 12 (3)
2019- Tranmere Rovers 13 (0)
National team‡
2013–2014 Wales U21 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:49, 5 January 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:21, 5 September 2014 (UTC)[3]

Club career

Crewe Alexandra

Ray came through the Crewe Alexandra F.C. Academy to sign professional forms in 2011.[4] He was loaned out to Northern Premier League side Leek Town in the 2011–12 season.[4] He made his senior debut for the "Railwaymen" at Wembley Stadium on 7 April 2013, in the Football League Trophy final victory over Southend United[5] – the first player to make his professional debut in a Wembley cup final.[6] On 11 February 2014, Ray signed a new two-and-a-half-year deal at Crewe Alexandra.[6]

In March 2017, Ray revealed that he had considered leaving Crewe, declaring "the first six months (of the current season) were the worst times of my career," but was now playing for a new contract under Crewe's new manager. David Artell had replaced Steve Davis in January 2017 and he recalled Ray to the first team and then made him team captain following an injury to Danny Hollands in February 2017.[7] On 9 May 2017, Crewe announced that Ray had been offered a new contract by the club,[8] and in June 2017 he signed a two-year deal running to June 2019.[9]

Ray suffered a back injury at the end of the 2016-2017 season that required prolonged treatment[10] and kept him out of first-team action until early 2018. He made his first appearance of the season at Lincoln City on 24 February 2018.[11] On 5 May 2018, Ray appeared in a Crewe starting 11 who were all Crewe Academy graduates, one of two players (with Ben Garratt) to feature both times this has been achieved.[12] At the end of the 2018-19 season, he declined a new deal and was set to leave the club.[13]

Tranmere Rovers

On 24 June 2019, Ray signed a two-year deal with League One side Tranmere Rovers, becoming Micky Mellon's first signing of the season.[14] He made his debut in an opening day loss to Rochdale.[15] He scored his first goal for the club in an EFL Trophy tie against Aston Villa U21 on 8 October 2019.[16]

International career

Ray was called up to the Wales under-21 side in March 2013, at the age of 19.[17]

Career statistics
As of match played 4 January 2020.
Club statistics
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Leek Town (loan) 2011–12[18] NPL Division One North 12100—1[lower-alpha 1]1132
Crewe Alexandra 2012–13[19] League One 4000001[lower-alpha 2]050
2013–14[20] League One 90001000100
2014–15[21] League One 352002000372
2015–16[22] League One 220101010250
2016–17[23] League Two 231002020271
2017–18[24] League Two 120000000120
2018–19[25] League Two 322100030362
Crewe total 13752060701525
Tranmere Rovers2019–20[26] League One 130101031181
Career total 162630701121838
  1. Appearance in Staffordshire Senior Cup
  2. Appearance in Football League Trophy

Honours
with Crewe Alexandra
  • Football League Trophy winner: 2013

References
  1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/07/2011 and 31/07/2011". Football Association. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  2. "George Ray". 11v11. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  3. "UEFA Under 21 Matches / Gemau Ryngwladol UEFA Dan 21 v. Lithuania & San Marino" (PDF). FAW. 4 October 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  4. "Profile". crewealex.net. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  5. "Crewe 2 – 0 Southend". BBC Sport. 7 April 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  6. "George Ray Signs New Deal". Crewe Alexandra FC. 11 February 2014.
  7. Morse, Peter (28 March 2017). "Crewe Alex: 'I wanted out – but now I'd love to stay' – George Ray". Crewe Chronicle. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  8. Crewe Alexandra Retained List 2017, CreweAlex.net. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  9. "George Ray Signs New Crewe Contract". CreweAlex.net. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  10. "George Ray: Crewe Alexandra defender steps up rehab after back fracture". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  11. "Lincoln City 1-4 Crewe Alexandra". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 February 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  12. "Crewe Alexandra 2-1 Cheltenham Town". BBC Sport. BBC. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  13. Morse, Peter (7 May 2019). "Crewe Alex: Ben Garratt released and George Ray to exit as retained list announced". Cheshire Live. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  14. "George Ray: Tranmere Rovers sign Crewe Alexandra captain on a two-year deal". 24 June 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  15. "Tranmere 2-3 Rochdale". www.tranmererovers.co.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  16. "Tranmere 2-1 Aston Villa U21". tranmererovers.co.uk. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  17. Smith, Peter (18 March 2013). "Crewe Alex starlet gets Wales Under-21s call-up". The Sentinel. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  18. "Games played by George Ray in 2011/2012 for Leek Town". Leek Town F.C. Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  19. "Games played by George Ray in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  20. "Games played by George Ray in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  21. "Games played by George Ray in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  22. "Games played by George Ray in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  23. "Games played by George Ray in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  24. "Games played by George Ray in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  25. "Games played by George Ray in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  26. "Games played by George Ray in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
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