George Gray (footballer, born 1925)

Gray was born in Sunderland,[1] the son of George Gray and his wife Vera Lister.[2][3][4] Gray senior played League football as a wing half for Swansea Town and Northampton Town in the 1920s,[2][5] and went on to become trainer of Sunderland.[6]

Gray began his senior career as an amateur with Derby County in 1945,[7] but left the club two years later, without having represented them in the league, and joined First Division club Grimsby Town.[1] He made his debut in October 1950, some three-and-a-half years later, by which time they were playing the Second Division,[2] and played twice more before moving on to Third Division South club Swindon Town at the end of the season.[1]

He played intermittently at the start of the 1951–52 season, but established himself in the first team ahead of Ted Batchelor and appeared in most of Swindon's matches from mid-December onwards. He helped the team reach the fifth round (last 16) of the 1951–52 FA Cup, a run which included wins against Second Division runners-up Cardiff City and First Division Stoke City.[6][8] He kept his place at the start of the next season, but Batchelor was preferred from October onwards, and Gray finished his Swindon career with 53 appearances in all competitions.[9][10]

Gray returned to the north-east of England to sign for Darlington in July 1953.[11] He made six league appearances in his only season with the club.[1]

He died in Kettering, Northamptonshire, in 1995 at the age of 69.[lower-alpha 1]