Ray Bloomfield

Raymond George Bloomfield (born 15 October 1944 in Kensington, London)[1] is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League as a Winger for Aston Villa,[2] in the National Professional Soccer League for the Atlanta Chiefs, and in the North American Soccer League for Atlanta and the Dallas Tornado.[3] He is the nephew of footballer and manager Jimmy Bloomfield.[4]

Ray Bloomfield
Personal information
Date of birth (1944-10-15) 15 October 1944
Place of birth London, England
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
Kensington Boys
1960–1964 Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1964–1966 Aston Villa 3 (0)
1967–1970 Atlanta Chiefs 67 (7)
1971–1973 Dallas Tornado 29 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

As a young player he represented England at schoolboy level, where he played alongside David Pleat, Barry Fry and Ron Harris,[5] and at youth level.[1]

Bloomfield signed for Arsenal as an apprentice in 1960 and appeared in the youth and reserve set up, but was never selected for a senior competitive match. In August 1964, Bloomfield signed with Aston Villa,[1][2] before following fellow team-mate Phil Woosnam to the United States in 1967. He joined Phil at the newly formed Atlanta Chiefs in the first professional league, the National Professional Soccer League which then became the North American Soccer League. He won two NASL championships, the first ever professional sports title for the city of Atlanta in 1968 and the second in 1971 with Dallas Tornado, where he ended his professional playing career.[3][6]

He later became a players' agent involved in bringing a number of Croatian internationals to the Premier League.[7] [8]

References
  1. "Bloomfield, Raymond George". Aston Villa Player Database. Jörn Mårtensson. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  2. "Aston Villa : 1946/47 – 2008/09". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  3. "North American Soccer League Players Ray Bloomfield". NASL Jerseys. Dave Morrison. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  4. "Pegasus Lose To F.A. Schools XI". The Times. 17 April 1961. p. 4. After the break, Bloomfield, the talented younger brother of the Birmingham City player, scored against the run of play... R.Bloomfield (Arsenal)
  5. "Schoolboys' Team Unchanged". The Times. 22 April 1960. p. 21.
  6. "North American Soccer League (NASL) 1967-1984". American Soccer History Archives. Dave Litterer. 8 February 2005. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  7. Beasley, Rob (1 February 1998). "I brought Bilic to West Ham - but I never got paid!" (reprint). News of the World. NewsBank. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  8. "Suker spurned MLS for Arsenal". Sports Illustrated. CNN/SI. Associated Press. 3 August 1999. Retrieved 4 February 2010.


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