Ray Graydon

Raymond Jack Graydon (born 21 July 1947) is an English former footballer and manager.

In a 16-year professional career in the English Football League and North American Soccer League he scored 139 goals in 484 league and cup appearances.

A winger, he began his career at hometown club Bristol Rovers in 1965, and scored 38 goals from 155 league and cup competitions in a six-season stay.

Graydon was born in Bristol and began his career with his hometown team, Bristol Rovers, making eight Third Division appearances under Bert Tann in the 1965–66 season.

He featured three times in the 1966–67 season, before scoring one goal in 13 appearances in the 1967–68 campaign.

Fred Ford took charge at the Memorial Stadium for the 1968–69 season, and Graydon scored nine goals from 36 appearances as the "Pirates" posted a 16th-place finish.

Under new manager Bill Dodgin Sr.., the "Gas" finished third in the 1969–70 campaign, with Graydon contributing 14 goals from 43 matches.

Rovers slipped to sixth-place in 1970–71, with Graydon again scoring 14 goals from 52 appearances.

He was sold on to Aston Villa for £50,000 in July 1971, and went on to help Villa to win promotion out of the Third Division as champions in 1971–72 and then out of the Second Division in 1974–75.

In July 1971, Graydon secured a £50,000 move to Aston Villa, with captain Brian Godfrey also moving in the opposite direction.

He missed just one of Villa's 46 league games in the 1971–72 season, scoring 14 goals as the club secured the Third Division title with a five-point margin over Brighton & Hove Albion.

Derby County and Leeds United declined the chance to play in the 1972 FA Charity Shield, so Villa accepted the invitation to play Manchester City at Villa Park, losing the match 1–0 following a penalty from Francis Lee.

Gradyon went on to score ten goals from 37 appearances during the 1972–73 campaign, helping Vic Crowe's side to a third-place finish in the Second Division.

He then scored eight goals from 26 matches in the 1973–74 season, as Villa dropped to 14th-place.

He was also nominated for the Second Division PFA Team of the Year in 1974–75, and featured on the losing side in the 1972 FA Charity Shield.

After Ron Saunders succeeded Crowe as manager in June 1974, Graydon managed to score 11 goals in the first 12 league matches of the 1974–75 season.

He scored the only goal of the 1975 League Cup final, and won the League Cup for a second time in 1977.

The "Villans" then overcame Everton, Crewe Alexandra, Hartlepool United, Colchester United and Chester to reach the 1975 League Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

They faced Norwich City in the final, and Graydon scored the only goal of the game on 79 minutes, converting a penalty won by Chris Nicholl; his penalty was actually saved by Kevin Keelan, but Graydon managed to score from the rebound.

He finished the season as the club's top-scorer, claiming 27 goals from 50 appearances, as Villa secured promotion as the division's runners-up.

He was named on the Second Division PFA Team of the Year, alongside teammate John Gidman.

Graydon again finished as the club's top-scorer in 1975–76, scoring 14 goals from 44 appearances as Villa posted a 16th-place finish in the First Division.

He then scored seven goals from 23 matches in the 1976–77 campaign, helping the club to a fourth-place finish, and he also picked up a second League Cup winner's medal.

Villa beat Manchester City, Norwich City, Wrexham, Millwall and Queens Park Rangers, before facing Everton in the final.

Graydon was unable to play in the Wembley final or the replay at Hillsborough Stadium due to injury, but was able to make the starting eleven for the second replay at Old Trafford.

Again the teams took the game into extra time, before Brian Little scored the winning goal for a 3–2 victory.

At the end of the season Saunders accepted an offer for Graydon from Leicester City, though the move fell through after the player met Leicester manager Frank McLintock.

"'I was given permission to get to the middle or to the near post and that is where a lot of my goals came from – from being in the box. It sounds so simple. But it took a lot work and everyone in the team had to know their jobs and the runs each of us were going to make. Now I can look back on some wonderful memories. I joined Villa in the Third Division and we went up three, two one. I then won two League Cup finals. It was fairytale stuff and I loved every minute.'"

He was sold on to Coventry City for a fee of £35,000 in 1977, and then moved to the United States to play for the Washington Diplomats in 1978, where he picked up a runners-up medal for the 1978 President's Cup Football Tournament.

Graydon joined Coventry City for the 1977–78 season for a fee of £35,000.

Although in and out of the side he still made a significant contribution to what would be one of the most exciting campaigns in the club's 34-year top-flight history.

Manager Gordon Milne played the whole season with a 4–2–4 formation with Graydon and Tommy Hutchison playing as out-and-out wingers.

The side also boasted Mick Ferguson, Ian Wallace, Terry Yorath, Graham Oakey, Bobby McDonald and Jim Blyth.

The "Sky Blues" finished sixth in the First Division and Graydon left Highfield Road at the end of the season and thereafter had a spell in the North American Soccer League with the Washington Diplomats.

Later in the year he returned to England to play for Oxford United, and retired in 1981.

He coached at Southampton, Oxford United, Watford, Queens Park Rangers and Port Vale, before he was appointed manager of Walsall in May 1998.

He led the club to promotion out of the Second Division in 1998–99, before repeating the feat via the play-offs in 2001.

He lost his job in January 2002, and was appointed Bristol Rovers manager two months later.

He was sacked in January 2004, and later briefly served Leicester City as a first team coach.

In July 2009, Walsall fans voted to honour him with a star on the Birmingham Walk of Stars.