| Super Ray – RIP 14:18 - Apr 4 with 24956 views | kingo |
Very sad news |  |
| RIP: Sniffer, Doug and Pat |
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| Super Ray – RIP on 21:10 - Apr 4 with 3779 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Super Ray – RIP on 15:43 - Apr 4 by Antti_Heinola |
The whole Crab thing was utter garbage muttered by fools and idiots who don't understand the game. Absolute tosh. |
Agreed. At Rangers his football was positive, probing and persistent. |  |
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| Super Ray – RIP on 21:15 - Apr 4 with 3767 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Super Ray – RIP on 18:10 - Apr 4 by distortR |
RIP Ray. What a player he was, I always felt we got to see him at his creative peak. And a genuinely good, well mannered bloke.
spoke to him twice - once on the pitch during a protest, where he was understandably pissed off with the game being disrupted (And me having the corner flag), he asked what was going on, i told him my position and he didn't feel the need to wrestle me to the ground or any of that shit.
Second time, out in sweden (And Brian Mc will remember this), end of a pre-season tour where there had been a lack of unity between fans and players, Don Howe asked if one of the players would go out and chat to us, and it was Ray who volunteered and happily came out for a word.
Cheers, Ray |
Yes, one of the lads was chatting about that earlier. | |
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| Super Ray – RIP on 21:15 - Apr 4 with 3760 views | Haveringhoop |
R.I.P Super Ray Wilkins you will never be forgotten
Thank you for all the many many memories |  | | |
| Super Ray – RIP on 21:17 - Apr 4 with 3749 views | BrianMcCarthy |
Nigel Quashie: I will always be proud to say how lucky I am to have been coached, managed and even meet you. If it wasn’t for you I would never have started my career playing football and will never forget going to Manchester United as a YTS trainee to do all the kit and boots in the changing room for the first team squad. 1hr 30 mins before kick off you name the team and I was in it and that’s how my debut went, I didn’t even get to think about it because all you said was your number 18, here are your boots and shin pads , just go and play, have fun and treat it like your over the park with your mates . My mum never had a mobile phone back then because we couldn’t afford anything like that and everything went through her work or home phone. I asked you after the game if I could call home to speak to her, you said use my mobile and call this number, it was my mum on the other end of the line and she said she was outside by the away team bus, I went outside to see her and asked how did you get here because I knew she couldn’t afford it, she told me Ray had got the club to pay for her train ticket to come to the game and then told me Ray got the club to give us our first mobile phone in life during the week and he wanted to surprise me knowing I was making my debut. I was given a chance by Ray Wilkins one of the legends of the game and to this day you are the first person I mention when it comes to football and that will never change. You will be missed so much not just in the football world but as a real human being with such class. Thanks for everything and my thoughts go to all the family. Sleep well Sir Ray Wilkins 🔵⚪ï¸ðŸ’™#raywilkins #legend #football #pureclass #qpr | |
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| Super Ray – RIP on 21:29 - Apr 4 with 3717 views | BrixtonR |
Gutted to hear this, I was really hoping he would pull through. What a player he was for us.
As many have said his debut at Palace in 89 (I only made it for the second half) was immense and he kept that up over the next 5 years.
RIP Super Ray |  | | |
| Super Ray – RIP on 22:01 - Apr 4 with 3660 views | YorkRanger |
Says a lot about him that someone with such a Chelsea heritage can be held in such high regard at Rangers. His vision always seemed to put him one step ahead of everyone else on the pitch and I really think he played some of the best football of his career during his time at Loftus Rd. The football world is a poorer one tonight, a truly sad day. |  | | |
| Super Ray – RIP on 22:07 - Apr 4 with 3644 views | hopphoops |
Wonderful story that. |  |
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| Super Ray – RIP on 22:09 - Apr 4 with 3638 views | daveB |
just feel absolutely gutted by this, was hoping he'd pull through, reading through the tributes from all clubs and various fans is very emotional.
Loved this from Gazza, i remember the game he is talking about well, Wilkins played him off the park
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| Super Ray – RIP on 22:13 - Apr 4 with 3625 views | ted_hendrix |
Before Wednesday evening's Milan derby, former AC Milan team-mate Franco Baresi led a minute's applause in honour of Wilkins, and laid a bouquet of flowers and a 'Wilkins 8' Milan shirt in front of the famous Curva Sud stand. |  |
| My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic. |
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| Super Ray – RIP on 22:15 - Apr 4 with 3606 views | ozexile |
Living here in Oz after growing up in London I get asked a lot about English football. I'm often asked about various games and if I saw Liverpool in the 80's.
When I'm asked about the best player I ever saw Live it's a simple answer, Wilkins.
But what about Barnes, Lineker, Robson, Gascoigne, Brady?
No, Wilkins. | | | |
| Super Ray – RIP on 01:14 - Apr 5 with 3498 views | killinaskully09 |
So sad to hear Ray has passed away. Possibly played the best football of his career at Loftus Road. |  | | |
| Super Ray – RIP on 05:37 - Apr 5 with 3421 views | eastside_r |
| Super Ray – RIP on 22:13 - Apr 4 by ted_hendrix |
Before Wednesday evening's Milan derby, former AC Milan team-mate Franco Baresi led a minute's applause in honour of Wilkins, and laid a bouquet of flowers and a 'Wilkins 8' Milan shirt in front of the famous Curva Sud stand. |
That is some tribute. Baresi was one of the best. |  | | |
| Super Ray – RIP on 06:27 - Apr 5 with 3392 views | YorkRanger |
| Super Ray – RIP on 05:37 - Apr 5 by eastside_r |
That is some tribute. Baresi was one of the best. |
I remember an interview with Wilkins when he said Baresi was the best player he ever played with. | | | |
| Super Ray – RIP on 07:42 - Apr 5 with 3354 views | PlanetHonneywood |
If it's not already been said, then the game up at Newcastle in October 1993 was a masterclass by Ray. You could not have wished to have seen a more complete bossing of a game by a QPR midfielder; he was immense that day.
The football he played for us was at times, can simply be described as brilliant. It wasn't just the fact that he was a joy to watch, but that he made others play better as a result of his presence in that team. It was a great shame that team never won something with Wilkins in it.
RIP, gone way too soon! |  |
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| Super Ray – RIP on 08:05 - Apr 5 with 3324 views | Esox_Lucius |
Another memory came to mind whilst reading through all the wonderful, heartfelt tributes on here, about a game of which I have no other recollection than David Bardsley pinging his trademark long balls along the right hand touchline on a day when his radar must have been very slightly off as most of them were going out for throw ins. Immediately after yet another ball over the line Ray came running back to Bardsley and within full earshot of the Loft let him have it with both barrels; something along the lines of "80 effing yards, 80 effing yards every time with you, give it one our players who is stood effing by you" Dave stood there for a few seconds, in a bit of shock I imagine, and then nodded sheepishly and carried on. Soon after that Bardsley did another of party pieces, a well executed cushioned back header to the keeper whilst under a lot of pressure and as soon as the moment had passed, Ray came running over to him saying something along the lines of "that was effing brilliant". He was the best on field manager we have ever had and so many of our players at the time improved many fold, especially Les & Bradley Allen who were always in conversation with him during matches whilst he ( I am guessing) was passing on tactical information about how he was going to set them up for his passes. Forgetting all the footballing mavericks we have had and exulted over the years I have been watching, we have had some of the finest passers of the ball too and Ray is right up there with Don Masson, Tony Currie, Ale Faurlin and Adel Taarabt. A good old Hayes boy too. |  |
| The grass is always greener. |
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| Super Ray – RIP on 08:05 - Apr 5 with 3320 views | ElHoop |
| Super Ray – RIP on 06:27 - Apr 5 by YorkRanger |
I remember an interview with Wilkins when he said Baresi was the best player he ever played with. |
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| Super Ray – RIP on 08:07 - Apr 5 with 3318 views | Kiwi76 |
Really sad news & very fond of that 90’s side as was lay time living in London.
He had others to do his running but was the one who made team tick.
Remember him geeing Les along as he was starting to become a real force & great stories from others about the effect he had.
Class act. |  | | |
| Super Ray – RIP on 10:33 - Apr 5 with 3262 views | robith |
| Super Ray – RIP on 08:05 - Apr 5 by Esox_Lucius |
Another memory came to mind whilst reading through all the wonderful, heartfelt tributes on here, about a game of which I have no other recollection than David Bardsley pinging his trademark long balls along the right hand touchline on a day when his radar must have been very slightly off as most of them were going out for throw ins. Immediately after yet another ball over the line Ray came running back to Bardsley and within full earshot of the Loft let him have it with both barrels; something along the lines of "80 effing yards, 80 effing yards every time with you, give it one our players who is stood effing by you" Dave stood there for a few seconds, in a bit of shock I imagine, and then nodded sheepishly and carried on. Soon after that Bardsley did another of party pieces, a well executed cushioned back header to the keeper whilst under a lot of pressure and as soon as the moment had passed, Ray came running over to him saying something along the lines of "that was effing brilliant". He was the best on field manager we have ever had and so many of our players at the time improved many fold, especially Les & Bradley Allen who were always in conversation with him during matches whilst he ( I am guessing) was passing on tactical information about how he was going to set them up for his passes. Forgetting all the footballing mavericks we have had and exulted over the years I have been watching, we have had some of the finest passers of the ball too and Ray is right up there with Don Masson, Tony Currie, Ale Faurlin and Adel Taarabt. A good old Hayes boy too. |
My fave memory as I was too young to really appreciate him was off a similar field management take.
When I was little dad and I would go to a game a season as we couldn't afford season tickets back then, usually the first home game. Ray was player manager and early on he absolutely crunched someone, quite late too. The ref walked over reaching for his pocket and Ray shout "Oh come on ref, I'm 40 years old!".
Everyone started laughing, including the ref.
Card stayed in pocket |  | | |
| Super Ray – RIP on 11:13 - Apr 5 with 3222 views | NewYorkRanger |
Posted this on the comments section in the Guardian earlier.
As a QPR fan, slightly too young to properly remember the great team of 75/76, Ray was probably the best player I ever saw in the hoops with any regularity. When he came to QPR, many thought he was in the twilight of his career but he was phenomenal. He was usually the best player on the pitch by some distance and you could just see the positive influence he had on his team mates - probably not going too far to say that he was instrumental in the development of Les Ferdinand among others. He was an absolute joy to watch - a real master of his craft and all this crab nonsense is exactly that - nonsense spouted by people who obviously never watched him play. I used to love going down the R's when he was in the team. Was lucky enough to take my Dad to the game v Liverpool when, although we lost, Ray scored an absolute scorcher with his left foot from way outside the box - Bruce Grobelaar didn't even move until the ball was in the back of the net.
All the comments below the line here point to what a great man he was - a thoroughly decent chap, warmly appreciated by football fans of all persuasions, Ray will be sorely missed.
RIP Ray - thanks for all the great memories. |  |
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| Super Ray – RIP on 11:27 - Apr 5 with 3210 views | Fearless |
Just to add a small personal story
After 1 game at Loftus Road a few of us had been in the players bar and were leaving a bit later.
Walking down the SA Road we spotted Super Ray chatting away in private to what we took to be a journalist, down an alley. Someone shouted out “nice game today Ray” after which Ray turned and waved at us, as we walked on.
He then stopped his conversation and walked over to us for a 5 minute chat, before rejoining his colleague.
We were all impressed with what he had to say, but it’s the point about him taking the time to stop what he was doing and go out of his way for a chat that mattered.
I’ve also got a photo with him and my then 2 year old daughter at a Fans event - he was quality that day too.
RIP Ray |  | | |
| Super Ray – RIP on 17:12 - Apr 5 with 3104 views | eastside_r |
Aye that was the one. I think Ray was right-footed but I have never seen anybody hit a shot like that, with his wrong foot WTF. | | | |
| Super Ray – RIP on 17:15 - Apr 5 with 3098 views | eastside_r |
Obviously replying to New York, just me being crap. | | | |
| Super Ray – RIP on 15:51 - Apr 7 with 2884 views | themodfather |
very sad....and losng bristow too in days.....!! wilkins was pure class, he held the ball so well and used it to perfection. what a team we had then, what a man he was.
i didn't realise qpr was a large part of hs career, you assume chelsea and man utf were but he was with us just as long. RIP super ray. | | | |
| Super Ray – RIP on 12:40 - Apr 8 with 2734 views | Noelmc |
Good to see on this morning's Sky's Sunday Supplement that the discussion on Ray mainly focused on his QPR years.
Rob Draper spoke glowingly of his time at QPR and Sam Wallace said that the favourite Wilkins memory he had heard this week was Nigel Quashie's story of his QPR debut and Ray providing his mum with a train ticket and mobile phone so that she could be part of it. |  | | |
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