Blackie Gray
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Gray | ||
| Date of birth | Missing required parameter 1=month! 1938 | ||
| Place of birth | Melchester, England | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1954-1955 | ? | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1955-1993 | Melchester Rovers | ||
| National team | |||
| ?-1985 | England | 54 | (?) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1983 | Melchester Rovers | ||
| 1993-1994 | Melchester Rovers | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
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Blackie Gray was a fictional footballer who appeared in the comic strips in the British boys' comic Roy of the Rovers during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 80s and 90s. He was a midfielder, playing for Melchester Rovers, and England and Roy Race's closest friend. He first appeared in the strip in 1954.
The character is a fondly remembered childhood memory for several generations of British men.[1]
Career[edit]
Club[edit]
Blackie Gray was a one club man. He as born in 1938 as William Gray, nicknamed Blackie. Racey made his debut in September 1954 in a youth club fixture alongside his lifelong friend Blackie Gray before being spotted by a scout. It would be eight months before they both ascended the ranks of his hometown club and finally appear in the sainted red and yellow stripes of Melchester Rovers.
"Blackie" signed on for the Rovers a year before his great pal Roy Race having had a taste of league football, with Second Division Burnchester City.
He joined Melchester Rovers at the same time as Roy way back in 1954 and made his debut alongside Roy against Elbury Wanderers in August 1955. Although Blackie didn't establish himself as quickly as Roy, the two became a force to be reckoned with on the pitch and great pals off it.[2] Roy and Blackie were invited to join the first team on their summer tour to Costazuro in South America, prior to their debut in August 1955 against Elbury Wanderers. Besides Roy and Blackie, Porky Jones (full back) and Bill Biggs (half back) joined the first team for the tour, from the reserves.
No sooner had Race and Gray made their debuts Rovers signed Arty Hedlow from Elbury Wanderers and Hedlow took Gray's place. Hedlow kept Gray out of the team until a mystery knee injury struck him in late 1955/ early '56, when he left Rovers to manage Dunbar City in the Southern League: from then on Gray and Race occupied numbers 8 & 9 for the next thirty odd years.
In January 1991 Blackie was seriously injured after the Rovers bus was hit by another car in snowy conditions and he did not return to first team action until February 1992. Gray would form a perfect partnership with Race that would last until the late 80s when he became a bit part player.
William Gray in the 1986-87 season with Rovers.
International[edit]
Like Roy Race, Blackie is a former England International. Blackie has 54 England caps, his final cap being won against Scotland in 1985.
- National Teams:
England - England : ? full international appearances.
Style of play[edit]
Roy's best friend Blackie Gray looked and played a bit like George Best and even eloped with an attractive French actress before a European Cup final.[3]
Blackie started off as an inside forward but dropped deeper into midfield in later years. Blackie did not feature much following this comeback. One of the people who on occasions kept him out of the side was his son Mark "Cracker" Gray.
Managerial career[edit]
Gray was manager on two occasions, firstly as player-manager in 83-84, and again from 93-94. He became player-manager of the Rovers in July 1983 after Roy moved to Walford Rovers. However he stood down in November of that year when Roy returned to take up the reins. The Melchester board appointed Blackie as Manager following Roy's helicopter accident in 1993. Roy recovered and this time went off to manage Italian side AC Monza. Blackie struggled on as Manager and seemed to have engineered Premiership survival for the Rovers in 1994.
However, a Rovers Director was accused and later found guilty of attempting to bribe the opposition to throw that vital match. The FA enquiry into the game so shamed the club that the entire Board resigned and Blackie left the club a broken disillusioned man. By the end of Roy of the Rovers final season as a comic, Roy had had his foot amputated. Blackie Gray had resigned after receiving death threats from fans.
Blackie then reappeared in the Summer of 1998 when he was in Ireland. Blackie spots a brilliant youngster (Duncan McKaffree) and recommends him to Roy. Blackie is still down on his luck and has taken a likening for the strong stuff but remains loyal to Roy.
Legacy[edit]
Roy and Rocky in the 2000 Roy of the Rovers Annual named Blackie, as part of their all-time greatest Rovers line up. On 19 July 2016, Larry Ryan picked his fictional football XI with Gray (jersey number 8) as midfielder, being the only player who was not a titular character.[4] His 54 caps (as of the 1986/87 season) were more than Roy Race had in his career with England.
Personal life[edit]
William "Blackie" Gray was Roy's oldest friend and played on the team with him from the start. Also, surprisingly for a character created in the 50s, his name is not a racial slur.[5] Blackie had a son named, Mark "Cracker" Gray who played for Rovers as well.
In 1986 Gray was already married and lived in a 4-bedroom detached victorian house in the country while playing for Rovers, driving a Ford sierra estate. His other favourite club was Manchester United. Best pal Roy's move to Walford in 1983 was his biggest dissappointment. His most memorable match was Burnside Athletic's final match in 85/86, which clinched promotion. According to Gray:
- Football childhood hero: Bobby Charlton
- Favourite current player (86/87): Gordon Strachan (Manchester Utd)
- Biggest infulence on career: His dad who coached him and wrote a letter to Rovers for a trial
Honours[edit]
All of these records are fictional of course, and only date as far as 2000, the last fully completed season of the comic strip.
League[edit]
- Premier League (including (Old) First Division): 10 titles'
- 1957–58, 1959–60, 1962–63, 1967–68, 1971–72, 1976–77, 1979–80, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1999–00.
- (Old) Second Division): 1
- 1981–82
Cups[edit]
- FA Cup: 10
- 1959, 1961, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1984, 1990, 1995, 1999
- League Cup: 2
- 1986, 1987
- FA Charity/Community Shield: 2'
- 1974, 1977 (shared)
European[edit]
- European Cup: 4
- 1964, 1969, 1973, 1970
- Runner-Up (2): 1978, 1975[9]
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 4
- 1967, 1971, 1975, 1985
- UEFA Cup: 2
- 1979, 1985
International[edit]
- Intercontinental Cup/World Club Championship: 2
- 1964, 1969
- Summer International Tournaments: 9
- Australia 1966, Mexico 1969 (shared), Saladoria 1970, Australia 1978, Crete 1980, Scotland 1981, Vienna 1986, Crete 1989, Japan 1990
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Honeyball, Lee (2003-11-30). "The 10 best comic book footballers". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2007-01-19.
- ↑ Blackie Gray Who is Who on ROTR old site
- ↑ - He shoots ... he scores! (2004) theguardian.com
- ↑ Is the fictional footballer on the rise again? - irishexaminer.com
- ↑ - England's World Cup Glory!
