Obituary - Ray Wilkins, Rangers footballer and England captain

Died: April 4, 2018

RAY “Butch” Wilkins, who has died aged 61 following a heart attack, was a very successful, if somewhat under-rated footballer and coach. He achieved fame and acclaim as a very young player, right at the start of what became a lengthy and honours-laden career.

Football was in his blood; born Raymond Colin Wilkins, his father George had been a professional player and Ray, along with his brothers Graham and Stephen were all on Chelsea's books at one time, while fourth brother Dean played for and managed Brighton & Hove Albion. He also had two sisters.

He made his Chelsea debut, aged 17, coming off the bench against Norwich City in 1973 and quickly established himself in midfield. The Blues were relegated in 1975 and aged just 18, he was appointed club captain by Eddie McCreadie, and led them back to the First Division. But, in the pre-Abramovich days, Chelsea were the great unpredictables of English football. They failed to survive in the top flight and decided to cash in on Wilkins, by now an England player, by selling him to Manchester United, for £800,000 in 1979.

This was during the long trophy drought BF (Before Ferguson) and the 1983 FA Cup Final, against Brighton, in which he scored a rare goal in the first game, which finished 2-2, before United won the replay 4-0; the cup win, followed by victory in the FA Charity Shield, were his only successes as a club player in England's top flight.

In 1983, he was sold to AC Milan, enjoying three successful if trophyless years at the San Siro, before - via a short spell with Paris St Germain - he came to Scotland, one of the many top-flight English talents recruited by Graeme Souness.

He enjoyed his spell at Ibrox, even if the fans did not always appreciate his midfield talents. “Square-ball” Wilkins was one name he received, but Souness and Walter Smith in common with his other managers, appreciated his ability to gain, then maintain possession for his team. He won one League Championship and a League Cup at Rangers, but, a quite spectacular goal during the first Old Firm game of the 1988-89 season, won 5-1 by Rangers, did as much as anything to make him a fans' favourite at Ibrox.

After a decade away, however, it was time to return to London, to Queen's Park Rangers, where he began to earn his coaching spurs in two spells, interrupted by a short stint at Crystal Palace, where he broke his foot on his debut. He then went back to QPR as manager, in succession to Gerry Francis.

After QPR, he resumed playing, serving Wycombe Wanderers, Hibs, Millwall and Leyton Orient, before finally hanging up his boots, at the conclusion of a playing career which spanned almost a quarter of a century and in which he played over 700 games, in four different countries.

He won Schoolboy, Youth and Under-23 caps with England, before making his full debut, against Italy, in a tournament in the USA in 1976. He went on to win 84 caps, captaining his country 10 times and appearing in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, being memorably sent off against Morocco, after, he claimed “unintentionally” hitting the Paraguayan referee when he threw the ball at him with some force following a contentious offside decision.

If that was the low point of his international career, the high point was a memorable solo goal against Belgium, during the 1980 European Championships finals, England's first such tournament since the 1970 World Cup finals.

Having flirted with coaching towards the end of his career he embraced it fully on retirement. His first post saw him managing Fulham, before owner Mohamed Al-Fayed sacked him just before the promotion play-offs. He was replaced by his club boss, Director of Football Kevin Keegan, a move which caused some understandable friction between the pair.

He returned to Chelsea as assistant to Gianluca Vialli, following him to Watford after the pair were sacked by Chelsea, then sacked again at Vicarage Road. He then had a spell as assistant to Denis Wise at Millwall and to Peter Taylor with England Under-21s.

He then went back yet again to Chelsea, to assist Carlo Ancelotti and the pair delivered the Blues' first League and Cup double, before falling foul of owner Abramovich's periodic need to change managers. A sad ending for a genuine club legend.

The remainder of his coaching career was somewhat anti-climatic; he was in turn hired and fired by Fulham and Aston Villa, on either side of a short and not entirely happy spell as manager of the Jordan national team.

Throughout his post-playing career he had been an occasional and respected football talking head, mainly with Sky.

He had health issues in his later years, being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, while, in 2016 he was banned after being caught drunk driving.

As a player, he in some ways suffered from a perceived lack of charisma. A bit of a teen idol as a young player, his early hair loss did not help his image. He lacked Glenn Hoddle's range of passing, and Brian Robson's driving energy, but he was a resolute midfield ball-winner and, once he had the ball, he seldom wasted it. He was never “flashy”, but his team mates admired his solidarity and his exceptional football brain. As a coach he was perhaps happiest as a Number Two, mainly working with players.

His contribution to the game was marked by being awarded the MBE.

He sustained a massive cardiac arrest on Saturday, and will be remembered by appreciative fans, and former team mates. He is survived by his wife Jackie, his two children and six grand-children.

MATT VALLANCE