Raymond Thomas Harford was an English footballer, better known for his successes as a coach and manager than as a player.
25 Facts About Ray Harford
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Ray Harford is considered to have been one of the top coaches of his generation.
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Ray Harford began as a youth player at Charlton Athletic in 1960.
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Ray Harford then moved on to Lincoln City, making 161 league appearances for the club before his departure to Mansfield Town.
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Ray Harford was appointed as Fulham manager in April 1984, though he resigned in June 1986 after a financial crisis led to his team suffering relegation.
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Ray Harford took charge at Luton Town in June 1987 and led the club to the final of the League Cup in 1988 and 1989, as Luton won the cup in 1988 before tasting defeat in 1989.
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Ray Harford was sacked in September 1998 and subsequently became a coach at Millwall; he was still on the coaching staff at the club at the time of his death.
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Ray Harford started his playing career as a centre-half at Charlton Athletic as an amateur in May 1961, turning professional at Frank Hill's Second Division side in May 1964.
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Ray Harford had played nearly 200 games in four years at Sincil Bank.
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Ray Harford was a regular for the rest of the season but fell out of favour in August 1972.
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Ray Harford was able to cobble together a side for the next season from free transfers and youth players, but it wasn't enough.
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The side were relegated by a huge margin, and Ray Harford resigned shortly afterwards.
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Ray Harford was signed by Luton as assistant manager and helped the club finish seventh in the old First Division.
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The partnership lasted just five months until July 1990, when Gould was sacked from his post, and Ray Harford was promoted from assistant manager to manager for the third time in his career.
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Ray Harford was briefly replaced by Peter Withe, who lasted just three months before being sacked and replaced by Joe Kinnear.
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Ray Harford offered Harford the position of assistant manager at Blackburn and Harford accepted.
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In February 1997, Ray Harford was named as West Bromwich Albion's new manager in place of Alan Buckley.
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Albion were hovering just above the relegation zone in Division One, and Ray Harford did much to keep the club clear of relegation.
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Ray Harford was appointed successor to Stewart Houston and hoped to get the club back into the Premiership.
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Ray Harford was appointed manager temporarily, and it seemed possible he would be given the job permanently.
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Ray Harford remained on the club's coaching staff and was crucial in Millwall's Division Two championship that season which ended a five-year exile from the upper tier of the English league.
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In October 2002, Ray Harford was diagnosed with lung cancer and spent the rest of the season away from his job at Millwall receiving treatment for his illness.
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Early on the morning of 9 August 2003, Ray Harford died while he was still officially a member of the Millwall coaching staff under Mark McGhee.
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Ray Harford's funeral was held in All Saints Church, Banstead, Surrey, with many members of the football community in attendance.
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Ray Harford was survived by his wife, Maureen, and son Paul.