Only just found out the news about Ray. A great man who I have very fond memories of. Taking me from Epping FC to BSCFC at the age of 14-15 and teaching me a lot! I will always appreciate that Ray would take me to games that I couldn’t otherwise get to. I had a lot of great memories playing with his son Bert who was a great GK by the way! Anyway Rest In Peace Ray and thank you for everything.

Absolute legend of a man. Ray was my first football coach and was always so supportive and helped me develop as a player. Very fond memories of Ray, his family and the stortford team. He will be missed.Prayers go out to his family

On behalf of everyone at St Elizabeth's, we would like to extend our deepest condolences to all of Ray's family and friends at this terribly sad time. Ray was a beacon of hope for all of our learners, and reinforced everyday that disability is never a barrier for learning and experiencing new activities. Ray taught our learners so much, and coached our teams to win the Inclusion Cup on several occasions! It was such a special moment for everyone and we are so grateful to Ray for all of his support and dedication.

We will miss him so much, but will always have fond memories of him coaching our learners to achieve anything they set their minds to.

Always enjoyed meeting you and our lively chats whenever we bumped into each other, mainly of course on and around the subject we both loved such a lot, 'the beautiful game'. Very pleased to have got to know you and I am very happy you got to coach my son Harold too back in the day during a terrific period in BSYFC history. Rest in peace my friend.

Ray was my first football coach outside of School. I played for him in Epping in Essex, for Wealdhall Boys FC. He was a fantastic coach, and a great sporting mentor. I learnt more from him about how to play football than anyone else, and how to be part of a team.

Thanks for everything Ray.

So sad to hear the news. Ray was such a lovely man he was so funny manning the bar while always keeping one eye on the scores. He was so knowledgeable and always made a point to ask you how your son was getting on.He always had such lovely positives words to say about my son and he truly believed in him. Thank you Ray for everything you brought to the club, the kids, the parents and people who knew you. You will be missed by us all and especially our family. love Glenn, Louie, Morgan and Jenny x

Ray had amazing football knowledge and was a wonderful man.

I had known Ray for a couple of years and during that time he had been a mentor to me in running boys teams and the U12 team had flourished under his guidance.

Me and my two lads (Seb and Barnaby) will miss him a lot, however we are grateful for having spent our time with him.

Some good times spent with Ray at St Elizabeths Centre where he coached a number of young people in the school and college providing them with opportunities to access leisure activities and support their physical and social development. Lots of fun sports days and balloon volleyball tournaments.

Will never forget the years of the inclusion cup. Ray was so dedicated to ensuring all the learners were able to access this day and have fun. It was always a great success all organised by Ray. He was a good man who always thought of others and brought lots of laughter a long with it.

Thank you ray for all your support over the years and also with coaching my son Neil over the past couple of seasons. We will miss you.

So sad to hear the news. He had a passion for the game that rubbed off on all he came into contact with. He will be missed. Thank you for all you did for Daniel.

thank you ray for everything you taught me and for all your hard work. we will all miss you.

Like many of the lovely tributes on this page I met Ray through the Bishops Stortford Football fraternity and it was an absolute honour and privilege to have had the opportunity to spend time in his company.
Ray was a mild mannered, kind, and genuinely lovely man with a heart of gold. His passion and pride at the evolution of the girls section was clear for all to see and nothing pleased Ray more than seeing one of his girls going on to have a successful career in the game.

The outpouring of love and emotion for Ray is a testament to how highly he was regarded by everyone fortunate enough to have met him. I just wish we had all had the chance to tell him how highly he was respected and regarded while he was still here as I don’t think he really received the recognition he deserved for his commitment to the football club.

Ray, you will be sorely missed by all, but your legacy will live on through this football club forever more and you’ll never be forgotten.

God bless

Ray was a friend, football coach and a most marvellous man. He coached my son’s BSCFC team from U10s for 7 years and my daughter went through from the development squad to U15s under his expert tutelage. Lots of fun, great progress and always with a smile, breeding positivity all the way.

I loved his yarns when the teams were warming up, he seemed to have a story that suited every topic of conversation! I am sure he’ll make many friends in Heaven, RIP Ray x

We only started 2/3 months ago and Ray made a point of coming over to us each week to chat about how our daughter was getting on and if she was enjoying it! He told us about the girls that got signed to some of the big teams and you could see how proud he was of them and the uptake and growth of the Sunday morning training group! We wish we had, had Ray longer.

Love to all Rays close friends, family and kids that will miss him x

Ray was a great guy, and I could see he cared deeply about the kids he coached. I know he offered so much support to them, particularly those struggling with mental illness in the last year or so. Ray will be missed and my heart goes out to those closest to him. RIP Ray

I met Ray as a boy and a shy boy at that. I believe the impact this great man had on me was profound.

He was my coach as I was trying to push to become a better footballer which at the time ended up not becoming anything.

However the lessons I learnt from the time impacted me even to this day. He was my coach and taught me about discipline, hard work, social skills, the grit to push myself beyond my limits to reach further then I could of imagined.

I hold these lessons close to me and have nothing but admiration and respect for a great teacher who impacted the life of a boy as he was becoming a man.

Thank you Ray

Rest In Peace

Ray welcomed my daughter into the family and treated her like his own daughter for many years. He thought the world of her as she did him. We will remember you and your kindness always xxxxxx