RAY WOOD PASSES ON

'Born in Hebburn, on Tyneside, his first club was Darlington, for whom he played a dozen games before signing for Manchester United. A brave and agile goalkeeper, whose luck would run out, together with his team's, in the 1957 Cup Final at Wembley, he was at his best "on the line", saving shots and headers. Out of goal, he was fast enough to have run as a professional sprinter.

He was perhaps less impressive when it came to dealing with high crosses, which was why Matt Busby eventually replaced him with the Northern Ireland keeper Harry Gregg. But Busby was sufficiently appreciative of Wood to try - unsuccessfully - to get him back from Huddersfield when Gregg hurt his shoulder.

Perhaps Wood's finest game for United was in Dortmund in 1956, in a European Cup second leg game. United had a one goal lead from the first leg against Borussia Dortmund at Old Trafford, and for much of the return match were overrun. Wood, however, performed small miracles, saving one shot after another, and United survived.

In that 1957 Cup Final, United faced Aston Villa, and were strong favourites. They would surely have won had Wood not been so severely fouled. Today, a substitute goalkeeper could have come on, but there were no permitted substitutes in those days, and Wood eventually returned to the field with his arm strapped up, to limp along the left wing. The game was only six minutes old when Peter McParland, Villa's outside-left, closed in to meet a cross from the right with his head, some 12 yards out. Wood caught the ball without difficulty and, in normal circumstances, would simply have cleared it upfield or thrown it to a colleague. McParland, however, came hurtling at him, failed to make contact, turned back, and crashed into the unfortunate Wood, who collapsed in agony, his jaw bone broken. Jackie Blanchflower went in goal, but Villa won 2-1.

Wood, of whom the popular legend was that he trained on tea and cigarettes, recovered in time to play again. He had already won three caps for England, playing in the 1954-55 season against Northern Ireland and Wales, and the following season against Finland. He won two league championship medals in 205 games for Manchester United, and eventually played two more than that for Huddersfield Town. Leaving Huddersfield after seven years in 1965, he joined Bradford City, for whom he played 32 games. He ended his league career the following season at Barnsley.

He then successfully became a coach, taking charge of the Los Angeles Wolves, before moving to Cyprus. His experiences in Greek championship football, however, were not happy; he was appalled by the extent of the corruption and match fixing, and eventually could take it no more.'

· Ray Wood, footballer, born June 11 1931; died July 7 2002