Ex-QPR Goalkeeper, Ray Drinkwater Dies

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UPDATE:

QPR OFFICIAL STATEMENT on DEATH OF RAY DRINKWATER
RAY DRINKWATER - It is with great sadness that the Club has learned of the death of former player, Ray Drinkwater. He was 76.
Ray joined QPR in 1957, following a short time with Portsmouth.
The talented goalkeeper made more than 200 appearances for the R's during a six-year stay, before going on to finish his career with Southern League team Bath City.
He died on Tuesday, following a brief illness.
The thoughts of the Club are with his wife Brenda, family and friends at this difficult time. QPR


Football and cricket star Drinkwater dies, aged 76
A FORMER Guildford City footballer who went on to play for Queens Park Rangers has died at the age of 76.
Ray Drinkwater was spotted as a goalkeeper playing for local side Northway, his family having moved south from Jarrow in Northumberland.
Drinkwater made his Southern League debut for City against Chelmsford in 1951, and played 109 times in all before he was bought by Portsmouth for £2,000.
He only made eight appearances for the Fratton Park club, then playing in the old Football League first division.
His switch to QPR came in 1958 and he stayed for five years, making 214 appearances at the start of Alec Stock’s highly successful reign. The club were in Division Three then, on the verge of some golden years.
Drinkwater - born in May 1931 - finished his playing days with a switch to Southern League side Bath City, as a favour for Malcolm Allison as he took his early steps in management.
He was also a dashing all-rounder for Ripley Cricket Club over two decades.
Teammate and friend Guy Pullen remembered: “Ray was a brilliant slip catcher, a good first-change bowler and hit the ball incredibly hard. He won a Flora Doris Cup game for us in the dark at Farncombe and kept putting Arthur Balchin in to the houses across the road.”
Drinkwater leaves behind his wife Brenda plus a son and daughter.
You can leave a tribute to Ray Drinkwater by clicking here. Surrey Advertiser

Brief Wikipedia/Drinkwater