| George Gray | |
| Fullname: | George James Pope Gray |
| Birth Date: | 7 July 1925 |
| Birth Place: | Sunderland, England |
| Death Date: | 1995 (aged 69) |
| Death Place: | Kettering, England |
| Position: | Wing half |
| Years1: | 1945–1947 |
| Caps1: | 0 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 1947–1951 |
| Caps2: | 3 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 1951–1953 |
| Caps3: | 45 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Years4: | 1953–1954 |
| Caps4: | 6 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
George James Pope Gray (7 July 1925 – 1995) was an English footballer who played in the Football League as a wing half for Grimsby Town, Swindon Town and Darlington.
Gray was born in Sunderland,[1] the son of George Gray and his wife Vera Lister.[2] [3] Gray senior played League football as a wing half for Swansea Town and Northampton Town in the 1920s,[4] [5] and went on to become trainer of Sunderland.
Gray began his senior career as an amateur with Derby County in 1945,[6] but left the club two years later, without having represented them in the league, and joined First Division club Grimsby Town.[1] He made his debut in October 1950, some three and a half years later, by which time they were playing the Second Division,[4] and played twice more before moving on to Third Division South club Swindon Town at the end of the season.[1]
He played intermittently at the start of the 1951–52 season, but established himself in the first team ahead of Ted Batchelor and appeared in most of Swindon's matches from mid-December onwards. He helped the team reach the fifth round (last 16) of the 1951–52 FA Cup, a run which included wins against Second Division runners-up Cardiff City and First Division Stoke City.[7] [8] He kept his place at the start of the next season, but Batchelor was preferred from October onwards, and Gray finished his Swindon career with 53 appearances in all competitions.[9] [10]
Gray returned to the north-east of England to sign for Darlington in July 1953.[11] He made six league appearances in his only season with the club.[1]
He died in Kettering, Northamptonshire, in 1995 at the age of 69.