Ray Ranson

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Ray "Rambo" Ranson
Personal information
Full name Raymond Ranson
Date of birth 12 June 1960 (1960-06-12) (age 47)
Place of birth    St Helens, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current club Coventry City (Chairman)
Youth clubs
1976–1978 Manchester City
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1978–1984
1984–1988
1988–1993
1993
1993–1995		 Manchester City
Birmingham City
Newcastle United
Manchester City
Reading		 184 0(1)
137 0(0)
083 0(1)
017 0(0)
024 0(0)   
National team
1979–1981 England U21 010 0(0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Ray Ranson (born 12 June 1960 in St Helens, Merseyside) is an English entrepreneur, currently Chairman of Coventry City F.C., and a former professional footballer. He started his football career with Manchester City, and played for Birmingham City, Newcastle United and Reading. After his playing career ended, he amassed a multimillion pound fortune in insurance and sports finance. In 2005, Ranson headed a consortium in an attempt to purchase Aston Villa and on 14 December 2007 he successfully led a consortium to take over Coventry City.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Ranson's sporting career began when he was signed as an apprentice by Manchester City in 1976. A defender who usually played at right-back, he made his senior debut in a 0-0 draw against Nottingham Forest on 23 December 1978.[1] He went on to be capped several times by England at under-21 level[2] and was part of the Manchester City team which reached the 1981 FA Cup final.

In November 1984 Ranson was transferred to Birmingham City, where he played 137 times in the League. With Birmingham he won promotion to the First Division in 1985, but the club were relegated the following season. He spent nearly five years at Birmingham before joining Newcastle United, for whom he made his debut on 26 December 1988 in a 2-1 win against Sheffield Wednesday, the first of 83 League appearances for the club.[3] In January 1993 he returned to Manchester City, making 17 appearances to bring his total for Manchester City to 233. At the end of the season, he joined Reading, where he finished his playing career.

Overall he amassed 445 professional league appearances over 17 years, scoring twice and earned 10 international caps at England under-21 level.

[edit] Business career

Ranson's playing career ended due to injury in 1995.[4] A year later he took a job working for Benfield Grieg, the insurance company owned by Chelsea director Matthew Harding.[4] Ranson invested heavily in the company, and sold his stake for several million pounds in 2002. He then started a venture funding football transfers on a sale and leaseback basis, including several deals with then Leeds United chairman Peter Ridsdale.[5]

In recent years, Ranson has taken an interest in taking over a football club. Ranson twice headed a consortium in unsuccessful attempt to purchase Aston Villa. The first bid £30 million in April 2004, and the second takeover attempt was valued at £45 million.[6] In April 2007, he then bid an offer of what is thought to be £90million to buy former club Manchester City.[7] However, on 30 May 2007, he pulled out of the proposed takeover of bid of Manchester City after failing to come to an agreement with the current board.[8]

In October 2007, Ranson attempted to takeover Southampton on behalf of hedge fund company SISU;[9] however in December 2007 Ranson completed a deal to takeover Coventry City, with just 30 minutes before the club was set to go into administration.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ray Ranson - Manchester City. Football Heroes. Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  2. ^ Clayton, David (2002). Everything under the blue moon: the complete book of Manchester City FC - and more!. Edinburgh: Mainstream publishing. ISBN 1-84018-687-9. 
  3. ^ Ray Ranson - Newcastle United. Football Heroes. Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  4. ^ a b Profile - Ray Ranson. The Independent (2003-10-29). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  5. ^ Could Aston Villa soon be benefiting from the business skills of former Man City star Ranson?. Professional Footballers' Association (2005-07-06). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  6. ^ "Villa reject Ranson takeover bid", BBC Sport, 2005-09-01. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  7. ^ Ranson bids to take over Man City. BBC Sport (2007-04-24). Retrieved on 2007-04-24.
  8. ^ "Ranson withdraws Man City offer", BBC Sport, 2007-05-30. Retrieved on 2007-05-30. 
  9. ^ "No Saints board seat for Ranson", BBC Sport, 2007-10-24. Retrieved on 2007-11-01. 
  10. ^ "Coventry saved by late takeover", BBC Sport, 2007-12-14. Retrieved on 2007-12-18. 

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Ranson, Raymond
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ranson, Ray
SHORT DESCRIPTION Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH 1960-06-12
PLACE OF BIRTH St Helens, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH