On the 14 September, 1956, former footballer and coach Ray Wilkins, MBE was born in Hillingdon, Middlesex (1956 -2018).
Born into a footballing family, his father and three brothers were also involved in the game. Wilkins early career was with the Sunday League team Senrab that play in Wanstead Flats, East London. A midfielder, Wilkins began his career at Chelsea as an apprentice. He made his first team debut in 1973 against Norwich City at the age of 17, as a substitute in a 3–0 home league win. Wilkins was appointed captain at the age of 18, retaining the role for four years.
He later played for clubs including Manchester United, A.C. Milan, Queens Park Rangers and Rangers, and won 84 caps for from 1976 to 1986, playing in the UEFA Euro 1980 and the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups.
In 1979, Wilkins signed for Manchester United for a fee of £825,000, the highest fee received for a Chelsea player at the time. He scored 10 goals in his 5 years with the Red Devils, and was voted player of the year by the team’s supporters at the end of the 1983–1984 season. His midfield performances drew the attention of A.C. Milan, who made United a £1.5 million offer for the player.
Wilkins signed with A.C. Milan in summer 1984. In his first year Wilkins played 28 Serie A games and won a runner-up medal in the Coppa Italia. He signed for Paris Saint-Germain in the middle of 1987, but this proved to be short-lived as he failed to break into the team. So he eagerly signed for Rangers for £250,000, where he won two league titles and one Scottish League Cup.
The longest stint of his late career was at Queens Park Rangers, for whom he was a regular first team player from November 1989 to 1994. Wilkins left QPR on a free transfer to join Crystal Palace as a player-coach, but only made one appearance due to breaking his left foot on his debut.
Wilkins played for four different clubs in the 1996–1997 season. One game at Wycombe Wanderers before moving to Hibernian for a 16-game stint. Toward the end of the season he played 3 times for Millwall in the Second Division and 3 Third Division games for Leyton Orient before retiring.
Wilkins scored three goals in 84 games for England, captained the team on 10 occasions, and played at the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. He was called up to play for England for the first time in 1976 by coach Don Revie, and made his debut a 3–2 win over Italy at the U.S.A. Bicentennial Cup Tournament in New York.
Wilkins made his 84th and final England appearance in November 1986, against Yugoslavia.
After his playing career he worked as a television pundit, and as a coach and manager with Queens Park Rangers, Fulham and Chelsea. He also managed Jordan at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, and his last coaching job was as assistant manager of Aston Villa later that year.
In 2013, he was stopped whilst driving and found to be nearly four times over the legal alcohol limit. In 2016, Wilkins admitted he was an alcoholic, after being given a four-year ban for drink driving.
In 2018, Wilkins had a cardiac arrest and died at the age of 61.
14 September, 2019