Pompey pay tribute to Ray Pointer

Ray Pointer has been described as a '˜class act' following his death at the age of 79.
Ray PointerRay Pointer
Ray Pointer

The striker made 166 appearances and scored 31 goals for Pompey following his arrival from Coventry City in January 1967 at the age of 30.

A former Division One title winner with Burnley in 1960, he stayed at Fratton Park until the end of the 1972-73 campaign when he retired.

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And former Blues team-mate Nick Jennings paid tribute to the three-time capped England international following his death yesterday morning.

The ex-Pompey winger said: ‘I joined the club in January 1967 and they put me into a Southsea hotel – then six weeks later Ray also moved in.

‘I probably got on better with him than anyone, occasionally we roomed together, but he was quite a private person, a deep individual.

‘He was a class act, though, a terrific player and a really nice man who I had enormous respect for.

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‘At Pompey he was past his best and had about 10 bits of bandages on both ankles – yet was one of the best players I ever played with.

‘He was absolutely brilliant.

‘Ray had a big shock of blonde hair, could barely run and had lost his sharpness, they tell me he was really quick when younger.

‘But he was as good as we had at Pompey and stuck it into the back of the net two out of three times, a real quality player.

‘Ray lived not too far away from me near Cowplain and was a terrific guy.’

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Pointer was a member of the Pompey side which famously drew 1-1 with Arsenal in the FA Cup fourth round in January 1971.

Mike Trebilcock netted a last-gasp leveller to level the match against Bertie Mee’s side, who would go on to win the double that season.

The Blues lost the replay 3-2 at Highbury in front of a crowd of 47,865.

Born in Northumberland, Pointer earned all three of his England caps at Burnley, scoring twice on international duty in 1961.

He played at Turf Moor from 1957 to 1964, making 223 appearances and scoring 118 times.