Rest in peace

By Chris
April 4 2018

Tributes have been paid to former Manchester United midfielder Ray Wilkins, after the England captain tragically died at the age of 61 in hospital.

Wilkins passed away today (April 4) at St George's Hospital in London, having suffered a cardiac arrest. The news has been met with shock and sadness across the football community

Manchester United said "the thoughts and prayers of everyone" at the club was "with the family, friends and colleagues of our former midfielder Ray Wilkins, following his tragic passing".

Wilkins - a Member of the Order of the British Empire - spent five years of a 24-year playing career at Old Trafford,

The midfielder, who joined United from Chelsea in 1979 for a fee of £777,777, made 194 appearances for the Red Devils - 160 of which were in the Football League - and scored ten goals.

During an illustrious playing career, in which he was capped 84 times for England, Wilkins would also play for Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Glasgow Rangers, QPR, Crystal Palace, Wycombe, Hibernian, Millwall and Leyton Orient.

Among the tributes paid, Gary Lineker described Wilkins as a "wonderful footballer and a delightful man", saying "no teammate was more helpful and supportive", while Norman Whiteside took to Twitter to label him "a top guy, a top player and one of football’s nicest gents you could wish to meet".

Wilkins had a distinguished coaching career, too, including spells as manager of QPR and Fulham, and assistant with a host of teams - including Chelsea, Millwall and the England Under-21 side. Recently, he was assistant boss at Aston Villa and spent time managing Jordan's national football team.

Prolific, too, as a television pundit, Wilkins is widely renowned for being a compassionate, supportive and kind man. Rest in peace, Ray Wilkins MBE - 1956-2017.