He was a centre forward and was one of the most prolific scorers for Blackpool, with whom he spent ten years, including all but one season in the top flight of English football.
There have been Blackpool footballers who have played more games for the club than Ray Charnley; and there have been men who have contributed more league goals to the Bloomfield Road cause than the tall, rangy Lancastrian centre-forward.
But on both counts, from faithful fans of the Seasiders whose memories stretch back half a century and beyond, there would have to come the heartfelt and grateful rider: not manyBorn in Lancaster, Lancashire, Charnley started out as a teenager in the Preston North End B team.
He later signed as a part-time professional with non-League Morecambe, in the Lancashire Combination, joining them from Bolton-le-Sands for £15 in September 1954, whilst also working as a painter and decorator apprentice.
After being injured in pre-season training, the 22-year-old first played three reserve-team games before making his first-team debut in September, a 2–0 defeat at Luton Town.
A month later, he scored two goals in Blackpool's record home victory, 7–0 against Sunderland,[3] before being forced to leave the game with a severely gashed head.
[3] Charnley eventually teamed up with Jackie Mudie, a move inspired by Joe Smith and later used to good effect by his successor as Blackpool manager, Ron Suart.
On 15 April 1961, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Newcastle United at Bloomfield Road, a result that secured safety for Blackpool.
Then on 3 February, against Nottingham Forest he scored his 100th league goal in only his 156th game[3] – a record only marginally beaten by Harry Bedford – playing his best football alongside Alan Ball.
He also scored six goals in the League Cup as Blackpool reached the fifth round, including a hat-trick in a second-round 5–1 win over Manchester United.
[3] He started the 1967–68 season, with Blackpool then in the Second Division, in typical fashion: scoring in his first game, a 2–0 victory over arch-rivals Preston North End; however, after two more league games, and after a home defeat at the hands of Millwall, 'Pool manager Stan Mortensen made the unpopular decision and dropped Charnley into the reserve team, with Gerry Ingram being moved to centre forward.
[3] On 7 December, after a total of 222 goals in 407 games in all competitions,[8] the forward was on his way out of Bloomfield Road, to Preston North End for a transfer fee of £12,500.
[9] After signing for Preston North End, Charnley returned to face Blackpool nine days later, and scored, though the Tangerines won 4–1.
In 1968, Charnley signed for Fourth Division side Wrexham, scoring a total of seven goals in 24 games in all competitions before moving to Bradford Park Avenue in January 1969.
[4] Despite his goalscoring record, Charnley won just one England cap, in 1962, when he received a call-up for a 1964 European Nations' Cup Preliminary round game against France on 3 October at Hillsborough.
[12] Charnley was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Bloomfield Road, when it was officially opened by former Blackpool player Jimmy Armfield in April 2006.
[14] Jimmy Armfield told the packed church: "As you get older you learn to face upset, but I still have problems saying goodbye to friends, especially one of 52 years.
"[15] There was a minute's applause before the first West Lancashire derby of the 2009–10 season between Blackpool and Preston North End at Bloomfield Road on 30 November.