Ray Gryba

Of Lithuanian origin—the family name had been changed from Grabowski—he failed to make a Football League appearance with either of his first two clubs, having joined Liverpool straight from school. He came to Southport as an inside-forward on a two-month trial, was converted to wing-half, and also played 19 games at centre-half following injury to Wally Taylor in 1957–58. He was Southport’s leading scorer in 1957–58 despite this. He was a strong, determined utility player but lacked the single-mindedness to do himself justice. Although retained for 1958–59, he requested that he should be placed on the open transfer list. He scored twice on his Cheshire League début with Ellesmere Port but soon moved on to Bangor City, where he appeared in the F.A. Cup-ties against Southport, scoring Bangor’s goal in their 3–1 replay defeat. He is now based in New Brighton. His brother, John, turned out for Southport Reserves on a number of occasions in 1956–57.

Profile reproduced with Permission from:
The Sandgrounders: The Complete League History of Southport F. C., by Michael Braham and Geoff Wilde (Palatine Books, 1995). ISBN 978-1-874181-14-9

Southport Playing Stats

First Team

	Heritage Qualifying				League Only				Cup Only				Other Only				All
Season
1955/1956	9	(0)	9	3	9	(0)	9	3	2	(0)	2	0	2	(0)	2	3	13	(0)	13	6
1956/1957	20	(0)	20	2	20	(0)	20	2	5	(0)	5	2	0	(0)	0	0	25	(0)	25	4
1957/1958	44	(0)	44	10	43	(0)	43	10	4	(0)	4	0	0	(0)	0	0	47	(0)	47	10
Total	73	(0)	73	15	72	(0)	72	15	11	(0)	11	2	2	(0)	2	3	85	(0)	85	20