Ray Dutton

Raymond "Ray" F. Dutton (born c. 1946) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and England, and at club level for Runcorn ARLFC, Widnes Rovers ARLFC, Widnes and Whitehaven, as a right-footed toe-end style (rather than round the corner style) goal-kicking , and coached at club level for Whitehaven and Widnes Tigers ARLFC (1981 – ). played , and scored a goal in the 6-2 victory over Salford in the 1974 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1974–75 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 2 November 1974, played , and scored 3-goals and a drop goal in the 16-7 victory over Salford in the 1975 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1975–76 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 4 October 1975, played , and scored 4-goals and 1-drop goal in the 16-11 victory over Workington Town in the 1976 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1976–77 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 30 October 1976.

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final appearances Dutton played in Widnes' 0-5 defeat by Leigh in the 1972 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1972–73 season at Central Park, Wigan on Tuesday 19 December 1972, and played , and scored 2-goals in the 7-15 defeat by Bramley in the 1973 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1973–74 season at Naughton Park, Widnes on Tuesday 18 December 1973.

Player's No.6 Trophy Final appearances Dutton played , and scored a goal in Widnes' 2-3 defeat by Bradford Northern in the 1974–75 Player's No.6 Trophy Final during the 1974–75 season at Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington on Saturday 25 January 1975, and played , and scored 3- conversions in the 19-13 victory over Hull F.C. in the 1975–76 Player's No.6 Trophy Final during the 1975–76 season at Headingley, Leeds on Saturday 24 January 1976.

Testimonial match Dutton's Testimonial match at Widnes took place in 1976.

Career records Dutton holds Widnes' "Most Points In A Career" record with 2195, and "Most Goals In A Career" record with 1083.

Club career Dutton was signed by Widnes during 1964, he made his début for Widnes during 1966, he was transferred from Widnes to Whitehaven during 1978, as the then Widnes coach; Doug Laughton felt that Widnes required a different goal-kicker, he remained as a Whitehaven player until the end of the 1980–81 season, he retired from playing rugby league following a knee injury while training on holiday in Jersey.

Coaching career Club career Dutton replaced Bill Smith as the coach of Whitehaven, he was the coach of Whitehaven from October 1978 to October 1979, he was replaced as coach by Phil Kitchin, but he remained as a Whitehaven player until the end of the 1980–81 season.