Elizabeth Wood
Patron
The widow of Busby Babe, Ray Wood, Elizabeth has lived in London for many years. She and Ray came from Hebburn-on-Tyne, where they were married, to Manchester in August 1954. They had two daughters, Denise and Deborah and considered themselves blessed to have two grandchildren, Patrick and Rebecca Price. When the Munich disaster happened, Elizabeth spent eight weeks in Germany with Ray and still feels that she was lucky to have brought him home. A few months after this traumatic event, they had a still-born son. The couple moved from Manchester to Huddersfield Town, then to Bradford City, and Barnsley, later spending two wonderful years in California. After America, they moved on to Cyprus and later Kenya, in both countries, Ray was national coach. Elizabeth returned to London with the girls, for their education and her health, which resulted in the breakdown of the marriage and divorce. Ray had a heart attack in 1983 and a by-pass operation two years later. He died in July 2002. Elizabeth still believes he was a true gentleman. Her memories of the Busby Babes are still fresh and the belief that they were all generous, talented professionals, respected all over the world, remains strong. Her greatest player of all time is Duncan Edwards, describing him as "a giant of a man, in every sense of the word." She was very happy to become a Patron and vows to help the cause whenever and wherever she can.
