Geelong footy Ray Card is being charged by Victoria Police after horror road incident that left his wife dead

Former Geelong footy star Ray Card, 67, has been charged by Victoria Police following a road accident just north of Geelong that killed his wife.

The former Cats player was taken to hospital under police guard after he was seriously injured in the incident at around 11.20pm on Saturday evening.

Mr Card, from Grovedale, was driving a vehicle on the Geelong Ring Road at Lara, just north of Geelong, when the accident is said to have occurred.

According to Sky NewsMr Card’s wife Mandy, 57, who was in the passenger seat, is said to have died at the scene after the vehicles collided.

Victoria Police said the former footballer’s commercial vehicle collided with a BMW on the road.

“The driver of the BMW, a 23-year-old Lara man, and his passenger, a 19-year-old Lovely Banks woman, were taken to hospital with minor injuries,” police said.

Former Geelong player Ray Card (pictured) is in the Royal Melbourne Hospital after being seriously injured in a fatal car crash on Saturday evening

Card (pictured) played 110 games for Geelong between 1977 and 1987

Mr Card has been charged by the police with ‘culpable driving causing death’ and ‘dangerous driving causing death’.

“He was bailed to appear at the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on November 26,” the statement said.

The former Cats star was seriously injured in the accident and was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Mr. Card was under police guard while authorities investigated the circumstances surrounding the fatal accident.

A best and fairest winner for the Cats in 1983, Card played 110 games for Geelong between 1977 and 1987.

“The former players and the club are deeply saddened by this news and the passing of Mandy,” the Geelong Past Players group told The Herald Sun after the incident.

“We are shocked and send our deepest condolences to the family.”

A tough defender, he continued to play local football as captain-coach of the Wangaratta Magpies in 1988 before coaching Milawa.

Card was seriously injured in the collision and was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital

“He was very popular with the players… a man’s man,” one of his Magpies players recalled in a 2018 interview.

‘Any problems on the pitch were usually solved by Cardy fronting the opposition aggressor. He played hard and partied even harder.

‘His ability to recover surprised us. After a great night we dragged ourselves to KFC for breakfast and watched him go by, pounding the bitumen on a 10km run.”

Card moved his family back to Geelong in the late 1990s and became involved with his old club. He served as a runner and as an assistant coach of the Reserves for the Cats.

While there he worked with youngsters who would become stars for the team, including Jimmy Bartel, Gary Ablett and Paul Chapman.

“I was particularly interested in the progress of Steve Johnson, who was hanging around the rooms a bit when I first started coaching at Wangaratta,” Card said.

Card’s father George played 46 games for Geelong in the 1940s.