Charlie George - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Charles Frederick "Charlie" George (born 10 October 1950) is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

former football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

er. He played as a forward in the Football League (notably for Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

and Derby County

Derby County F.C.

Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

) and he was also capped by England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

Arsenal

Born in Islington

Islington

Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, George supported Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

as a boy and played for Islington Schoolboys before joining his favoured club in May 1966. He turned professional in 1968 and made his first-team debut for the club on 9 August 1969 against Everton

Everton F.C.

Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

, on the first day of the 1969–70 season; Arsenal lost 1–0. He became a regular in the side that season, playing 39 times, including in Arsenal's 1969–70

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The competition was the idea of Swiss pools supremo Ernst Thommen, Ottorino Barassi from Italy, and the English Football Association general secretary Stanley Rous, all of whom later became senior officials...

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

campaign; he scored goals against Dinamo Bacau and Ajax, as well as playing in both legs of the final against RSC Anderlecht, which Arsenal won 4–3 on aggregate.

George broke his ankle

Ankle

The ankle joint is formed where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle, or talocrural joint, is a synovial hinge joint that connects the distal ends of the tibia and fibula in the lower limb with the proximal end of the talus bone in the foot...

at the start of the following season following a collision with Everton goalkeeper Gordon West

Gordon West

Gordon West is an English former professional football goalkeeper.-Blackpool:He made his debut for Blackpool at the age of 17...

, but returned after being out for five months and played a significant part in Arsenal's run-in to the 1970–71 Division One title, scoring five times in 17 appearances in the League. However, the highlight of his season came in the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

; he scored in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds as well as proving the difference in the Final

1971 FA Cup Final

In the finale to the 1970-71 FA Cup season, the 1971 FA Cup Final was contested by Arsenal and Liverpool at Wembley on the 8 May 1971.Arsenal won 2–1 after extra time, with all three goals coming in the added half hour. Steve Heighway opened the scoring for Liverpool with a low drive past...

against Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

. The game was locked at 1–1 in extra time, Arsenal having been 1–0 down before Eddie Kelly

Eddie Kelly

Edward Patrick "Eddie" Kelly is a Scottish former football player.Kelly played for local side Possilpark, before moving south to join English club Arsenal as an apprentice in July 1966; he turned professional 18 months later...

's equaliser; in the 111th minute George latched onto John Radford

John Radford

For the Canadian broadcaster see John Radford John Radford is a former English football player....

's square ball and scored a spectacular winner from 20 yards to win the match. He celebrated by lying flat on his back with arms aloft. With that Cup win, Arsenal completed their first Double

The Double

The Double is a term in association football which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season...

win.

George played four more seasons at Highbury

Arsenal Stadium

Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006...

, also playing in the 1972 FA Cup Final

1972 FA Cup Final

The 1972 FA Cup Final took place on 6 May 1972 at Wembley Stadium. It was the Centenary final and the 44th to be played at Wembley....

, which Arsenal lost to Leeds United. However the latter stages of his career with Arsenal were hampered with injuries and a rebellious streak at odds with the club's management; during the 1971–72 season he was disciplined by the club twice, first after headbutting Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

's Kevin Keegan

Kevin Keegan

Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United....

, and then for flicking a V-sign at Derby County

Derby County F.C.

's fans after scoring away at the Baseball Ground

Baseball Ground

The Baseball Ground was a stadium in Derby, England. It was first used for baseball as the home of Derby County Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898 and then for football as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 1997. It was commonly referred to as the "BBG".As the name suggests, the stadium was...

.

As the Double-winning side were gradually broken up Arsenal began to descend down the table, and although George hit eleven goals in both 1971–72 and 1972–73 his form declined alongside Arsenal's; he only scored five times in 28 matches in 1973–74 and he was dropped from the first team in 1974–75 after falling out with manager Bertie Mee

Bertie Mee

Bertram "Bertie" Mee OBE was an English football player and manager, noted for managing Arsenal to their first Double win in 1971. He was the younger brother of fellow footballer Georgie Mee.-Early life:...

. By Christmas 1974 he had been transfer listed, and he moved to Derby County

Derby County F.C.

in July 1975 for £100,000. In total he played 179 times for Arsenal and scored 49 goals.

Derby County

He spent three and a half years at Derby, where he memorably scored a hat-trick

Hat-trick

A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...

against Real Madrid

Real Madrid

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...

in a European Cup

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

match (although Derby eventually lost 5–6 on aggregate); he later scored a hat-trick for Derby in the UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

. Whilst with Derby, he won a solitary cap for England

England national football team

, playing for 60 minutes against the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland national football team

The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....

on 8 September 1976, out of position on the left wing, but fell out with coach Don Revie

Don Revie

Donald George 'Don' Revie, OBE, , was an English footballer who played for Leicester City, Hull City, Sunderland, Manchester City and Leeds United as a deep-lying centre forward. After managing Leeds United he managed England from 1974 until 1977...

after being substituted and he was never picked again. He also had a loan spell at St George's Budapest

St George Saints

The St. George Saints Football Club are an Association football club based in the St. George region of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The club plays its home games at St. George Stadium, after playing a brief stint at Belmore Sports Ground in the 2007-08. The St...

in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

Later career

After Derby, he went on to play for the Minnesota Kicks

Minnesota Kicks

Minnesota Kicks were a professional soccer team that played at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota from 1976 to 1981. The team was a member of the now defunct North American Soccer League. The team had relocated to Minnesota after having been based in Denver, Colorado as the Denver Dynamos...

in the North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...

, where he made 18 appearances (scoring 9 goals) in the 1978 season. George then returned to England with Southampton

Southampton F.C.

Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

in December 1978. His appearances there were limited by a knee injury and he had a short period on loan to Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

in 1980, playing four games including both legs of the 1979 UEFA Super Cup

1979 UEFA Super Cup

The 1979 UEFA Super Cup was played between Nottingham Forest and Barcelona CF, with Nottingham Forest winning 2–1 on aggregate.-First leg:-Second leg:Nottingham Forest won 2–1 on aggregate.-External links:* from UEFA* from RSSSF...

Final against FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona

Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....

, scoring the only goal in the home leg as Forest won 2–1 on aggregate. George could not agree an extension to his loan at Forest and soon returned to Southampton, playing his last league game for them on 14 March 1981 against Stoke City

Stoke City F.C.

Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

. In the summer of 1981 he left the club to move to Bulova in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

.

A year later, in 1982, he returned to England to have short spells with Bournemouth

A.F.C. Bournemouth

A.F.C. Bournemouth is an English football club currently playing in Football League One. The club plays at Dean Court in Kings Park, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset and have been in existence since 1899....

and Derby County for a second time, and had a short time with Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

side Dundee United

Dundee United F.C.

Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club located in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923...

before retiring in 1983, although he never played for the Tannadice

Tannadice Park

Tannadice Park, usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium located on Tannadice Street in the Scottish city of Dundee. The stadium is home of Dundee United F.C. and has a capacity of 14,209.-Early days :...

outfit. Later in his career, George lost a finger in a lawnmower accident.

After football

After retiring from football he moved to New Milton

New Milton

New Milton is a market town in south west Hampshire, England. The town has a high street and holds a market every Wednesday. Situated on the edge of the New Forest, the town is about 6 miles west of Lymington town centre and 12 miles east of Bournemouth town centre.-History:New Milton dates back...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

to run a pub

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

. He later had joint ownership for some years in a garage business. George is now employed by Arsenal to conduct "Legends" tours, and as a match day host.

External links

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