George B. Aitken was a 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...

 professional footballer

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...

 and football club manager.

Playing career

Aitken started his career with Edinburgh Thistle, essentially a junior side for Hibernian

Hibernian F.C.

Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...

, but in June 1946 was signed by David Jack

David Jack

David Bone Nightingale Jack was an English footballer, the first player ever to score at Wembley, and the first footballer in the world to be transferred for more than £10,000...

 for Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough F.C.

Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

.

The first person to score in a Wembley final and the first player to be sold for £10,000, Jack was already a legend by the time he took over as Middlesbrough manager in 1944. He made his debut against Fulham

Fulham F.C.

Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

 in the 1951-52 season, but struggled to establish himself at Ayresome Park

Ayresome Park

-External links:**-References:...

 and moved to Workington

Workington A.F.C.

Workington A.F.C. is an English football club from Workington, Cumbria. They are in the Conference North, and play their home matches at Borough Park, which has a capacity of 3,101 . The club play in red, and are known locally as the Reds...

 for a fee of £5,000 in July 1953.

He quickly established himself in the Workington defence, going on to make 262 league appearances before retiring in 1960.

Coaching and managerial career

On his retirement he became trainer at Workington, first under Joe Harvey

Joe Harvey

Joe Harvey was an English football player and later manager. He spent much of his career at Newcastle United; he was the club's longest serving captain, manager, and, as of the 2009 – 10 season the last to win a major trophy....

 and then under Ken Furphy

Ken Furphy

Ken Furphy is an English former football player and manager.Despite being on the books at Everton between 1950–1951, Furphy was a lower league player with Runcorn Darlington and then Workington...

. Furphy left to manager Watford

Watford F.C.

Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...

 in 1964 and Aitken followed him to Vicarage Road

Vicarage Road

Vicarage Road, a stadium in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, is the home of the football club Watford and their tenants, the Saracens rugby union club. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 17,477.-History:...

. He remained with Watford until 1971 when he left to become manager of Workington.

In his first season in charge, Workington finished sixth in Division Four

Football League Fourth Division

The Fourth Division of The Football League was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season...

, but the club was in general decline and a 13th position finish the following season was followed by two successive bottom four finishes (and successful applications for re-election). Aitken left after the second of these in May 1974.

He was assistant manager of Grimsby Town

Grimsby Town F.C.

Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...

 between 1975 and 1976 when he left to coach Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.

Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club are an English association football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system....

. He stayed at Brighton for eight years, followed by spells scouting for Watford, Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 and 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...

 (all under Graham Taylor).

He died in September 2006 aged 78.