George Hamilton (footballer)
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| George Hamilton | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | December 7, 1917 | |
| Place of birth | Irvine, Scotland | |
| Date of death | May 2001 | |
| Place of death | Aberdeen, Scotland | |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | |
| Playing position | Inside forward | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1934-1937 | Irvine Meadow | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1937-1938 1938-1947 1947-1948 1948-1955 1955 |
Queen of the South Aberdeen Hearts Aberdeen Hamilton Accies |
34 (19) 13 (6) 130 (66) |
| National team | ||
| 1946-1954 | Scotland | 5 (4) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
George Hamilton (7 December 1917 - May 2001) was a Scottish international footballer, who spent most of his 21-year career with Aberdeen. He also played for Queen of the South, Hearts and Hamilton Academical.
Contents |
[edit] Club football
Born in Irvine, George Hamilton started out with local junior side Irvine Meadow before moving South to join Queen of the South, aged 19. After a single season in Dumfries, Aberdeen managed by Dave Halliday (another ex Queen of the South player) purchased him for £3000 in April 1938.
Like many of his contemporaries, George Hamilton's career was significantly disrupted by the Second World War and, when League football in Scotland went into abeyance in 1939, he returned to his native Ayrshire. Eventually, temporary Regional Leagues were established, and, due to war-time travel restrictions, players would guest for local sides. This resulted in Hamilton turning out for first Ayr United, then Rangers between 1940 and 1945.
George Hamilton returned to Aberdeen at the end of global hostilities and enjoyed his most successful period, lifting the transitional 1945-46 League Cup then scoring the winner in the Scottish Cup Final against Hibernian the following season. Despite this, Hamilton was approaching veteran status, so when Heart of Midlothian offered £8000 plus the younger Archie Kelly for his services in December 1947, the Reds considered it good value for a 30 year old, and accepted.
The move to Tynecastle did not work out though, and after only 18 appearances for Hearts, an unsettled George Hamilton returned to Aberdeen. There he returned to form and, despite Aberdeen’s erratic league results, helped the side to two further (losing) Scottish Cup Final appearances, in 1953 and 1954.
Age eventually caught up with Hamilton and he was transferred to namesake Hamilton Academical in 1955, having largely watched from the sidelines as a young Dons side won the 1954-55 League title with the long serving Halliday still at the helm. George Hamilton retired a matter of months later, just after his 38th birthday.
[edit] International caps
George Hamilton's consistent good form in 1945-46 earned him a Scotland national team debut against Northern Ireland.
George Hamilton twice earned an international recall, initially in 1951, when he scored a hat-trick against Belgium, then remarkably in 1954 when aged 36. He played 2 games against Norway scoring the only goal of the game played in Scotland.
This latter return coincided with the 1954 FIFA World Cup and Hamilton was selected in the 22 man squad for Switzerland. Scotland decided to take only 13 players to the finals with Hamilton one of the players to stay at home on reserve with the likes of Bobby Combe and Jimmy Binning. However Hibs' Bobby Johnstone withdrew through injury with Hamilton called in to replace him in the 13 to travel. However Hamilton did not play in either of Scotland’s two games.
| # | Date | Opponent | Result | Hamilton goals | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nov 27, 1946 |  Northern Ireland |
Scotland 0-0 Northern Ireland | 0 | UK international championship |
| 2 | May 20, 1951 | .svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small} Belgium |
Belgium 0-5 Scotland | 3 | Challenge match |
| 3 | May 27, 1951 |  Austria |
Austria 4-0 Scotland | 0 | Challenge match |
| 4 | May 05, 1954 |  Norway |
Scotland 1-0 Norway | 1 | Challenge match |
| 5 | May 19, 1954 | Norway |
Norway 1-1 Scotland | 0 | Challenge match |
[edit] Honours
Scottish Cup: 1
-
- 1946-47
-
- 1945-46
[edit] References
- Hoggan, Andrew (1995). Hearts in Art (Hardcover), Mainstream. ISBN 1-85158-736-5.
- Crampsey, Bob (1995). Scottish Football League: The First 100 Years (Paperback), The Scottish Football League. ISBN 0-9516433-0-4.
[edit] External links
- [1] at Official Scottish FA site
- Appearances at londonhearts.com
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Hamilton, George |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Scottish footballer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 7, 1917 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Irvine, Scotland |
| DATE OF DEATH | May. 2001 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Aberdeen, Scotland |
|
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