George Mills (footballer)

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George Mills
Personal information
Full name George Robert Mills
Date of birth 29 December 1908
Place of birth    Deptford, England
Date of death    15 July 1970
Place of death    Torquay, England
Playing position Striker
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1929-43 Chelsea 220 (116)   
National team
1937 England 3 (3)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

George Robert Mills (born 29 December 1908 in Deptford, died 15 July 1970) was an English footballer, principally for Chelsea.

He signed for Chelsea as an amateur in 1929 from Bromley and stayed at the club for the rest of his career. He was a prolific goal scorer in his time there, notching 123 goals in 239 games. Despite often being overlooked by more glamorous, but less reliable, forwards such as Hughie Gallacher and Joe Bambrick, he remained loyal to the club.

In his debut season, Mills scored 14 goals in 20 games for Chelsea, helping them achieve promotion to the First Division. His best season was in 1936-37, when he scored 22 goals in 32 appearances, which earned him an England call-up. He won three international caps for England and scored three goals, all of which came in a 5-1 win against Northern Ireland.

Mills was the first Chelsea player to score over 100 league goals, a feat only five others have since matched, and is currently the club's 6th highest all-time goalscorer. He is also the last Chelsea player to have scored a hat-trick against Liverpool, which came in a 6-1 win in August 1937. Upon retiring he became a coach at Chelsea.

He died while on holiday in Torquay in 1970.

[edit] References

Glanvill, Rick (2006). Chelsea FC: The Official Biography - The Definitive Story of the First 100 Years. Headline Book Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7553-1466-2.