George Andrews (footballer)

George Andrews
Personal information
Date of birth23 April 1942
Place of birthDudley, England
Playing positionStriker
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1960–1961Luton Town0(0)
1961–1965Gornal Athletic
1965–1967Cardiff City43(21)
1967–1970Southport117(41)
1970–1973Shrewsbury Town124(49)
1973–1977Walsall159(38)
1977–?Worcester City
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

George Andrews (born 23 April 1942 in Dudley, Worcestershire) was an English professional footballer during the 1960s and 1970s. He is probably most notable for scoring Walsall's winning goal in their shock FA Cup third round victory over Newcastle United in January 1975.[1]

Career

Andrews began his career as an apprentice with Luton Town in the late 1950s, turning professional in 1960 but leaving the following year without making a first team appearance. He then continued his career at non-league level with Gornal Athletic in 1961, reaching the Football League in October 1965 on signing for Cardiff City after being spotted by manager Jimmy Scoular.[2] He made his first team debut just a few days later in a 2-1 defeat against Portsmouth, before scoring his first goal for the club a week later in a second 2-1 defeat against Bolton Wanderers. He went on to finish his first professional season with 20 goals in all competitions and scored 6 in the opening 12 matches of the following season before being displaced by new signing Bobby Brown and was allowed to leave to join Southport for £6,000.

He later played for Shrewsbury Town, and in 1973 signed for Walsall where he spent the final four seasons of his professional career, playing 159 league games and scoring 38 goals. He retired from professional football in 1977, though he continued at non-league level with Telford United, Dudley Town, Oldswinford F.C., Solihull Borough and player-manager at Tipton Town.

After football

On retiring from football, he was employed by Dudley MBC as a gardener tending the parks and gardens of Dudley until his retirement in April 2007.

He was married to Janet for nearly 50 years until her death in November 2012 and has two daughters, Priscilla (born 1968) and Melissa (born 1971). He has lived on the Foxyards Estate in Dudley since signing for Walsall in 1973.

References

  1. "History" gornalathletic.non-league.org