George Bristow (footballer)

George Bristow
Personal information
Date of birth25 June 1933
Place of birthChiswick, England
Date of death4 January 2010 (aged 76)
Playing positionRight half
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1950–1961Brentford245(8)
Blandford United (guest)
1961–1962Queens Park Rangers0(0)
Yiewsley
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

George Bristow was an English football right half who played in the Football League for Brentford, making over 260 appearances for the club.

Career

Brentford

A right half, Bristow joined Brentford at a young age and came through the youth ranks, making his debut at the age of 17 in a 4-0 Division Two defeat to Manchester City on 14 October 1950.[1] During his National Service, Bristow turned down a move to follow former teammate Peter Broadbent to Division One side Wolverhampton Wanderers.[2] After completing his National Service,[3] it wasn't until the 1953/54 season that Bristow was able to hold down a regular first team place, making 27 appearances in a campaign which saw the Bees relegated to the Division Three South.[4] In February 1956, Bristow was awarded a testimonial versus an International Managers XI, the club's youngest player to be granted the honour.[5] Bristow's best years at Brentford came in the 1957/58 and 1958/59 seasons, making over 40 appearances in each.[4] Injuries took their toll on Bristow and he departed the club at the end of the 1960/61 season, after making 264 appearances for the club and scoring eight goals.[3]

Blandford United (loan)

While undertaking his National Service, Bristow turned out for Dorset League side Blandford United.

Queens Park Rangers

Bristow and Brentford teammates Jim Towers and George Francis joined Brentford's West London rivals Queens Park Rangers in the summer of 1961. He suffered an achilles injury during a pre-season match, which ended his professional career. Bristow failed to appear for the first team and left the club at the end of the 1961/62 Division Three season.[6]

Yiewsley

After his release from Queens Park Rangers, Bristow dropped into non-league football and joined Southern League Division One side Yiewsley in 1962.[6]

Personal life

Bristow undertook his National Service as a PT instructor at Blandford Camp and represented his battalion's football team.[2] After his retirement from football, Bristow worked as a driving instructor, at Heathrow Airport and as of April 1995, he had worked as a self-employed bricklayer for the previous 25 years.[2] He was married to Maureen and had two daughters.[2]

References

  1. "Brentford Football Club History". Brentfordfchistory.co.uk. 1950-10-14. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Brentford F.C. Griffin Gazette versus York City 01/04/95. Quay Design of Poole. 1995. p. 29.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920-2006. Yore Publications. p. 26. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Brentford Football Club History". Brentfordfchistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  5. Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopaedia. Yore Publications. ISBN 1 874427 57 7.
  6. 6.0 6.1 "QPR1962". Docstoc.com. 2012-12-09. Retrieved 2014-07-27.