George Skinner

George Skinner
Personal information
Full nameGeorge Edward Henry Skinner
Date of birthJune 26, 1917
Place of birthBelvedere, England
Date of death30 September 2002 (aged 85)
Place of deathEastbourne, England
Playing positionInside forward
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1938–1947Tottenham Hotspur1(0)
?–?Northfleet United?(?)
?–?Gillingham?(?)
?–?Brighton & Hove Albion?(?)
1948–1952Hastings United?(?)
Teams managed
1948–1952Hastings United
?-?Eastbourne Town
1976-1978IBV
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

George Edward Henry Skinner (b.26 June 1917 in Belvedere–d.30 September 2002 in Eastbourne) was an English professional footballer who played for Tottenham Hotspur, Northfleet United, Gillingham, Brighton & Hove Albion and Hastings United.[1]

Playing career

Skinner began his career at Callenders Cable Works of the Spartan League. The inside forward signed for Tottenham Hotspur in May 1937 before joining the club's "nursery team" Northfleet United.[2] Skinner signed professional forms with the Spurs in September 1938. At the onset of the WW2 he joined the Royal Artillery and was a war time guest player at clubs including Charlton Athletic, Fulham, Harlepool, Middlesbrough, Swindon Town, York City and Bristol Rovers. Skinner made one senior appearance [3] for the Lilies in a fixture versus Birmingham City in August 1946. After leaving White Hart Lane in July 1947 he had spells with Gillingham and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Coaching and management career

After gaining a full coaching badge from the Football Association in 1947, Skinner took up his first overseas post as an adviser to the Finland before taking up the position of player/coach at Hastings United. After four years with the South Coast club he became Kent FA chief coach before returning to Finland to take charge of the Finland Olympic team. Skinner returned to England as manager of Eastbourne Town and later held the post of chief coach of the Sussex FA.

In 1962 he travelled abroad to coach in Nigeria before becoming the national team coach of countries including Libya (1965), Jordan (1968) and Saudi Arabia (1969). He took the appointment of national coach with Frank O'Farrell of Iran in 1972. His last managerial position overseas was with Icelandic club IBV in 1976. Under his charge the club became the countries first club to progress past the first round of the UEFA Cup in 1978, after knocking out Glentoran. He retired from football in 1978 and settled in Pevensey Bay. He died on 30 September 2002 at an Eastbourne nursing home.[4]

References

  1. Hugman, BJ (Ed) The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946-2005 (2005) ISBN 1-85291-665-6 p565. Retrieved 2 July 2010
  2. Kent's nursery clubs Retrieved 5 July 2010
  3. Tottenham Hotspur F.C A-Z of players Retrieved 2 July 2010
  4. George Skinner info Retrieved 2 July 2010