George Camsell

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George Camsell
Personal information
Full name George Henry Camsell
Date of birth (1902-11-27)27 November 1902
Place of birth Framwellgate Moor, England
Date of death 7 March 1966(1966-03-07) (aged 63)
Place of death England
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1920[2] Durham Chapel
1921[2] Framwellgate Moor
1922[2] Tow Law Town
1922[2] Esh Winning
1923[2] Durham City 0 (0)
1923[2] Esh Winning
1924–1925[2] Durham City 21 (20)
1925–1939[2] Middlesbrough 418 (325)
International career
1929–1936 England 9 (18)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

George Henry Camsell (27 November 1902 – 7 March 1966)[3] was an English footballer who scored a club record 325 league goals in 419 games for Middlesbrough,[1] and 18 goals in nine appearances for England. His 59 goals in one season (1926–27) for Middlesbrough was a Football League record at the time, and has only been bettered once within the English game by Dixie Dean of Everton in 1927–28.[4] His nine hat-tricks that season remains a Football League record. He also holds the highest goals-to-games ratio for England of anyone who has played more than a single international.

Club career[edit]

Born in Framwellgate Moor, Durham City in 1902, Camsell worked as a miner and played for Durham City.[4] He caught the attention of Middlesbrough after scoring 21 goals in 20 games in a season and signed for Middlesbrough on 6 October 1925 for the sum of £500.[4] His debut was against Nottingham Forest on 31 October 1925.[4] He scored three goals for Middlesbrough in the 1925–26 season.[5]

The Middlesbrough club record of 59 League goals in 37 games and 63 goals in all competitions in one season is held by Camsell. He accomplished this feat in the 1926–27 season, his first full season with Middlesbrough.[4] After he had initially struggled for game time and almost joined Barnsley,[4] he made his first appearance of the season on 18 September 1926 after Jimmy McClelland had suffered an injury.[5] Having failed to score on that day, Camsell would only fail to score on two more occasions in the following 25 matches, taking in a run of 12 successive matches in which he scored at least once.[5] He scored five on Christmas Day, 1926 against Manchester City and two more in the return fixture on 27 December.[5] In February 1927, Camsell broke the record for league goals in a season by a player, having overtaken Jimmy Cookson's haul of 44 (for Chesterfield in 1925–26).[5] 59 remains the second-highest number of league goals scored and the equal highest number in all competitions in one English league season, behind Dixie Dean's 60 league and 100 total a year later.[4] The nine hat-tricks Camsell scored that season remains an English record for most in a League season.[6]

Camsell was Middlesbrough's top scorer in each of his first ten full seasons, and he bagged at least 30 in each of the first five as well as the tenth.[5] Between 1925 and 1939, Camsell scored 345 goals in 453 appearances for Middlesbrough, including 325 league goals, the fifth-highest league total of all-time.[4] The 233 goals he scored in the first division ranks him the 13th all time top scorer in the top flight. He scored 24 hat-tricks in his career, 22 for Middlesbrough.[4] He played his last League game for Middlesbrough against Leicester City at Ayresome Park on 10 April 1939, in a 3–2 victory. Camsell scored the opening goal.[4] He continued to play for them into 1940 following the cessation of the 1939–40 Football League season during the Second World War, playing in wartime competitions.[5]

International career[edit]

Camsell also won nine caps for England, scoring 18 goals. This is the highest goals-to-games ratio of anyone who has played more than a single international.[4] His goals included a hat-trick in a 6–0 win against Wales on 20 November 1929 in the 1930 British Home Championship and four goals in a match against Belgium on 11 May 1929.[3] He scored in every match he played for England; his nine consecutive scoring appearances are second only to Steve Bloomer.[4]

Coaching career[edit]

During the Second World War, Camsell worked in local factories.[4] After the war, he worked for Middlesbrough's backroom staff, firstly as a scout, where he discovered a young Brian Clough.[4] He then became a coach and eventually the club's assistant secretary.[4]

Death and legacy[edit]

Camsell retired in 1963 and died in 1966, aged 63, shortly before that year's World Cup.[4] A suite at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium is named after him and in 2015, calls began for a statue of Camsell to be placed outside the stadium, joining those of George Hardwick and Wilf Mannion.[4] A club spokesman said that such an honour could not be ruled out, adding: "As a club we honour and respect our former heroes and George Camsell is certainly one of those." A statue of George Camsell was subsequently erected outside the stadium, which was unveiled to the public on 2 September 2022. It is in front of the West Stand entrance.[4]

Career statistics[edit]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[7]
Club Season League FA Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Middlesbrough 1925–26 Second Division 4 3 0 0 4 3
1926–27 Second Division 37 59 3 4 40 63
1927–28 First Division 40 33 3 4 43 37
1928–29 Second Division 40 30 3 3 43 33
1929–30 First Division 34 29 4 2 38 31
1930–31 First Division 37 32 2 0 39 32
1931–32 First Division 37 20 2 0 39 20
1932–33 First Division 31 17 4 1 35 18
1933–34 First Division 36 23 2 1 38 24
1934–35 First Division 26 14 2 0 28 14
1935–36 First Division 38 28 4 4 42 32
1936–37 First Division 23 18 1 0 24 18
1937–38 First Division 24 9 3 1 27 10
1938–39 First Division 11 10 2 0 13 10
Career total 418 325 35 20 453 345

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "League clubs and their players for the coming season. Durham City". Athletic News. Manchester. 4 August 1924. p. 3.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h George Camsell at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  3. ^ a b "England players: George Camsell". englandfootballonline. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Andy Bell; Duncan Leatherdale (19 September 2015). "George Camsell: The best England striker you never heard of". BBC. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Burnton, Simon (21 December 2017). "Golden Goals: when George Camsell scored five on Christmas Day, 1926". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  6. ^ Ballard, John; Suff, Paul (1999). World Soccer The Dictionary of Football. Boxtree Ltd. p. 111. ISBN 0-7522-2434-4.
  7. ^ "George Camsell". 11v11.com. Retrieved 2 January 2023.

External links[edit]

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