Billy George
Encyclopedia
William George was a football player who played for Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 from October 1897 to July 1911. As of Oct 2008 he is eleventh on the Aston Villa all time appearances table.

His previous clubs were for the now defunct Woolwich Ramblers, Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 football for the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...

 and for the now defunct Trowbridge Town when he was on leave. He was signed by Aston Villa from the Army for £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

50 in 1897. He played in 356 league matches and 40 cup matches.

While at Villa Park George kept goal in three Villa title winning sides in 1899, 1900 and 1910 as well as their 1905 cup winning
1905 FA Cup Final
The 1905 FA Cup Final was contested by Aston Villa and Newcastle United at Crystal Palace. Aston Villa were victorious, winning 2–0, with Harry Hampton scoring both goals....

 side. Conversely he was also in goal when Villa suffered a humiliating F A Cup defeat against Southern League Millwall Athletic
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...

 in 1900.

His international career was limited and he had 3 caps with the England team
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 in 1902. He was sold to Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

 as a player/trainer in 1911.

He is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers to have played for Aston Villa in its history.
George also played 13 first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

 matches as a batsman with Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...

.
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