George Gibson (footballer, born 1914)

George Gibson

Personal information
Full name	George E. Gibson
Date of birth	29 August 1914
Place of birth	Stoke, England
Date of death	30 December 1990
Position(s)	Inside left
Youth career
	Kidderminster Harriers
	Frickley Colliery
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1931-1932	Frickley Colliery
1932-1934	Sunderland	2	(1)
1934-1935	Leicester City	2	(0)
1935-1936	US Valenciennes Anzin
1935-1936	Lisburn Distillery
1936–1937	Shelbourne
1936-1937	RC Roubaix
1937-1938	Workington
1938-1939	Bradford City	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

George E. Gibson (born 29 August 1914) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside left. Gibson was an early pioneer of British overseas footballers, playing in the French Ligue 1 in the inter-war years. Gibson eventually went on to play football in four countries, including his native England. Whilst Gibson played professionally in England and France and played in the Football League and Ligue 1 he was never capped internationally.

Early career

Born in Stoke, Gibson began his career as a youth player with Kidderminster Harriers before being released and joining Frickley Colliery who gave him the opportunity to play regularly in the Midland League. In 1932 he signed professionally for Sunderland where he made two top flight (equivalent to the Premier League today) appearances before moving to Leicester City, where he played in the Football League.

Foreign career

In 1935 Gibson became one of the early English professional footballers to play abroad when he signed for US Valenciennes Anzin, who had just been promoted to the top division in French football. After a year in France Gibson moved on to clubs in Northern Ireland and Ireland before returning to France to join RC Rubaix, who had just secured top flight football.

Return to England

Towards the end of his career Gibson joined Workington, where he also represented the cricket club as a fast bowler and batsman and briefly returned to the Football League with Bradford City where he made 3 league appearances.

Top flight football

Gibson has the distinction of playing in the top division of professional football in four countries, including England, France, Ireland and Northern Ireland. This is a remarkable feat for a British footballer in the 1930s.