George Dewar (20 July 1867 – 2 September 1915) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played in the early days of professional football for

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

as well as being

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

twice for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Playing career

Dewar was born in

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

, Scotland; he served his apprenticeship as a ship's

upholsterer Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English word ...

before embarking on a full-time career as a professional footballer. A powerful centre half, he came to prominence in local football with Dumbarton Athletic before joining

in September 1887, winning his two caps in the two subsequent years. His first cap came on 24 March 1888 in the

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

match at the

Solitude Ground Solitude is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the oldest football stadium in Ireland, and the home ground of Ireland's oldest football club, Cliftonville. The stadium holds 6,224, but is currently restricted to 2,530 under s ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

where he scored the opening goal in the 10–2 rout of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He also played in the 3–2 victory over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

the following April. One of the people watching the England v. Scotland game in April 1889 was Tom Mitchell, the secretary of

. He was looking to strengthen his side by buying the best players from Scotland. Mitchell persuaded Dewar to join Blackburn (along with Tom Brandon and Harry Campbell); in doing so, he brought an end to his international career as at this time Scotland did not select men playing in England. Dewar became a fixture in the Blackburn team over the next few years, playing 174 league matches; he even turned out for

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

against their Scottish counterparts. In the

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

(from the

Football Alliance The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92. History In 1888, the same year the Football League was founded, The Combination was established by clubs who had been ...

) at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

on 29 March 1890, Rovers were the odds-on favourites to win in view both of their record of three victories in the previous six seasons and their superior league placing. Blackburn fielded a team consisting of nine England or Scotland internationals. Rovers lived up to expectations as they romped away with the Cup defeating their Yorkshire opponents 6–1 with goals by

Billy Townley William James Townley (14 February 1866 – 30 May 1950) was an English football player and coach. He scored the first hat-trick in the history of the FA Cup final, but his lasting legacy is defined as an important pioneer of the game in Ger ...

(3), Nat Walton,

Jack Southworth John Southworth (11 December 1866 – 16 October 1956), also known as Jack and Skimmy Southworth, was an English footballer who played in the early days of professional football for Blackburn Rovers and Everton as well as being capped three ti ...

and

Joe Lofthouse Joseph Morris Lofthouse (14 April 1865 – 10 June 1919) was an English people, English association football, footballer. Playing career Joseph Lofthouse was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, Blackburn on 14 April 1865. A talented footballer he j ...

. Blackburn reached the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

again in 1891. On this occasion

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

were their opponents. In the final, played at

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

on 21 March, Rovers put County under pressure from the beginning and in the 8th minute, centre-half Dewar scored from a Townley corner. Before the end of the first-half, Southworth and Townley had added further goals. Jimmy Oswald of Notts County scored a late consolation goal but Blackburn finished comfortable 3–1 winners and won the FA Cup for the fifth time in eight years. In June 1897 he moved to

New Brighton Tower New Brighton Tower was a steel lattice observation tower at New Brighton in the town of Wallasey, Cheshire (now in the Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside), England. It stood high, and was the tallest building in Great Britain when it opened s ...

and was part of the team that won the Lancashire League championship. Although New Brighton Tower would now be playing in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

he decided to move on and joined Southern League champions

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, who had just moved to their new home at The Dell. At Southampton he only made four appearances in November/December 1898 replacing the injured

Bob Petrie Robert Petrie (25 October 1874 – 1947) was a professional Association football, footballer who won the FA Cup with Sheffield Wednesday F.C., Sheffield Wednesday in FA Cup Final 1896, 1896 and was on the losing side in the FA Cup Final 1900, 19 ...

. Now in his thirties and with his best days behind him he retired from football in 1899 and returned to his native Scotland. Dewar was the brother-in-law of Blackburn teammate Tom Brandon via marriage to sisters from the local Duckworth family, though both relationships ended acrimoniously. He died of cancer in a

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

hospital in 1915, aged 48.

Honours

As a player

;Dumbarton *

Dumbartonshire Cup The Dumbartonshire Cup was the championship trophy of the Dumbartonshire FA from its inception in 1884 until the organization disbanded in 1938. There was however an 'extra' playing of the competition in 1939, immediately after the outbreak of the ...

winner: 1888-1889 ;Blackburn Rovers *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

winner:

1890 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony, in the Horn of Africa. ** In Michigan, the wooden steamer ''Mackinaw'' burns in a fire on the Black River. * January 2 ** The steamship ...

and

1891 Events January–March * January 1 ** Paying of old age pensions begins in Germany. ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. **Germany takes formal possession of its new Africa ...

Individual

* 2

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for Scotland between 1888 and 1889, scoring one goal; * 2 international trials for Scotland in 1889; * a representative cap for Scotch Counties in 1888; * 3 representative caps for Dumbartonshire between 1888 and 1889; * 2 representative caps for Scots Internationalists XI in 1888.

References

External links

Blackburn biographyScotland profileGeordie Dewar (The Sons Archive - Dumbarton Football Club History)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewar, Geordie 1867 births Footballers from Dumbarton 1915 deaths Scottish footballers Scotland men's international footballers Dumbarton F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players New Brighton Tower F.C. players Southampton F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players Men's association football central defenders FA Cup final players