George Edward Ainsley (15 April 1915 – April 1985) was an English professional

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 ...

and football manager.

Playing career

George Ainsley,a centre forward, played for his local side South Shields St. Andrews before joining Sunderland in April 1932. He made his league debut on 6 May 1933 in a 1–1 draw away to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. He played three more times the following season, in games against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, Stoke City and Manchester City, but failed to feature again for Sunderland. He left to join Bolton Wanderers in August 1936. In December the same year, after just seven league games for Bolton, Ainsley moved to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

. He scored on his league debut (On 19 December against Sunderland) and scored twice in his second appearance (as Leeds beat

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

). He was never a regular at Elland Road, despite scoring 30 times in 89 league games. He remained with Leeds until after the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, joining Bradford Park Avenue in November 1947. He retired from playing in 1949, having scored 29 goals in 44 games for Bradford Park Avenue.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Ainsley travelled the world as a coach. He began coaching in India in 1950, where he was the coach of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

and

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

football teams for four months. He returned to coach the football team at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

in the early 1950s. In

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

, he trained the Norwegian team

SK Brann Sportsklubben Brann (commonly known as Brann, and less often as SK Brann) is a Norwegian professional football club, founded 26 September 1908, from Bergen. Brann had been in the Eliteserien, Norway's Premier Division of Football, since 1987, bar ...

half of 1955. He was head coach of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

between 1958 and 1959. He was later coach of the

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

national team until November 1962 when he moved to Highland Park,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

as coach. Late in 1963 he became the manager of the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

national side, leaving that post in December 1964. He was appointed manager of

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Locat ...

in June 1965, guiding the side to their highest ever league position (5th in

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...

) the following season. However, Workington were relegated at the end of the 1966–67 season and Ainsley was sacked in November 1966. He then coached

USL Dunkerque Union Sportive du Littoral de Dunkerque is a French football club based in the commune of Dunkirk. It will compete in the Championnat National in the 2022–23 season. Their kit colours are white and blue, and they play their home matches at th ...

in France.

Death

He died in Leeds in 1985.

References

External links

Profile at Leeds-Fans.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ainsley, George 1915 births 1985 deaths Footballers from South Shields Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players English football managers English footballers Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in Ghana Expatriate football managers in Israel English expatriate sportspeople in France English expatriate sportspeople in Norway English expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate football managers in Norway English expatriate football managers SK Brann managers Israel national football team managers Leeds United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. wartime guest players Liverpool F.C. wartime guest players Sunderland A.F.C. players English Football League players Workington A.F.C. managers USL Dunkerque managers Ghana national football team managers Pakistan national football team managers English expatriate sportspeople in Pakistan Expatriate football managers in Pakistan Association football forwards Expatriate football managers in India English expatriate sportspeople in India