George Barr (December 31, 1915 – April 11, 2000) was an American
soccer fullback who spent fifteen seasons in the
American Soccer League. He was inducted to the
National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1983.
Barr moved to the United States from England in 1927. Five years later, he signed with
Brooklyn Celtic
Brooklyn Celtic was a name used by at least two U.S. soccer teams. The first was an early twentieth century amateur team which was formed in August 1910 and dominated the New York Amateur Association Football League from 1912 to 1917. The second ...
of the
American Soccer League. In 1935, he moved to
New York Brookhattan. In 1936, he had a trial with
Hearts F.C., but was not offered a contract. He returned to Brookhattan and remained with the team until 1947, except for three years during which he served in the U.S. Army during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. While Brookhattan won the
1945 National Challenge Cup, Barr was injured and did not play in the final. In 1947, Barr joined
Brooklyn Hispano
The Brooklyn Hispano was an American soccer club based in Brooklyn, New York that was an inaugural member of the reformed American Soccer League. The club was named the Brooklyn Giants for the 1942/43 season only.
The Hispano club competed in th ...
, retiring in 1950.
During all of this time George played against numerous touring teams both for his club and for ASL All Star teams. Most notable amongst these were the games in 1939 for the Eastern United States and the ASL All Star teams which opposed the touring Scottish Football Association team. In 1941 George played in the first two indoor tournaments held in the old Madison Square Garden since the late 1920s. The first event was a debacle as the terrazzo surface proved to be so slippery for the fast game, but for the second tournament packed dirt was substituted and the games were well received by the 12,000 fans. During the years of the Second World War he was shipped off to the Southwest Pacific Theatre of Operations where he eventually captained the U. S. Army team during World War II in games played in Brisbane and Sydney, Australia. Off the soccer field he worked for J.C. Penney for 39 years. After retirement, coached the Syosset Police Boys Club in the Long Island Junior League.
External links
National Soccer Hall of Fame
1915 births
2000 deaths
Scottish emigrants to the United States
American men's soccer players
American Soccer League (1933–1983) players
Brooklyn Celtic (1933–1935) players
Brookhattan players
Brooklyn Hispano players
National Soccer Hall of Fame members
Men's association football defenders
Footballers from Edinburgh
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