George Dearnaley (born 23 February 1969) is a retired

South African __NOTOC__ South African may relate to: * The nation of South Africa * South African Airways * South African English * South African people * Languages of South Africa * Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the Afric ...

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

who played for

Hellenic FC Hellenic FC is a South African association football club based in Cape Town. They were nicknamed ''The Greek Gods''. Established in 1958 by Greek South Africans, Hellenic campaigned in the lower amateur leagues of Cape Town. But by the 1970s the ...

, Seven Stars and most notably

AmaZulu Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal ...

International career

He represented

Bafana Bafana The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international soccer and it is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for Soccer in South Africa. The team's nickname is Bafana Bafana (The Boys/G ...

in the 1994 World Cup qualifiers. He made his international debut in a Group D World Cup qualifying where

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beat

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

1–0 on 24 October 1992. He played his last international match in a Group D World Cup qualifying where South Africa beat Congo 1–0 on 31 January 1993. George’s nickname was “3 Caps”.

Early life

Dearnaley is of

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descent. His ancestors were probably from Dearnley in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. Dearnaley attended the New Forest Boys High School in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. Growing up in Montclair he had very easy access to NSL matches and venues in the townships. He would watch matches mainly from the Glebe Stadium in Umlazi where he encountered the likes of

Mlungisi Ngubane Mlungisi Raphael "Professor" Ngubane (born 20 February 1956 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal) is a former South African football (soccer) player and coach currently managing National First Division club Thanda Royal Zulu. He previously coached Dur ...

and

Jomo Sono Ephraim Matsilele Sono OIS (born Madoda Walletjies Mkulwana, 17 July 1955), better known as Jomo Sono, is a South African football club owner, coach and former professional footballer. He has been variously nicknamed the "Black Prince of South ...

on numerous occasions. George took inspiration to be a footballer from his Uncle, Addy Dearnaley, who played as a striker for local amateur teams in Stalybridge.

Amazulu

He got permission from Bizzah Dlamini to train with Usuthu in 1986 when Dearnaley was still in school. He left

for a soccer scholarship in

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after he saw minimal chances of playing professionally there, he returned after his father had a conversion with Clive Barker two weeks later. He attended first team pre season training with

Amazulu Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal ...

in 1990 when he attended the Natal Technikon. He scored the second goal on debut in January 1990 against Fairway Stars at Kings Park Stadium in

winning 3-0. He went on to be the 1992 NSL Golden Boot winner with 20 league goals. He was nicknamed "Sgebengu" by

fans which means "criminal" in Zulu.

Professional experience after retirement

*1997 – Associate Publisher at Touchline Media *1997–2007 – Associate Publisher at Kick Off Magazine *2006–2010 – Football consultant and columnist at 24.com *2008–2010 – Soccer Business Manager at Media24

Old Mutual FC

Dearnaley bought his own

SAFA Second Division The ABC Motsepe League, previously known as the Vodacom League between 1998 and 2012, was founded in 1998 as the current Second Division and the overall third tier of South African football. The competition is regulated by SAFA, and until 2012 ...

franchise, Old Mutual FC where he works with

Gerald Stober Gerald Stober (born 27 June 1969) is a South African former football (soccer) striker. International career He made his international debut on 22 November 1995 against Zambia as a substitute for Donald Khuse in the 60th minute. He played his la ...

and Mark Anderson as the goalkeeper coach.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dearnaley, George 1969 births Living people South African men's soccer players South Africa men's international soccer players AmaZulu F.C. players Hellenic F.C. players Soccer players from Cape Town South African people of English descent Men's association football forwards