George Haigh (26 June 1915 – 23 April 2019) 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 le ...

, mainly known for his association with

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

. At the age of 103, he was the oldest surviving former County player, and had been widely attributed for being the oldest surviving former professional footballer, although Arthur Smith was one month older at the time of Haigh's death.

Career

Haigh's career started at

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in 1931, as a junior. He played in the reserves alongside

Frank Swift Frank Victor Swift (26 December 1913 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for Manchester City and England. After starting his career with local clubs near his home town of Blackpool, in 1932 he was signed b ...

, but when Swift was promoted to the senior side, Haigh stayed where he was. During his time at City, he also worked in a dying and bleaching factory. In 1936, he joined

, where he played at all levels for County, from the A team right up to the first team. Haigh had the misfortune to score an own goal on his debut for County, and made a second league appearance before the outbreak of the

Second World War 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 opposin ...

. In 1940, he enlisted in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, serving as a physical training instructor and was stationed at RAF Morecambe and

RAF Wilmslow RAF Wilmslow was a Royal Air Force station that existed from 1938 until 1962 in Wilmslow, Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to ...

, where he trained new recruits and parachutists. He reached the rank of flight sergeant before being commissioned an

acting pilot officer Acting pilot officer (A/Plt Off) is the lowest commissioned grade in the Royal Air Force. Acting pilot officer is not an actual military rank, therefore acting pilot officers are regraded to pilot officer instead of receiving a promotion. Unl ...

(on probation) on 20 June 1941, and was regraded as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

(on probation) on 20 August. Whilst at Morecambe, he played for the services team as well as the town's

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

, and in 1942, joined

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. Rochdale often played

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, and Haigh was usually tasked to mark

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...

. During wartime, he also made guest appearances for

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

. On 20 June 1942, Haigh was confirmed in the rank of pilot officer, and was promoted to flying officer (war-substantive) on 20 August. He was promoted to

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

(war-substantive) on 11 September 1944, and was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

in 1945, ending his service with the rank of

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

. In 1945, he was offered the player-manager position at

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

, but Haigh decided to join

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Footb ...

as they had offered him a trade as a metal spinner, as well as the captaincy of the team. Coincidentally, the club already had a player who owned an engineering firm, so Haigh was able to train during the week and play for the club on the weekends. The following year, Haigh was later discharged as a sergeant. In 1948, he was appointed as player-manager for Rossendale United. Haigh had been vocal about his time at Rossendale, as he was constantly undermined by the board of directors over prospective new players, so he resigned in 1952, effectively ending his career in football. In 1998, County's club historians got back in touch with Haigh (and even then, he was considered one of the oldest surviving former professional footballers). He maintained regular contact with the club, appearing as a guest of honour in 2008. In 2010, he was one of the first recipients of a Stockport County Appearance Number certificate. He continued to watch County home and away up until after his 100th birthday, but made special appearances after that, notably in November 2018 when he unveiled a plaque at Edgley Park commemorating former players who died in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Haigh suffered from

age-related macular degeneration Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a medical condition which may result in blurred or no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no symptoms. Over time, however, som ...

and, until at least 2015, received support from Blind Veterans UK, the national

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

for blind and vision-impaired ex-Service men and women.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haigh, George 1915 births 2019 deaths English centenarians Men centenarians English footballers Morecambe F.C. players Lancaster City F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Rossendale United F.C. players Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Stockport County F.C. players Association football defenders Walsall F.C. wartime guest players Burnley F.C. wartime guest players Royal Air Force squadron leaders Royal Air Force Physical Training instructors