George Heywood (12 January 1907 – 7 September 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 le ...

who played in 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 ...

for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

and Southport.

Early and personal life

George Heywood was born on 12 January 1907 in Clayton,

Manchester 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 t ...

. His father,

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Ro ...

, played professional football for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

and

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 ...

. He died of a heart attack on 7 September 1985, whilst on holiday in

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

Career

Early career

Heywood played for South Salford Lads from 1921 to 1927 and was capped by England Schoolboys against Wales in 1921. He was spotted by Billy Meredith and signed to

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 ...

as an amateur. He played 11 Central League games as left-back for the Reserves and also played for Oldham Athletic Reserves in the Midweek League.

Altrincham

Heywood joined

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

and played two

Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Footba ...

games at right-back during the 1928–29 campaign. He signed a

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

with the club in April 1930, playing the last four games of the 1929–30 season at right-back. He missed just two games of the 1930–31 season, featuring in both full-back positions. He played 50 games from right-back of the 1931–32 campaign, but rejected interest from

clubs such as Crystal Palace 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 ...

as he was satisfied with his job at the GEC as a mechanical inspector. He missed just three games in the 1932–33 season. He won the Cheshire Senior Cup with the club in 1934, as Altrincham beat

Congleton Town Congleton Town Football Club is an association football club based in Congleton, Cheshire, England. They currently play in the and are full members of the Cheshire County Football Association. The club have played in a number of regional league ...

1–0 in the final at Edgeley Park. He also scored his first goal during the 1933–34 season, converting a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

kick. Altrincham finished second to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

in the 1934–35 season and also reached the semi-finals in both the Cheshire Senior Cup and the Cheshire County Cup; he scored two goals in 55 appearances playing across from former

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 ...

international left-back Billy Felton.

Later career

Heywood joined

for a £250 fee in November 1935. His debut came in a 9–2 defeat to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

at the City Ground. Despite the heavy loss he remained he a regular for the rest of the season, making 21 appearances as the "Valiants" were relegated out of 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 ...

. He lost his place soon into the next season however, and was transferred to

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

rivals Southport in November 1936. Southport were suffering an injury crisis, and trainer

Jimmy Seddon Jimmy Seddon (20 May 1895 – October 1971) was an English footballer who played most famously in the centre of defence for Bolton Wanderers during the 1920s. For Bolton he played 375 games in all completions, scoring 5 goals, he also collected ...

had known Heywood from his time at Altrincham. He spent the 1937–38 campaign with Hyde United, making 41 Cheshire County League appearances and also playing three cup games. He later played for

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

and

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

, before returning to Altrincham. He retired from football in 1940.

Style of play

Heywood was a full-back with pace and tackling ability, as well as passing technique and good positional sense.

Career statistics

Honours

Altrincham * Cheshire Senior Cup: 1934

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heywood, George People from Clayton Footballers from Manchester English men's footballers England men's schools international footballers Men's association football fullbacks Manchester City F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Southport F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players English Football League players 1907 births 1985 deaths