George Thomson McLean (1898 – 1970) was a Scottish 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 for

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

, Bradford (Park Avenue) and

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

Career

McLean began playing football in his native Scotland for

Scottish Football Alliance The Scottish Football Alliance was a football league football structure set up in Scotland in competition with the Scottish Football League. Its success in the early years of professional football in both England and Scotland made Alliance the bas ...

side

in 1920 before coming to England in 1921 to play for

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

Football League Division Two The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

. He left Forfar just before the ''Loons'' joined the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

. He was good enough to sign a contract just before his leaving to ensure the

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...

side received £700 from his new club for his services. Bradford were relegated in his first season but McLean stayed at Horton Park Avenue, becoming one of their legendary players, scoring over a century of league goals and guiding the club to the

Division Three 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 ...

title in 1928. McLean also played in the famous

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

upsets of Everton in 1923 and

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

in 1930, scoring the last minute winner in the former. After a decade in Bradford, McLean was signed by First Division

in 1930. He went home to Forfar and made his second debut in 1935, playing until the outbreak of

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 opposin ...

in 1939.

Personal life

He was the younger brother of footballer David McLean who was a noted goalscorer of the age.SFAQs: Davie McLean
ScottishLeague.net They were teammates at Bradford for one season ( 1921–22, David's last of three campaigns at the club and George's first of nine) and both closed out their careers at Forfar, but David (eight years older) had retired by the time George came 'home'. He died in 1970.

References

1898 births 1970 deaths English Football League players Scottish Football League players Scottish men's footballers Men's association football inside forwards Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Forfar Athletic F.C. players Sportspeople from Forfar Footballers from Angus, Scotland {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1890s-stub