George McNeil (July 26, 1914 – December 24, 1997) was an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player and manager, who represented

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

internationally at both sports.

Baseball

McNeil played baseball in the semi-professional Yorkshire League, 1937, and Yorkshire-Lancashire League, 1938 and 1939, in the United Kingdom. He played regularly for the Yorkshire County representative side including against the USA Test Series side in 1938. He started the 1937 season with Scarborough Seagulls but when they folded in August concluded the season at Hull. For the 1938 season he played third base for Leeds Oaks who he had joined as coach and captain. In August 1938, at just 24 years of age, he represented the

Great Britain national baseball team The Great Britain national baseball team is the national men's baseball team of the United Kingdom. It is governed by the British Baseball Federation, and is also a member nation of the Confederation of European Baseball. History The British ...

as player-manager in a Test Series against the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball to ...

preparing for the 1940 Olympic Games. The British team which did consist largely of Canadians playing baseball professionally in the UK, won the Series by 4 games to 1. Subsequently, English entrepeneur and sports sponsor, John Moores, presented a trophy for the winners, the competition and Trophy becoming known as the

Baseball World Cup The Baseball World Cup was an international tournament where national baseball teams from around the world competed. It was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). Along with the World Baseball Classic, it was one of two activ ...

. In the 1939 season, he captained Halifax in retaining the Yorkshire-Lancashire League Championship.

Ice Hockey

McNeil played for the Richmond Hawks,

Brighton Tigers The Brighton Tigers were an English ice hockey club based in Brighton. The team existed from 1935 until 1965 and were one of the United Kingdom's most successful sides during that period. The club was based at the Brighton Sports Stadium (often ...

and

Earls Court Rangers Earls Court Rangers were an early English ice hockey team that played in the English National League. They were formed in 1935 and disbanded in 1953. They played their home games at the Earls Court Arena in west London, England at Empress Hall; ...

in the

English National League The English National League was an early ice hockey league in England. It was founded in 1935 by most of the teams who had previously competed in the English League. It was suspended during the Second World War World War II or t ...

and for the

Dundee Tigers The Dundee Tigers are a Scottish ice hockey team, based in the city of Dundee. The present team play in the Scottish National League, and have won the competition once. Earlier, (but not related), incarnations of the Tigers have won numerous ...

in the Scottish National League prior to 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 ...

. He may be best remembered as a coach for the Tigers between 1946 and 1949 and for the Falkirk Lions between 1949 and 1954 when he retired. He was inducted to the

British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame The British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1948 and is the third oldest ice hockey Hall of Fame in the world, behind the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame (also founded in 1948) and the International Hockey Hall of Fame (founded in 19 ...

in 1956.

References

1914 births 1997 deaths Brighton Tigers players British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian ice hockey right wingers Canadian people of Scottish descent Earls Court Rangers players Ice hockey people from Nova Scotia Place of birth missing Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in England Great Britain national baseball team people Great Britain national baseball team managers Great Britain national baseball team players Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United Kingdom {{Canada-icehockey-winger-1910s-stub