Ernest George Wilkins (27 October 1919 – January 1999) was a 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 ...

and had four footballing sons, including the England International

Ray Wilkins Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

Playing career

While working as a lorry boy, Wilkins played football for Hayes. In 1938 he signed as a professional for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. After making his First Division debut in January 1939 he played three League games before the Second World War. He continued to play for Brentford during the war, including at Wembley in the 1942 London Cup Final, when Brentford beat Portsmouth. He served in the Royal Kent Regiment. When the war ended, he continued with Brentford Wilkins was sold in February 1947 for a fee of £7,000 to

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 ...

. In the following December he was sold 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 ...

for £7,500. He moved to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

in September 1949 where he played only three games. In a career interrupted by the war, he played 83 league games and scored 19 goals for the four professional clubs. After his first coaching gig, he played in the Kent League for Dover in the 1952–53 season.

Coaching career

In December 1949 Wilkins returned to Hayes as a coach. He was coach three times at Hayes until sacked in January 1961, when the players complained of his over-rigorous training methods.

Personal life

George Wilkins was born in Hackney, East London. Three of his sons,

Graham Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...

Ray Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (g ...

and

Dean Wilkins Dean Mark Wilkins (born 12 July 1962) is an English football coach and former professional player. He was most recently the assistant manager of League Two club Stevenage. Managerial career Wilkins assumed the position of caretaker manager at ...

, played professional football, with Ray playing 84 times for

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 ...

. Another son,

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

, was signed by

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and made one appearance for Brentford, before playing for a number of

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

teams, including

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...

and Hayes. He died in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, in January 1999. He was 79 years old.

Honours

Brentford * London War Cup: 1941–42

References

External links

George Wilkins profile, hayesfc.netGeorge Wilkins profile, ozwhitelufc.net.au
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkins, George 1919 births 1999 deaths English men's footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Hackney People from Hackney, London Men's association football forwards Brentford F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

British Army personnel of World War II English Football League players