George Willis (9 November 1926 – 25 May 2011) was an English

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 as an

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

, and

Taunton Town Taunton Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Taunton, Somerset. They compete in the , the sixth tier of English football and play their home matches at Wordsworth Drive, which they moved into during the 1953 season. ...

. He won the

Third Division South The Third Division South 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 North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

title with Plymouth in 1951–52.

Career

Willis joined

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

in January 1945, having worked as a miner on leaving school. He guested 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

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

in 1946. In February 1948, he moved on to

, who struggled at the foot of the

table in the 1947–48 campaign, before rising to sixth place in 1948–49. He scored 13 goals in 28 league games for

Don Welsh Donald Welsh (25 February 1911 – 2 February 1990) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he played at inside left for Charlton Athletic and for England, winning the FA Cup with Charlton in 1946–47. Playing career Welsh j ...

's "Seagulls", before leaving the

Goldstone Ground The Goldstone Ground (or The Goldstone) was a football stadium in Hove, East Sussex that was the home ground of Brighton & Hove Albion between 1902 and 1997. History The Goldstone Ground stood on Old Shoreham Road, Hove, opposite Hove Park i ...

for

in May 1949.

Jimmy Rae James Clarkson Rae (22 November 1907 – 4 July 1958) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager who most famously played for and then became manager of English Football League club Plymouth Argyle. He was a full back and also repres ...

's "Pilgrims" suffered relegation 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 ...

in 1949–50. Argyle finished fourth in the Third Division South in 1950–51, before winning

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

as the division's champions in 1951–52. The

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.

club then came to within two places of promotion to the First Division in 1952–53, before dropping down to within two places of relegation in 1953–54. Plymouth finished just one place and three points above the drop zone in 1954–55, before suffering relegation in 1955–56 under the stewardship of

Jack Rowley John Frederick Rowley (7 October 1918 – 28 June 1998) was an English footballer who played as a forward from the 1930s to the 1950s, mainly remembered for a 17-year spell with Manchester United. He was nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his p ...

. Willis scored 14 goals in 59 league appearances for the club. He joined

Norman Dodgin Norman Dodgin (born 1 November 1921 in Gateshead - August 2000) was an English footballer who played between 1947 and 1955. His predominant position was at defence. Dodgin became a player-manager in 1953 while playing for Exeter City, until h ...

after he and John Porteous were signed for a fee of £250 in March 1956. He spent the 1956–57 season at

St James Park St James Park and variants may refer to: Municipalities * St James Park, New Zealand, a suburb of Hamilton, New Zealand Football stadiums * St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, England * St James Park (Exeter), Exeter, England * St James Park, g ...

, before a spell in the Western League with

. He also had a spell with

Falmouth Town Falmouth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom. They are currently members of the and play at Bickland Park. The club were the first Cornish team to reach the first round proper of the F ...

in the

South Western League The South Western Football League was an English association football league composed of clubs from Cornwall and west and north Devon. It consisted of a single division at the eleventh overall tier of the English football league system, the seven ...

in the 1958–59 season, and was a South Western League Cup winner in his only season with the club.

Personal and later life

Willis had two children with June, his wife, called Roy and Lynda, and two children from a previous marriage. He ran the ''Ram and Ewe Bars'' at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

for many years. He was a grandfather to Kate and Emily. Willis died on 25 May 2011, aged 84.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, George Footballers from Stanley, County Durham English men's footballers Men's association football inside forwards Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Port Vale F.C. wartime guest players Crewe Alexandra F.C. wartime guest players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Taunton Town F.C. players Falmouth Town A.F.C. players English Football League players Western Football League players 1926 births 2011 deaths