George McArthur Yardley (8 October 1942 – 14 November 2018) was a Scottish

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 ...

. Yardley began his career as a goalkeeper before becoming a

centre 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 ...

, most notably for Tranmere Rovers F.C.

Playing career

Born in

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, Yardley played his first football as a goalkeeper as an eight-year-old playing for Dunnikier Primary School. However, on moving to Temple Hall Secondary School he was forced to play as a forward because another goalkeeper was already playing. At Frances Colliery Juniors he played mostly as a forward, occasionally playing in goal. In 1959 he signed an amateur contract with East Fife as a goalkeeper. After sustaining a hand injury in 1960 Yardley switched to primarily playing as a forward though he did play a number of matches in goal. In 1964 Yardley trialled with

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 ...

, playing four matches. He then played out the second half of the 1963/1964 season with Montrose. Yardley played for Australian club St. George-Budapest in three separate stints. He played one season at St. George during the 1965 Australian season after emigrating to Australia in August 1964.www.since1888.co.uk
Retrieved 1 September 2009 On returning from Australia in October 1966, Yardley trialled for a month with English Fourth Division team Luton Town, playing one match. In November 1966 he moved to Tranmere Rovers. In four seasons between 1966 and 1970 he played 123 matches, scoring 68 goals. He was leading goal scorer for Rovers on four separate occasions. His second stint in Australia was in 1969 before returning to Tranmere Rovers. At the completion of his career at Tranmere he moved again to Australia. Yardley had a short stint with Altrincham in the 1973–74 season.

International career

Yardley played one match on 5 March 1960 for Scotland Amateurs against Wales at Rugby Park in Kilmarnock, which ended 3-3.

Personal life

After his football career, Yardley became a design

draughtsman A draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to: * An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century * An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types ...

on the Wirral. He died on 14 November 2018 in a care home at Dalgety Bay, Fife.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yardley, George 1942 births 2018 deaths Footballers from Kirkcaldy Association football goalkeepers Association football forwards Scottish footballers Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Forfar Athletic F.C. players Montrose F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players St. George Saints players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in Australia