George Lawton (4 August 1862 – 1930) 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 in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

Career

George Lawton joined Stoke St Peter's in 1884. In July 1885, he signed for

, playing in both

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 ...

matches in the 1885–86 season as Stoke lost to

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 a replay. In January 1886 he joined

nearby Nearby (previously named WNM Live / Who's Near Me) was a location-based social networking service. Nearby was originally launched in June 2010.. The site closed in September 2021 following a significant data break. Background Nearby was fo ...

Burslem 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 of ...

, where he scored three times in thirteen

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

, before returning to Stoke in the May of that year. Stoke' major achievement from 1886 to 1888 was reaching the

1887–88 FA Cup The 1887–88 Football Association Challenge Cup was the 17th staging of the FA Cup, England's oldest Association football, football tournament. One hundred and forty-nine teams entered, twenty-one more than the previous season, although four of t ...

Fifth Round. The tie was played on 7 January 1888 at

Stoney Lane Stoney Lane was a football ground in West Bromwich, England. It was the home ground of West Bromwich Albion from 1885 until 1900. History West Bromwich Albion moved to Stoney Lane in 1885 from their Four Acres ground in 1885. A 600-seat grandst ...

, the then home of

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

. Stoke lost 4–1. Lawton played in all four FA Cup ties in 1887–88 and scored two goals. (registration & fee required) Lawton made his

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

debut on 13 October 1888, playing as a winger, in a 2–1 defeat to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

Pike's Lane Pike's Lane was a football ground in Bolton, England. It was the home ground of Bolton Wanderers between 1880 and 1895, and the venue of the first goal scored in league football anywhere in the world. History Pike's Lane opened in 1880, with the ...

. He scored his home debut seven days later against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

, the score was 3–3 with three minutes of play left when Lawton scored the winner to make it 4–3. Lawton appeared in 13 of the 22 league matches played by Stoke in the 1888–89 season, scoring one league goal. As a winger (13 appearances) Lawton played in a Stoke midfield that achieved big (three–League–goals–or–more) wins once. Stoke finished bottom of the table and at the end of the season Lawton joined

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

. In 1890 he moved from Altrincham to Belvedere.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawton, George Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Stoke City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players English Football League players 1930 deaths 1862 births