George Robert Mills (born 29 December 1908 in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

, died 15 July 1970) 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 ...

, principally for

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 ...

. He signed for Chelsea as an amateur in 1929 from

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

and stayed at the club for the rest of his career. He was a prolific goal scorer in his time there, notching 125 goals in 239 games. Despite often being overlooked by more glamorous, but less reliable, forwards such as

Hughie Gallacher Hugh Kilpatrick Gallacher (2 February 1903 – 11 June 1957) was a Scottish football player in the 1920s and 1930s. In 624 senior games, Gallacher scored 463 goals, playing senior league football for Airdrieonians, Newcastle United, Chelsea, D ...

and Joe Bambrick, he remained loyal to the club. In his debut season, Mills scored 14 goals in 20 games for Chelsea, helping them achieve promotion to the First Division. His best season was in 1936-37, when he scored 22 goals in 32 appearances, which earned him an

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 ...

call-up. He won three international caps for England and scored three goals, all of which came in a 5–1 win against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

on 23 October 1937. Mills was the first Chelsea player to score over 100 league goals, a feat only five others have since matched, and is the club's 8th highest goal scorer of all time. He is also the last Chelsea player to have scored a hat-trick against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, which came in a 6–1 win in August 1937. Upon retiring he became a coach at Chelsea. He later worked in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

for a printing company. He died while on holiday in

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...

in 1970.

References

1908 births 1970 deaths Bromley F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff English men's footballers England men's international footballers Arsenal F.C. wartime guest players Liverpool F.C. wartime guest players Footballers from Deptford English Football League players English Football League representative players Men's association football forwards Brentford F.C. wartime guest players {{England-footy-forward-1900s-stub