Frank Noel George (26 December 1897 – 1929) 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 ...

in the 1910s and 1920s who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Early career and Army

Born in

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

, he started playing as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

with

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

before joining the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was during his days in the army that he switched to the goalkeeper position.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

George was signed by

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 ...

(Wolves) in the summer of 1919, making his senior debut in February 1921 in an

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 ...

replay against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

. Wolves were to go on and make the final of the competition that season, and George played in the final, which was lost to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. He established himself as the Wolves keeper, and was an ever-present in the 1921–22, 1923–24 and 1924–25 seasons, and in all he made 242 senior competitive appearances for Wolves,Wolves A to Z player stats - wolves-stats.co.uk
222 of which were 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 ...

. He kept a total of 73

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

for Wolves.

Illness and death

George started to miss a number of games through injury in the 1925–26 and 1926–27 seasons and by November 1927 he was in the early stages of a terminal illness, and he retired in 1928. It was diagnosed as a disease of the gums and he died in 1929. His manager at Wolves, Frank Buckley, was convinced that his death was a result of ill-fitting dentures and thus from then on he ensured any of his players with dentures made regular visits to the dentist.

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers *

finalists: 1921 *

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North 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 South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

champions: 1923–24

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Noel 1897 births 1929 deaths Sportspeople from Lichfield Association football goalkeepers English Football League players Hednesford Town F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players British Army personnel of World War I English footballers Royal Army Service Corps soldiers FA Cup Final players