Roderick Bruce Georgeson (born 31 July 1948) is an Egyptian former

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, rugb ...

, described by football historian Jeff Kent as "flamboyant". He scored 107 goals in 429 league games in a 17-year career in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

and

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

. He played for Bo'ness United,

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 ...

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Raith Rovers, Berwick Rangers, Dunfermline Athletic, Montrose, Meadowbank Thistle, Arniston Rangers (as player-manager), and Penicuik Athletic. He was promoted 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 ...

with Meadowbank Thistle in 1982–83.

Career

Georgeson had a trial with

in October 1965, and after a spell with Bo'ness United, he returned to Vale permanently in January 1966. He was a part of

Jackie Mudie John Knight Mudie (10 April 1930 – 2 March 1992) was a Scottish international footballer who played as a forward. He won seventeen caps for his country, helping the Scotland national team to qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup. Starti ...

and

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while sti ...

' Scottish experiment for the

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

club. United reported Vale to the

Scottish Junior Football Association The Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the level of football ...

over the transfer. In the match against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

Valley Parade Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Built in 1886, it was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they ...

on 12 January 17-year-old Georgeson was a part of the youngest ever

forward line, along with teenage teammates Alex Donald (17),

Mick Cullerton Michael Joseph Cullerton (born 25 November 1948) is a Scottish former footballer. He is noted for his two spells with Port Vale, as well as for being Stafford Rangers' star forward as they were one of the elite non-league clubs in the 1970s. H ...

(17), Paul Bannister (18), and Paul Ogden (19). He claimed his first league goal three days later, in a 2–1 win over

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Bor ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

. He played five Fourth Division games and one

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 compet ...

game in the 1965–66 season. He scored five goals in 22 appearances in the 1966–67 campaign, but was released at his own request in July 1967 after failing to agree with terms with the club. He moved on to

Bobby Ancell Robert Francis Dudgeon Ancell (16 June 1911 – 5 July 1987) was a Scottish football player and manager. He played as a left back for St Mirren, Newcastle United, Dundee and Aberdeen. He won two full caps with the Scotland national football t ...

, who finished ninth in the

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as ...

in 1967–68 and 1968–69, and then sixth in 1969–70 under John Prentice's stewardship. He scored three goals in only 13 league matches in his three seasons at Dens Park. He had a trial with Hibernian, and then dropped into the Scottish Second Division to join Raith Rovers. "Hibs" finished eighth in 1970–71, before

George Farm George Neil Farm (13 July 1924 – 18 July 2004) was a Scottish professional football goalkeeper and manager. Born in Slateford, a suburb of Edinburgh, Farm represented his country on ten occasions, the last three of which occurred after a g ...

led them to 11th in 1971–72 and fourth in 1972–73. He scored 25 goals in 92 league games at Stark's Park. Georgeson then switched to league rivals Berwick Rangers.

Harry Melrose Harry Melrose (born 31 May 1935) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. Club career A winger, Melrose started his playing career for Rangers. His only appearance for the Gers was in the Scottish League Cup semi-final in ...

's Rovers finished fifth in 1973–74, ninth in 1974–75, and 11th in 1975–76. Georgeson claimed 37 goals in 90 league appearances at Shielfield Park. Georgeson signed with Harry Melrose's Dunfermline Athletic, who finished third in 1976–77 and 1977–78. He scored 19 goals in 72 league games at

East End Park East End Park, currently named KDM Group East End Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium situated in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland with a seating capacity of . The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Championship sid ...

. He switched to Montrose, who were relegated out of the First Division at the end of the 1978–79 season under the stewardship of Kenny Cameron despite Georgeson scoring five goals in 18 league games at

Links Park Links Park is a football stadium in Montrose, Scotland. It has been the home ground of Montrose F.C. since 1887. Links Park was opened in 1887 on land rented from the ' Auld Kirk'. To help finance the new ground, Montrose F.C. rented the pitch ...

. He then returned to Berwick Rangers, scoring four goals in 30 first Division games in 1979–80. He moved on to Meadowbank Thistle, who finished 13th in the Second Division in 1980–81 and 12th in 1981–82, before winning promotion in second place in 1982–83. Georgeson scored eight goals in 87 league games at Meadowbank Stadium. He later served Arniston Rangers as player-manager, and played for Penicuik Athletic and Haddington.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Meadowbank Thistle * Scottish Football League Second Division second-place promotion: 1982–83

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgeson, Roddy 1948 births Living people Sportspeople from Cairo Egyptian footballers Association football forwards Bo'ness United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players Berwick Rangers F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Montrose F.C. players Arniston Rangers F.C. players Penicuik Athletic F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Association football player-managers Egyptian football managers