George Farmer (13 Dec 1862 – 4 May 1905) was a Welsh

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 for Everton. On signing from

Oswestry Town Oswestry Town Football Club was a football club from Shropshire, playing at Victoria Road. They joined the Birmingham League in 1924 and switched to the Cheshire County League in 1959. In 1975 they made the move to the Southern League before ...

he became Everton's first ever professional player, and was the first player to score in a recognised competitive match for the club - a 2–2 draw in an FA Cup first round replay against

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 ...

Early career

Farmer was originally a skinner by trade. He signed for his local club,

, then known as Oswestry White Stars, in 1881. In 1884 he helped Oswestry Town to win the Welsh Cup and, they reached the Final, as cup-holders the following year. He was awarded two caps by Wales in 1885 (against England and Scotland). He was signed by Everton in February 1885 and made his Everton debut in March 1885 against Crewe Alexandra. In the 1885–86 season he scored 34 goals from 41 games and played in six different positions. He scored 23 goals in the 1886–87 season and 15 goals in 1887–88. In the pre-Football League era he played 131 times for Everton scoring 80 goals. Farmer was 5'6" tall, he was a clever, constructive player, noted as a 'fine passer' who was capable of 'beautiful work'. He was also adept with in-swinging corner-kicks.

1888-1889 season

Farmer made his League debut on 8 September 1888, playing as a winger, at Anfield, the home of Everton. The home team defeated the visitors

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

2–1. Farmer scored his debut and only League goal on 6 October 1888, playing as a wing–half, at Anfield. Everton defeated the visitors

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

2–0 and Farmer scored the second of the two Everton goals. Farmer appeared in 21 of the 22 League matches played by Everton and scored one League goal.

End of career

Farmer played more as a reserve player in 1889–90 but he did make ten appearances. He left Everton in 1890 and played for a number of non-league Merseyside clubs before retiring as a player. His life after football is not in the records. He died in Liverpool on 4 May 1905 at the age of 42.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farmer, George 1862 births 1905 deaths Footballers from Oswestry Men's association football wing halves English men's footballers Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Oswestry Town F.C. players Everton F.C. players Liverpool South End F.C. players Rock Ferry F.C. players English Football League players