George Haworth

Infobox Football biography
playername = George Haworth


fullname = George Haworth
dateofbirth = birth date|1864|10|17|df=y
cityofbirth = Accrington
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath = Not Known
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height =
position = Right Half / Centre Half
youthyears = 1878–1883
youthclubs = Christ Church
years = 1883–1885
1885
1885–1892
clubs = Accrington
Blackburn Rovers
Accrington
caps(goals) = 000 0(0)
000 0(0)
074 0(3)
nationalyears = 1887–1890
nationalteam = England
nationalcaps(goals) = 005 0(0)
pcupdate =
ntupdate = George Haworth (born 17 October 1864) was an English footballer, who helped Blackburn Rovers win the FA Cup in 1885. He also made five appearances for England.

Career

Haworth was born in Accrington and played for Christ Church FC as a teenager from 1878cite book | author=Graham Betts| title=England: Player by player | publisher=Green Umbrella Publishing | year=2006|pages=p.124| isbn=1-905009-63-1] and by 1883 he was playing for Accrington. At some point he joined Blackburn Rovers and was a member of their team which won the FA Cup in 1885.

The 1885 FA Cup Final was played at the Oval on 4 April against Scottish team Queen's Park, who were hoping to gain revenge for their defeat, in somewhat controversial circumstances, the previous year. This time there was little controversy and it was soon clear that Rovers were the superior side, even though Queens Park fielded six players who had appeared in the England v. Scotland match two weeks earlier. After 14 minutes, Jimmy Forrest got the better of his marker Charles Campbell and was able to fire Rovers in front from close range, after Jimmy Brown's shot had come back off the goal-posts. Although Walter Arnott did put the ball in the net just before half-time, referee Francis Marindin disallowed the "goal" for hand-ball. The Scots continued to attack, but Rovers increased their lead on 58 minutes when Brown added a second goal. From this point, Rovers controlled the game, and claimed the trophy for the second consecutive year.

For the 1885–86 season Haworth was back with Accrington, for whom he was registered for his five England appearances, making his debut against Ireland on 5 February 1887. Haworth was selected for all three matches in the 1887 British Home Championship. The matches against Ireland and Wales resulted in easy victories with scores of 7–0 (three goals from Tinsley Lindley and a pair each from Fred Dewhurst and William Cobbold) [ [http://www.englandstats.com/matchreport.php?mid=29 England 7 - Ireland 0; 5 February 1887 (Match summary)] ] and 4–0 (another two goals from Lindley) [ [http://www.englandstats.com/matchreport.php?mid=30 England 4 - Wales 0; 26 February 1887 (Match summary)] ] respectively, but in England's final match of the tournament against Scotland played at Leamington Road, Blackburn on March 19, 1887 the Scots won 3–2 [ [http://www.englandstats.com/matchreport.php?mid=31 England 2 - Scotland 3; 19 March 1887 (Match summary)] ] and went on to claim the championship.

England were able to gain revenge for the 1887 defeat by Scotland in the following year, when Haworth played at centre-half in a 5–0 victory, including two goals from Fred Dewhurst. [ [http://www.englandstats.com/matchreport.php?mid=33 Scotland 0 - England 5; 17 March 1888 (Match summary)] ] Haworth's final international appearance came two years later in a 1–1 draw with Scotland. [ [http://www.englandstats.com/matchreport.php?mid=40 Scotland 1 - England 1; 5 April 1890 (Match summary)] ]

In 1888, Accrington were one of the twelve founder members of The Football League, and in their first league season Haworth played in all but one of the club's 22 matches, scoring once as Accrington finished seventh in the table. In the following season, Haworth was now team captain and "performed splendidly at the heart of the defence" [cite book |author= Philip Gibbons|title= Association Football in Victorian England - A History of the Game from 1863 to 1900|year= 2001|publisher= Upfront Publishing|pages=pp.130-131|isbn=1-844260-35-6] as Accrington gained their highest league position with a sixth place finish. Haworth continued at centre-half for Accrington over the next three seasons, before retiring in 1892. In the first round of the FA Cup in 1892, Haworth scored in a 4-1 victory over Crusaders, [ cite book |author= Mike Collett|title= The Complete Record of the FA Cup|year= 2003|publisher= Sports Books|pages=pp.88-89|isbn=1-899807-19-5] before going out to Sunderland in a replayed Second Round match.

His nephew, John Haworth, was to help found Accrington Stanley and later manage Burnley.

Honours

;Blackburn Rovers
*FA Cup winner: 1885

References

External links

* [http://www.englandfc.com/Profiles/php/PlayerProfileByName.php?id=462 Profile on www.englandfc.com]
* [http://www.englandstats.com/playerreport.php?pid=458 Profile on www.englandstats.com]
* [http://www.park-road.u-net.com/qmh1.htm Article about Nephew John Haworth ]