George Handley (footballer)

Infobox Football biography
playername = George Handley


fullname = George Albert Handley
dateofbirth = 1886
cityofbirth = Totley, Sheffield
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath = 1952
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Winger
height = height|ft=5|in=7
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years =
1904–1906
1906–1911
1911–1912
1912–1913
1913–1921
clubs = Hallam
Chesterfield
Bradford City
Southampton
Goole Town
Bradford City
caps(goals) =
25 0(4)
86 (29)
24 0(2)

17 0(1)
manageryears = 1912–1913
managerclubs = Goole Town
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

George Albert Handley (1886 – 1952) was an English professional footballer who played most of his career as a winger with Bradford City.

Playing career

He was born in Totley, Sheffield and represented Sheffield Schools four times in the annual matches against London Schools.cite book
last = Frost
first = Terry
title = Bradford City A Complete Record 1903-1988
publisher = Breedon Books Sport
year = 1988
pages = p104
isbn = 0907969380] He started his professional career at the age of 17 with Hallam before moving to Chesterfield in January 1904. After two seasons with Chesterfield he joined Bradford City for the first time in October 1906 for a fee of £250.

At Bradford City he scored goals prolifically. After making his debut on 27 October 1906 in a 2–1 victory over Glossop North End, he played another 27 games in his first season scoring ten goals. In the 1907–08 season he scored 16 goals—a club record for a winger—from 37 games helping City to the Second Division championship. He struggled to repeat this form in the First Division and by 1911 he had fallen out of favour after making just 21 appearances in three seasons since promotion. His availability attracted the attention of Southampton's new manager George Swift, whom he had first met at Chesterfield. Swift was Southampton’s first appointment as manager and promptly embarked on a spending spree, signing 11 players in six weeks. [cite book | author=Gary Chalk & Duncan Holley | title=Saints - A complete record| publisher= Breedon Books| year=1987| pages =pp.50-51 |id=ISBN 0-907969-22-4]

Having joined Southampton in May 1911, Handley was immediately drafted into the first team on the left-wing, making his debut on 2 September 1911 at home to Millwall. Desribed by Holley and Chalk as "an orthodox player, who depended on team-mates to create openings" [cite book | author=Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk | title=The Alphabet of the Saints| publisher= ACL & Polar Publishing | year=1992|pages=p. 155| id=ISBN 0-9514862-3-3] he was, however, one of Swift's better signings. After Swift was dismissed at the end of the season, Handley left The Dell and took up a post of player-manager with Goole Town in April 1912.

In December 1913 he returned to Bradford City where he made just one appearance in two seasons before the outbreak of the First World War. During the war, Handley joined the Royal Flying Corps, before returning to Bradford City after the cessation of hostilities. After two more seasons with City, he moved to Switzerland to take up coaching positions with Brühl in April 1922, and later St Gallen.

Honours

;Bradford City
*Second Division championship: 1907–08

References