George Travers
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Edward Travers | ||
| Date of birth | 4 November 1888 | ||
| Place of birth | Birmingham, England | ||
| Date of death | 31 August 1946 (aged 57) | ||
| Place of death | Smethwick, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1904–1905 | Bilston United | ||
| 1905–1906 | Rowley United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1906–1907 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | (0) |
| 1907–1908 | Birmingham | 2 | (0) |
| 1908–1909 | Aston Villa | 4 | (4) |
| 1909–1910 | Queens Park Rangers | 34 | (7) |
| 1910–1911 | Leicester Fosse | 12 | (5) |
| 1911–1914 | Barnsley | 84 | (23) |
| 1914–1919 | Manchester United | 21 | (4) |
| → Tottenham Hotspur (guest) | |||
| 1919–1920 | Swindon Town | 34 | (12) |
| 1920 | Millwall | 2 | (0) |
| 1920–1921 | Norwich City | 29 | (11) |
| 1921 | Gillingham | 10 | (1) |
| 1921–1922 | Nuneaton Town | ||
| 1922–1929 | Cradley St Luke's | ||
| 1929–1931 | Bilston United | ||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
James Edward Travers (4 November 1888 – 31 August 1946), known as George Travers, was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward or centre forward. He made 164 appearances in the Football League, representing a number of clubs prior to and just after the First World War.[1]
Life and career
Travers was born in Newtown, Birmingham, and attended Birchfield Road School in nearby Aston. He began his football career with local teams Bilston United and Rowley United before joining Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1906. He made no league appearances for the club before moving on to Birmingham, where he spent eighteen months and played only twice for the first team. Transferred to Aston Villa in a part-exchange deal involving Jack Wilcox, he marked his debut in December 1908 with a hat-trick, but played only three more league games, leaving for Queens Park Rangers, then a Southern League club, at the end of the 1908–09 season. A year in London, during which he scored 7 goals from 34 appearances in the League (8 from 41 in all competitions),[2] preceded six months with Leicester Fosse before a more long-lasting move, to Barnsley of the Second Division, in January 1911.[3]
Travers played in the 1912 FA Cup Final, in which Barnsley beat West Bromwich Albion 1–0 in extra time in the replay, after the first game had ended goalless.[4] The Manchester Guardian's report of the replay praised his shots at goal.[5]
After three years at Barnsley[3] he joined Manchester United, for whom he played 21 games, scoring four goals.[6] After the war he joined Swindon Town, playing 34 games in their last season in the Southern League and scoring 14 goals, which made him the club's second-highest scorer for the season.[7] Returning to the Football League, he spent a few months with Millwall of the newly formed Third Division and the remainder of the 1920–21 season with rivals Norwich City. He finished his league career in the 1921–22 season at Gillingham, then returned to non-League football with Nuneaton Town and Cradley St Luke's, finally calling time on his career with his first club, Bilston United, in May 1931 at the age of 42.[3]
Travers died in Smethwick, Staffordshire, on 31 August 1946 at the age of 57.
Honours
Club
- Barnsley
References
- ↑ Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 262. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
- ↑ Westerberg, Kenneth. "1909/10" (XLS). QPRnet. Ron Norris. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
- 1 2 3 Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
- ↑ "100 years since Reds' FA Cup triumph". Barnsley F.C. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
- ↑ "Barnsley's Victory". Manchester Guardian. 25 April 1912. p. 4.
- ↑ "George Travers". mufcinfo.com. Mark Graham. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
- ↑ "George Travers". Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2008.