 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Arthur Bridgett[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1882-10-11)11 October 1882[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Forsbrook,Staffordshire, England[1] | ||
| Date of death | 26 July 1954(1954-07-26) (aged 71)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Newcastle-under-Lyme, England[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Outside left | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Burslem Park | |||
| Trentham | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1902 | Stoke | 7 | (0) |
| 1902–1912 | Sunderland | 320 | (108) |
| 1912–19?? | South Shields | ||
| 1923–1924 | Port Vale | 14 | (7) |
| Sandbach Ramblers | |||
| Total | 341 | (115) | |
| International career | |||
| 1905–1909 | England | 11 | (3) |
| Football League | 2 | (0) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1912–19?? | South Shields | ||
| North Shields | |||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
George Arthur Bridgett (11 October 1882 – 26 July 1954) was an Englishfootballer who played most of his career playing atoutside left, forSunderland and also made eleven appearances forEngland. He scored 116 goals in 347 league and cup games in ten seasons atRoker Park after joining fromStoke in 1902. He later managed bothSouth Shields andNorth Shields before making an unlikely return to theFootball League withPort Vale in 1923 after nine years without competitive football (he had though guested for the club once duringWorld War I).
George Arthur Bridgett was born on 11 October 1882 inForsbrook,Staffordshire.[3] He was the third of five children to Edwin and Hannah (née Bailey); his father worked as a stonemason and his mother was a furniture dealer.[3] He married Gertrude May Forrester inStoke-on-Trent in March 1918.[3] After retiring from football, he worked in Ashley,Newcastle-under-Lyme as a fish salesman and a car/lorrycontract driver.[3]
Bridgett played local football with Burslem Park and Trentham before joiningStoke in October 1902.[4] After only seven games for Stoke in the1902–03 season, he moved toFirst Division rivalsSunderland in December 1902. He went on tocaptain the "Black Cats" for ten years and gain his elevencaps, making him Sunderland's second most-capped England International behindDave Watson.[5]
He made his Sunderland debut in a 0–0 draw withSheffield United but was quickly on the score sheet, scoring atGrimsby Town in the next match.[6] Bridgett was a winger with an excellent goal scoring pedigree. His superb finishing meant that he could also operate as a striker. He was twice on the score sheet againstNewcastle United in a9–1 victory atSt James' Park on 5 December 1908.[7] He was also a goodcrosser of the ball, making numerous chances for his fellow strikers, including fellow England internationalGeorge Holley.
In his first three seasons atRoker Park, Sunderland finishedthird,sixth andfifth in theFirst Division table. Bridgett was Sunderland's top scorer in1905–06 with 17 goals as they finished in 14th place.The following season, Bridgett was againSunderland's top scorer with 25 league goals. Still, Sunderland were only able to improve their league position to tenth.
In1907–08, Bridgett scored 15 goals with Holley as the top scorer on 24, and Sunderland again finished in the lower half of the table. For the next few seasons, Holley took over the goal-scoring duties, with Sunderland taking third-place finishes in1908–09 and1910–11.
He wound up his Sunderland career at the end of the1911–12 season to becomeplayer-manager atSouth Shields. In all competitions, he made 347 appearances for Sunderland, scoring 116 goals, ranking him eighth in Sunderland'sall-time top scorer's list. The 1913–14 season saw him score 30 goals in 47 matches for South Shields.[8]
On 10 July 1912, he joinedSouth Shields as player-manager for atransfer fee of £175.[3] He later managedNorth Shields.[3]
Duringthe war, he guested forPort Vale, scoring twice in a 5–2 home win overManchester United in a war league match on 28 April 1917.[1]
After an eleven-year gap away from theFootball League, he returned as a player for Port Vale for the1923–24 season at the age of 41.[1] Ninety seconds into his first Vale game for over six years he had scored; this was the only goal in a win overClapton Orient at theOld Recreation Ground on 10 November 1923.[1] However, he lost his first-team place in February 1924 and departed three months later forSandbach Ramblers.[1] He had scored seven goals from 14Second Division appearances.[1]
Bridgett'sEngland call-up came on 1 April 1905 againstScotland, when England won 1–0 with a goal fromJoe Bache. His second cap came three years later on 4 April 1908, again against Scotland atHampden Park. This match was played in front of a new world record crowd of 121,452 and ended in a 1–1 draw.
Bridgett was then part of the squad chosen for England'sfirst overseas tour in 1908, playing in all four matches againstAustria,Hungary andBohemia; he scored in both of the matches against Austria which England won 6–1 and 11–1.
The following year, he played in theBritish Home Championship matches againstIreland (4–0) andWales (2–0); England won the tournament. He was again selected for thesummer tour of Europe, playing in all three matches, scoring in the 4–2 victory over Hungary. The last match of the tour, against Austria on 1 June 1909, brought his international career to a close.
Bridgett was a deeply religious man and refused to play onGood Friday or Christmas Day throughout his career.[9] He was renowned for his accuratecrossing ability.[10]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Stoke | 1902–03 | First Division | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Sunderland | 1902–03 | First Division | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 3 |
| 1903–04 | First Division | 32 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 10 | |
| 1904–05 | First Division | 32 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 8 | |
| 1905–06 | First Division | 38 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 42 | 18 | |
| 1906–07 | First Division | 37 | 25 | 5 | 1 | 42 | 26 | |
| 1907–08 | First Division | 31 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 15 | |
| 1908–09 | First Division | 34 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 39 | 12 | |
| 1909–10 | First Division | 36 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 39 | 10 | |
| 1910–11 | First Division | 37 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 38 | 8 | |
| 1911–12 | First Division | 29 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 33 | 6 | |
| Total | 320 | 108 | 27 | 8 | 347 | 116 | ||
| Port Vale | 1923–24 | Second Division | 14 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 7 |
| Career total | 341 | 115 | 28 | 8 | 369 | 123 | ||
| England national team[12] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1905 | 1 | 0 |
| 1908 | 5 | 2 |
| 1909 | 5 | 1 |
| Total | 11 | 3 |
England
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