 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Henry Camsell | ||
| Date of birth | (1902-11-27)27 November 1902 | ||
| Place of birth | Framwellgate Moor, England | ||
| Date of death | 7 March 1966(1966-03-07) (aged 63) | ||
| Place of death | England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1920[2] | Durham Chapel | ||
| 1921[2] | Framwellgate Moor | ||
| 1922[2] | Tow Law Town | ||
| 1922[2] | Esh Winning | ||
| 1923[2] | Durham City | 0 | (0) |
| 1923[2] | Esh Winning | ||
| 1924–1925[2] | Durham City | 21 | (20) |
| 1925–1939[2] | Middlesbrough | 418 | (325) |
| Total | 439 | (335) | |
| International career | |||
| 1929–1936 | England | 9 | (18) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
George Henry Camsell (27 November 1902 – 7 March 1966)[3] was an Englishfootballer who scored a club record 325 league goals in 419 games forMiddlesbrough,[1] and 18 goals in nine appearances forEngland. His 59 goals in one season (1926–27) for Middlesbrough was aFootball League record at the time, and has only been bettered once within the English game byDixie Dean ofEverton in 1927–28.[4] His nine hat-tricks that season remains a Football League record. He also holds thehighest goals-to-games ratio for England of anyone who has played more than a single international.
Born inFramwellgate Moor,Durham City in 1902, Camsell worked as a miner and played forDurham City.[4] He caught the attention ofMiddlesbrough after scoring 21 goals in 20 games in a season and signed for Middlesbrough on 6 October 1925 for the sum of£500.[4] His debut was againstNottingham Forest on 31 October 1925.[4] He scored three goals for Middlesbrough in the1925–26 season.[5]
The Middlesbrough club record of 59League goals in 37 games and 63 goals in all competitions in one season is held by Camsell. He accomplished this feat in the1926–27 season, his first full season with Middlesbrough.[4] After he had initially struggled for game time and almost joinedBarnsley,[4] he made his first appearance of the season on 18 September 1926 afterJimmy McClelland had suffered an injury.[5] Having failed to score on that day, Camsell would only fail to score on two more occasions in the following 25 matches, taking in a run of 12 successive matches in which he scored at least once.[5] He scored five on Christmas Day, 1926 againstManchester City and two more in the return fixture on 27 December.[5] In February 1927, Camsell broke the record for league goals in a season by a player, having overtakenJimmy Cookson's haul of 44 (forChesterfield in 1925–26).[5] 59 remains the second-highest number of league goals scored and the equal highest number in all competitions in one English league season, behindDixie Dean's 60 league and 100 total a year later.[4] The nine hat-tricks Camsell scored that season remains an English record for most in a League season.[6]
Camsell was Middlesbrough's top scorer in each of his first ten full seasons, and he bagged at least 30 in each of the first five as well as the tenth.[5] Between 1925 and 1939, Camsell scored 345 goals in 453 appearances for Middlesbrough, including 325 league goals, the fifth-highestleague total of all-time.[4] The 233 goals he scored in the first division ranks him the 13th all timetop scorer in the top flight. He scored 24hat-tricks in his career, 22 for Middlesbrough.[4] He played his last League game for Middlesbrough againstLeicester City atAyresome Park on 10 April 1939, in a 3–2 victory. Camsell scored the opening goal.[4] He continued to play for them into 1940 following the cessation of the1939–40 Football League season during theSecond World War, playing inwartime competitions.[5]
Camsell also won ninecaps forEngland, scoring 18 goals. This is thehighest goals-to-games ratio of anyone who has played more than a single international.[4] His goals included a hat-trick in a 6–0 win againstWales on 20 November 1929 in the1930 British Home Championship and four goals in a match againstBelgium on 11 May 1929.[3] He scored in every match he played for England; his nine consecutive scoring appearances are second only toSteve Bloomer.[4]
During the Second World War, Camsell worked in local factories.[4] After the war, he worked for Middlesbrough's backroom staff, firstly as a scout, where he discovered a youngBrian Clough.[4] He then became a coach and eventually the club's assistant secretary.[4]
Camsell retired in 1963 and died in 1966, aged 63, shortly before that year's World Cup.[4] A suite at Middlesbrough'sRiverside Stadium is named after him and in 2015, calls began for a statue of Camsell to be placed outside the stadium, joining those ofGeorge Hardwick andWilf Mannion.[4] A club spokesman said that such an honour could not be ruled out, adding: "As a club we honour and respect our former heroes and George Camsell is certainly one of those." A statue of George Camsell was subsequently erected outside the stadium, which was unveiled to the public on 2 September 2022. It is in front of the West Stand entrance.[4]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Middlesbrough | 1925–26 | Second Division | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| 1926–27 | Second Division | 37 | 59 | 3 | 4 | 40 | 63 | |
| 1927–28 | First Division | 40 | 33 | 3 | 4 | 43 | 37 | |
| 1928–29 | Second Division | 40 | 30 | 3 | 3 | 43 | 33 | |
| 1929–30 | First Division | 34 | 29 | 4 | 2 | 38 | 31 | |
| 1930–31 | First Division | 37 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 32 | |
| 1931–32 | First Division | 37 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 20 | |
| 1932–33 | First Division | 31 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 35 | 18 | |
| 1933–34 | First Division | 36 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 38 | 24 | |
| 1934–35 | First Division | 26 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 14 | |
| 1935–36 | First Division | 38 | 28 | 4 | 4 | 42 | 32 | |
| 1936–37 | First Division | 23 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 18 | |
| 1937–38 | First Division | 24 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 27 | 10 | |
| 1938–39 | First Division | 11 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 10 | |
| Career total | 418 | 325 | 35 | 20 | 453 | 345 | ||
