George Hilsdon

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George Hilsdon
1906–1912 card
Personal information
Full name George Richard Hilsdon
Date of birth (1885-08-10)10 August 1885
Place of birth Bromley-by-Bow, England
Date of death 10 September 1941(1941-09-10) (aged 56)
Place of death Leicester, England
Position(s)
Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1904–1906 West Ham United 16 (7)
1906–1912 Chelsea 150 (100)
1912–1915 West Ham United 69 (24)
Total 235 (131)
International career
1907–1909 England 8 (14)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

George Richard Hilsdon (10 August 1885 – 10 September 1941) was an English

First World War
, to which he was conscripted in 1914 and critically injured by a gas attack.

Hilsdon was nicknamed "Gatling Gun" because his shots "were simply unstoppable and which travel like shots from a gun".

Club career

In 1906, Hilsdon was recommended to then-

Glossop North End, and would later score six in an FA Cup tie with Worksop Town, a club record which remains unequalled. The club programme described him as "living proof that to become a first-class footballer it is not necessary to be born north of the Tweed
".

Hilsdon scored 27 goals that season, which helped earn Chelsea promotion to the

10th highest goal scorer of all time
.

In 1912, Hilsdon returned to West Ham, and was top scorer for them in the 1912–13 season, scoring 17 goals in 36 games. He was known at this point as the "old international", even though he was still only 27 years of age. Hilsdon played for West Ham until 1915, and during his two spells there he recorded 92 Southern League appearances, and scored 35 goals. Hilsdon also played in four World War I games for the East London club. He is also credited with helping the development of young West Ham striker Syd Puddefoot.

International career

Hilsdon received international recognition for

Irish League on his debut. He made his England debut in February 1907, against Ireland. He scored four goals for England in a 7–0 win over Hungary and two apiece in wins over Ireland, Austria, Wales and Bohemia. In all, he scored 14 times in just eight international games for England, eight of his goals coming from games in England's first overseas tour
in 1908.

Military service and later life

During the

First World War Hilsdon tried to avoid active service and was caught by the police hiding in a chicken run, and was called up. He fought on the Western Front where he was attacked by gas. This affected him greatly, and in the words of his son, he "copped the mustard gas at Arras
".

The gas attack caused sufficient damage to Hilsdon to end his footballing career. After the War, he worked as a teaboy on building sites, ran a

pub and organised raffles in East End
pubs.

He died in Leicester in 1941 and only four people came to his funeral. In October 2015 Chelsea supporters raised funds for a headstone to mark his grave. A weather vane modelled on Hilsdon is still a feature of Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's home ground. It was said to cause great misfortune if removed, and when it had to be removed during renovation in the late 1970s, Chelsea suffered financial and footballing difficulties.[1]

References

  1. ^ Rough Guide 11s: Chelsea
  • Kerrigan, Colm (4 November 1997). Gattling Gun George Hilsdon. Football Lives.
    ISBN 0-9530718-0-4
    .
  • Blows, Kirk; Hogg, Tony (2000). The Essential History of West Ham United. Headline.
    ISBN 0-7472-7036-8
    .
  • West Ham United F.C. Player & People List
  • Cheshire, Scott (1998). Chelsea: an Illustrated History. Breedon Books.
    ISBN 1-85983-143-5
    .
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