George left the Bairns – and out came the passport
There’s big money available for Scottish footballers if they are prepared to travel the world.
Former Dundee United midfielder, Ryan Gauld, is earning £1.4-million-a-year playing for Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS.
There was nothing like that sort of cash on offer when George Blues left these shores back in 1965 – but he would be top of the league when it came to air miles.
Not only did George’s playing days take him globetrotting, he also spent many years coaching in some exotic locations.
He was something of a pioneer by developing players in places that have only recently become part of the footballing mainstream.
It’s 50 years since George was crowned Australia’s Player of the Year.
That came 11 years after he kicked off his career on the wing with Falkirk.
He recalled: “I went down to Arsenal for a trial at the age of 15, but I came back to Scotland and joined Falkirk a year later.
“I spent five years at Brockville, with a loan spell at Berwick Rangers during that time.
“When I was released, I got an offer to go to South Africa, and decided to try my luck abroad.
“I played a few games for Alloa and Raith Rovers while I waited for the move to go ahead.
“While I was in South Africa, I played for Highland Park, and for Addington in Durban.
“There were a lot of Scots out there at the time, men like former Dundee full-back, Alex Hamilton,
and ex-partick Thistle player, Neil Duffy.”
A Scottish connection helped George move to another continent in 1969.
Former Kilmarnock striker, Vernon Wentzel, recommended him to an Australian club, APIA Leichhardt.
George went on: “I spent six years with them in Sydney. Another Scot, Archie Blue, was at the club, so they had Blue and Blues.
“As well as being the first to receive the Player of the Year award, I represented Australia on a world tour that took two months
“We played in New Caledonia, Hong Kong, Macao, Iran, Israel and Greece.
“There were then games in England against Luton Town and Manchester City. We played the League of Ireland before rounding off the trip in Mexico.”
It looked like George’s travelling was over when he came home to work with Dundee.
He said: “I took charge of the reserves at Dens Park when Davie White was the manager, working with players like Gordon Strachan.
“Davie was sacked in 1977, Tommy Gemmell took over and there was a clear-out at the club.
“I was left looking for a job and dropped a letter to the Kuwaiti Football Federation.
“I was in Kuwait for three years before spending six years in Dubai.
“From there, I had a six-year spell in Jordan, winning cups and the league with Al Ramtha.
“I met former Scotland players Dave Mackay and Neil Martin in Kuwait. I played squash with both of them.
“Dave invited me to work in Qatar, and I took the national youth team for five years.” India was the next port of call for George. He explained: “There was a new team, FC Kochin, being set up in Kerla.
“I won the league for the first time ever there. “When we’d go to Calcutta, there would be something like 130,000 to 140,000 fans.
“There was a tremendous amount of travelling and we’d have to do things like training at 6am because it got so hot at times.”
That wasn’t the end for the man whose motto could have been: ‘Have stopwatch, will travel’.
He said: “Danny Mclennan, a well-travelled Scottish manager, asked me to assist him with the national team of Libya.
“That wasn’t one of the best moves. I think it was very much a political thing where Colonel Gaddafi just wanted a team.
“In the end, Danny and I had to go to FIFA to get our money.”
George, now 78, has been back in Scotland for 21 years and lives in Stenhousemuir.