George Edward Ainsley (15 April 1915 – April 1985) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and football manager.

Playing career

George Ainsley, a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

, played for his local side South Shields St. Andrews before joining

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

in April 1932. He made his league debut on 6 May 1933 in a 1–1 draw away to Chelsea. He played three more times the following season, in games against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

and

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, but failed to feature again for Sunderland. He left to join

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

in August 1936. In December the same year, after just seven league games for Bolton, Ainsley moved to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. He scored on his league debut (On 19 December against

) and scored twice in his second appearance (as Leeds beat

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

). He was never a regular at Elland Road, despite scoring 30 times in 89 league games. He remained with Leeds until after the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, joining

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club, sometimes abbreviated as BPA AFC, is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in , at the eighth tier of the English football league ...

in November 1947. He retired from playing in 1949, having scored 29 goals in 44 games for Bradford Park Avenue.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Ainsley travelled the world as a coach. He began coaching in India in 1950, where he was the coach of

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

and

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

football teams for four months. He returned to coach the football team at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in the early 1950s. In

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, he trained the Norwegian team

SK Brann Sportsklubben Brann is a Norwegian professional football club based in Bergen. Founded on 26 September 1908, Brann has played in the first tier of Norwegian football for 67 out of 80 seasons, the second most of any club. They play their hom ...

half of 1955. He was head coach of

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

between 1958 and 1959. He was later appointed coach of the

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

national team until November 1962. At the 1962 Merdeka Tournament, he led the side until finishing as runner-ups after falling against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

in the final. He then moved to Highland Park,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

as coach. Late in 1963 he became the manager of the

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

national side, leaving that post in December 1964. He was appointed manager of

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

in June 1965, guiding the side to their highest ever league position (5th in

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the Third Division become the fourth tier of English football. In 2 ...

) the following season. However, Workington were relegated at the end of the 1966–67 season and Ainsley was sacked in November 1966. He then coached

USL Dunkerque Union Sportive du Littoral de Dunkerque () is a Association football, football club based in Dunkirk, France. It competes in Ligue 2, having achieved promotion from the Championnat National in the 2022–23 Championnat National, 2022–23 seas ...

in France.

Death

He died in Leeds in 1985.

References

External links

Profile at Leeds-Fans.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ainsley, George 1915 births 1985 deaths Footballers from South Shields Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players English football managers English men's footballers Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in Ghana Expatriate football managers in Israel English expatriate sportspeople in France English expatriate sportspeople in Norway English expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate football managers in Norway English expatriate football managers SK Brann managers Israel national football team managers Leeds United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. wartime guest players Liverpool F.C. wartime guest players Sunderland A.F.C. players English Football League players Workington A.F.C. managers USL Dunkerque managers Ghana national football team managers Pakistan national football team managers English expatriate sportspeople in Pakistan Expatriate football managers in Pakistan Men's association football forwards Expatriate football managers in India English expatriate sportspeople in India 20th-century English sportsmen