George Dearnaley (born 23 February 1969) is a retired South African

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

striker who played for

Hellenic FC Hellenic FC is a South African association football club based in Cape Town. They are nicknamed ''The Greek Gods''. History Established in 1958 by Greek South Africans, Hellenic campaigned in the lower amateur leagues of Cape Town. But by the ...

, Seven Stars and most notably

AmaZulu Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni people, Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest Ethnic groups in South Africa, ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They o ...

International career

He represented

Bafana Bafana The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international soccer and is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for soccer in South Africa. Nicknamed Bafana Bafana (The Boys in Zulu), the ...

in the 1994 World Cup qualifiers. He made his international debut in a Group D World Cup qualifying where

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

beat Congo 1–0 on 24 October 1992. He played his last international match in a Group D World Cup qualifying where South Africa beat Congo 1–0 on 31 January 1993. George's nickname was "3 Caps".

Early life

Dearnaley is of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

descent. His ancestors were probably from Dearnley in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. Dearnaley attended the New Forest Boys High School in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

. Growing up in Montclair he had very easy access to NSL matches and venues in the townships. He would watch matches mainly from the Glebe Stadium in

Umlazi Umlazi is a township in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, located south-west of Durban. Organisationally and administratively it forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality and its South Municipal Planning Region. It is the fourth largest ...

where he encountered the likes of

Mlungisi Ngubane Mlungisi Raphael "Professor" Ngubane (born 20 February 1956 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal) is a former South African soccer player and later coach of National First Division club Thanda Royal Zulu. Ngubane played for Durban Bush Bucks. He previou ...

and

Jomo Sono Ephraim Matsilele Sono OIS (born Madoda Walletjies Mkulwana, 17 July 1955), better known as Jomo Sono, is a South African football club owner, coach and former professional footballer. He has been variously nicknamed the "Black Prince of Sout ...

on numerous occasions. George took inspiration to be a footballer from his Uncle, Addy Dearnaley, who played as a striker for local amateur teams in Stalybridge.

Amazulu

He got permission from Bizzah Dlamini to train with Usuthu in 1986 when Dearnaley was still in school. He left

for a soccer scholarship in America after he saw minimal chances of playing professionally there, he returned after his father had a conversion with

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English writer, filmmaker, and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1980s with a series of short stories collectively named the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading horror author ...

two weeks later. He attended first team pre season training with

Amazulu Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni people, Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest Ethnic groups in South Africa, ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They o ...

in 1990 when he attended the Natal Technikon. He scored the second goal on debut in January 1990 against Fairway Stars at

Kings Park Stadium Kings Park Stadium (known as Hollywoodbets Kings Park for sponsorship reasons since 2022), colloquially known as the Shark Tank, is a stadium located in the Kings Park Sporting Precinct in Durban, South Africa. The stadium was originally built ...

winning 3–0. He went on to be the 1992 NSL Golden Boot winner with 20 league goals. He was nicknamed "Sgebengu" by

fans which means "criminal" in Zulu.

Professional experience after retirement

*1997 – Associate Publisher at Touchline Media *1997–2007 – Associate Publisher at Kick Off Magazine *2006–2010 – Football consultant and columnist at 24.com *2008–2010 – Soccer Business Manager at

Media24 Media24 is a South Africa, South African mass media company with interests in digital media and services, newspapers, magazines, ecommerce, publishing, television, logistics, and distribution. Established in 2000, and owned by Naspers, the com ...

Old Mutual FC

Dearnaley bought his own

SAFA Second Division The SAFA Second Division (known as the ABC Motsepe League for sponsorship reasons, and previously the Vodacom League between 1998 and 2012, was founded in 1998 as the overall third tier of South African association football, football. The compet ...

franchise, Old Mutual FC where he works with

Gerald Stober Gerald Stober (born 27 June 1969) is a South African former football (soccer) striker. International career He made his international debut on 22 November 1995 against Zambia as a substitute for Donald Khuse in the 60th minute. He played his ...

and Mark Anderson as the goalkeeper coach.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dearnaley, George 1969 births Living people South African men's soccer players South Africa men's international soccer players AmaZulu F.C. players Hellenic F.C. players Soccer players from Cape Town South African people of English descent Men's association football forwards 20th-century South African sportsmen