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

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 ...

who played as a striker. He began his career at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, making his debut in the 1903–04 season. His brother Jack Hilsdon also played for West Ham at this time. Hilsdon transferred to Chelsea in 1906, and was the first player to score 100 goals for the West London club, reaching a then-record 108 goals from 164 games by the time of his return to West Ham in 1912. His career was ended by the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, 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 A gun is a device that Propulsion, propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or water cannon, cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). So ...

Club career

In 1906, Hilsdon was recommended to then- Chelsea manager John Robertson, who had been advised that Hilsdon would be available for transfer; so enthralled was Robertson with Hilsdon's ability that he promised to turn him into Chelsea's next centre forward. Hilsdon joined Chelsea later that year on £4 a week wages. He scored five goals on his debut in a 9–2 win over Glossop North End, and would later score six in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

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 Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...

". Hilsdon scored 27 goals that season, which helped earn Chelsea promotion to the First Division in their second year of professional football. Within three years he had scored 76 goals in 99 appearances. His later days with Chelsea were hindered by problems with injuries and his personal life, including a battle with alcoholism, though he did score 19 goals in 1910–11. He became the first Chelsea player to score 100 goals, and ended his time there with 108 from 164 games. He is currently the club's 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 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, often playing alongside his Chelsea teammate, Jimmy Windridge. Shortly after joining Chelsea he was selected to play for a

Football League XI The English Football League XI was a representative side of the Football League. The team regularly played against the Scottish Football League XI and other national league select teams between 1891 and 1976. For a long period the annual fixture b ...

, for whom he hit a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 6–0 win over the 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 Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and two apiece in wins over

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

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. 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

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 Mustard gas or sulfur mustard are names commonly used for the organosulfur compound, organosulfur chemical compound bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, which has the chemical structure S(CH2CH2Cl)2, as well as other Chemical species, species. In the wi ...

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

". 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 A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

and organised raffles in East End pubs. He died in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

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 A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

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.Rough Guide 11s: Chelsea

References

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West Ham United F.C. Player & People List
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External links

England FC.com Player Profile: George Hilsdon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilsdon, George 1885 births 1941 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets People from Bromley-by-Bow English men's footballers England men's international footballers Chelsea F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players English Football League representative players Men's association football forwards British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets British Army soldiers