George Mitchell Neil (11 November 1874 – 22 December 1904) was an English

association footballer 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 ...

who played as a defender. Tham ironworks 1897

Born in

Poplar, London Poplar is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is located five miles (8 km) east of Charing Cross and lies on the western bank of the River Lea. Poplar is identified as a major district centre in the London Plan, with its ...

, Neil spent three seasons with Millwall Athletic playing mostly in their reserve team before signing for

West Norwood West Norwood is a largely residential area of south London within the London Borough of Lambeth, located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south south-east of Charing Cross. The centre of West Norwood sits in a bowl surrounded by hillsides on its east, ...

in 1894. For two of his seasons, Neil was club captain. He was described as a "very accomplished full-back, who could play on either flank". Whilst still with West Norwood he played as a guest player for Thames Ironworks. The first occasion was one of the first ever games played under "

electric light Electric light is an artificial light source powered by electricity. Electric Light may also refer to: * Light fixture, a decorative enclosure for an electric light source * Electric Light (album), ''Electric Light'' (album), a 2018 album by James ...

", at Hermit Road against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

in March 1896. In October 1896 he played in the London League for West Norwood losing to Thames Ironworks. A press report of the time noted his performance as being of "worthy of special mention". The following week, on 24 October 1896, he made his Ironworks debut, in a London League game against

Crouch End Crouch End is an area of North London, England, from the City of London in the western half of the borough of Haringey. It is within the Hornsey postal district (N8). It has been described as one of "a new breed of urban villages" in London ...

. Fixtures were infrequent for the side and by 1899 he had played only 18 games and scored one goal. In 1899 he took over as club secretary from

Francis Payne Francis Payne was one of the men responsible for drafting the rules for the London League and became London League members Thames Ironworks F.C.'s club secretary in 1897, succeeding Ted Harsent in the post. The rules of the London League allow ...

and arranged the important signings of Tom Bradshaw, Bill Joyce and Kenny McKay, all from

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. Concerned about costs, club owner

Arnold Hills Arnold Frank Hills (12 March 1857 – 7 March 1927) was an English businessman, sportsman, philanthropist, and activist. He notably made an appearance for the England national football team in 1879. Hills was an advocate for temperance and vege ...

initially refused to approve the transfers. Hills had decided to raise capital for the parent company,

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Cann ...

, and to make the company a

limited company In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...

. Part of this involved reorganizing the company football club. With the need now for Hills to satisfy shareholders, partly to save costs, Thames Ironworks folded to later become

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 ...

. Neil was replaced as club secretary by Lew Bowen and would play only one more game for West Ham, on 13 October 1900 in a 2–0 home win against

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, before his involvement with the club ended. Neil died of

consumption Consumption may refer to: * Eating *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically known as consumption * Consumer (food chain), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of n ...

, at the age of 30, in December 1904.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neill, George 1872 births 1904 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets People from Poplar, London English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Millwall F.C. players West Norwood F.C. players Thames Ironworks F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Southern Football League players West Ham United F.C. club secretaries 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in England