George John Hurst (27 October 1914 – February 2002) 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

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Career

In May 1933, Hurst signed for

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 ...

from Lever Bridge Juniors. Hurst made 60

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

appearances for Bolton, scoring twice. A period of Hurst's time at the club was taken up by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Hurst, alongside 16 other Bolton players, joined the

53rd (Bolton) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery 53rd (Bolton) Field Regiment was a Royal Artillery (RA) unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Army (TA) during World War II. It was descended from the Bolton Artillery, first formed in the Lancashire town of Bolton in 1889. It served in the B ...

. During Hurst's time in World War II, his only son died from a burst

appendix Appendix (: appendices or appendixes) may refer to: __NOTOC__ In documents * Addendum, an addition made to a document by its author after its initial printing or publication * Bibliography, a systematic list of books and other works * Index (publis ...

as well as Hurst himself suffering hearing loss during the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome, was a series of four military assaults by the Allies of World War II, Allies against Nazi Germany, German forces in Kingdom of Italy, Italy during the Italian Campaign (World War ...

. In February 1947, Hurst joined

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

, making 98 league appearances. In 1951, Hurst joined Chelmsford City, before retiring at the end of the season.

References

1914 births 2002 deaths Men's association football defenders English men's footballers People from Little Lever Footballers from Greater Manchester Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players English Football League players British Army personnel of World War II Royal Artillery soldiers Military personnel from the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-defender-1910s-stub