George Antonio Explained

George Antonio
Fullname:George Rowlands Antonio
Birth Date:20 October 1914
Birth Place:Whitchurch, Shropshire, England
Death Place:Oswestry, Shropshire, England[1]
Position:Inside forward
Years1:1934
Years2:1935–1946
Clubs2:Stoke City
Caps2:84
Goals2:13
Years3:1946–1947
Clubs3:Derby County
Caps3:18
Goals3:2
Years4:1948–1949
Caps4:34
Goals4:7
Years5:1949–1951
Caps5:67
Goals5:2
Years6:1951–1952
Years7:1952–1953
Years8:1953–1954
Years9:1954–1955
Years10:1955
Clubs10:Berriew
Totalcaps:203
Totalgoals:24

George Rowlands Antonio (20 October 1914 – 2 July 1997) was an English footballer of Italian descent who played in the Football League for Derby County, Doncaster Rovers, Mansfield Town and Stoke City.[2]

Career

Antonio was born in Whitchurch, Shropshire, moving to Oswestry with his parents at age three.[3] He started playing in the same county with non-league Oswestry Town before joining Stoke City in 1935.[2] He made his Stoke debut against Liverpool on the final day of the 1935–36 season and established himself in the side the following season.[2] He scored twice in a 10–3 win over West Bromwich Albion, Stoke's record victory. He played quite regularly in the next two seasons sharing positions with Bobby Liddle.[2] In 1938 he was selected by the Wales Football Association for placing as an international for Wales but was dropped when he was discovered to have been born in England.[3]

During World War II, during which he served in the army with the North Staffordshire Regiment,[3] he guested for Nottingham Forest making three appearances in 1939–40 and seven appearances scoring 2 goals in 1940–41.[2] In the 1945–46 season, he guested for Ipswich Town as well as a number of other clubs. He played 16 times for Stoke in 1946–47 season scoring five goals before joining Derby County in March 1947.[2] In the year he was at Derby he played 18 matches and scored twice. He joined Doncaster Rovers for the 1948–49 season appearing 34 times and scoring seven goals, then signed for Mansfield Town from 1949 to 1950 playing 67, scoring twice.[2]

Career statistics

Source:

ClubSeasonLeagueFA CupTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Stoke City1935–36First Division100010
1936–37First Division20320223
1937–38First Division24130271
1938–39First Division23420254
1945–467272
1946–47First Division16500165
Total84131429815
Derby County1946–47First Division11100111
1947–48First Division710071
Total18200182
Doncaster Rovers1948–49Third Division North24311254
1949–50Third Division North10400104
Total34711358
Mansfield Town1949–50Third Division North29121312
1950–51Third Division North38160441
Total67281753
Career Total2032423422628

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kaufman . Neilson . VE Day WW2 players as at May 2020 . 18 July 2020 . 4–5.
  2. Book: Matthews, Tony. The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. 1994. Lion Press. 0-9524151-0-0.
  3. Book: Elderwick, David. 50 Shropshire Celebrities Past and Present. 1989. IMPRINT, Newtown, Powys. 17. He is incorrectly named as 'George Antonio Rowlands' and birth year given as 1915.