George Martin (Scottish footballer)

George Scott Martin (14 July 1899 – 11 december 1972) was a Scottish football player and manager whose position was inside forward. He won an English Football League winner's medal with Everton in 1928, and served Luton Town as a player and manager.

George Martin
Personal information
Full name George Scott Martin
Date of birth 14 July 1899
Place of birth Bothwell, Scotland
Date of death 1973 (aged 73–74)
Place of death Luton, England
Position(s) Inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
– Cadzow St Anne's
1920–1922 Hamilton Academical 23 (7)
1922 → Bo'ness (loan) 13 (11)
1922 → Bo'ness (loan) 7 (8)
1922–1928 Hull City
1928–1932 Everton 85 (31)
1932 Middlesbrough
1933–1937 Luton Town 98 (27)
Teams managed
1944–1947 Luton Town
1947–1950 Newcastle United
1950–1953 Aston Villa F.C.
1965–1966 Luton Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Martin started his career in Scotland with Hamilton Academical before moving south to join Hull City,[1][2] where he made 218 total appearances and scored 58 goals.[3]

He was signed by Everton in the latter stages of the 1927–28 season and made ten appearances in their ultimately successful title run in to earn his only major honour in the game, the Football League Championship. Martin's time at Goodison Park was mixed however as he spent the majority of his time as a fringe player during the club's relegation in 1930 and promotion again in 1931, before finally making just two appearances in Everton's 1932 title-winning side, which was not sufficient to earn a medal.[4]

Martin left Everton for a short spell at Middlesbrough and then finished his playing career at Luton Town (105 total appearances, 29 goals)[3] before moving into management.

Managerial career

Martin became a coach at Luton Town in August 1939, and was appointed manager on 4 December 1944. After guiding Luton through their first post-war season, he was appointed as Newcastle United's first manager since the end of World War II in May 1947. One of his decisions at the club was surprisingly to sell prolific goalscorer and fans' favourite Len Shackleton to Sunderland for £13,000. This concerned some supporters and Martin was at first criticised for making this move.[5] However the protests were short-lived as Newcastle gained promotion without Shackleton and other popular players were introduced – these included the club's current second highest all-time goal-scorer, Jackie Milburn.

George Martin resigned from Newcastle in 1950 after establishing them as a top six side in the First Division and took over at struggling Aston Villa. Martin was succeeded by Eric Houghton.

He later returned to Luton for a short-lived spell in 1965; he left a year later.

References
  1. Martin, George (1920), Hamilton Academical Memory Bank
  2. John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. Martin George Image 1 Luton Town 1935, Vintage Footballers
  4. Martin, George, Everton Encyclopedia
  5. Manager Profile: George Martin, Toon1892
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