George McGuinness

George McGuinness
McGuinness in 1909
Born(1887-10-06)6 October 1887
Liverpool, England
Died1 July 1916(1916-07-01) (aged 28)
Montauban-de-Picardie, France
Cause of death
Killed in action
Other name"Mac Guinness"
Alma materSt Francis Xavier's College, Liverpool
OccupationTeacher
Years active1908-1914
Parents
  • Edward (father)
  • Catherine (mother)
Relatives
  • Edward (brother)
  • James (brother)
Association football career
Height 5 ft 5+1⁄2 in (1.66 m)
Position Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1908–1909 Club Ciclista
1909–1910 Real Sociedad 9 (7)
1911–1914 Harrowby FC
* Club domestic league appearances and goals
Military career
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch
Army
Service years
1914–1916
Rank
Private
Service number16665
Conflicts
Battle of Albert (1916)
WebsiteMedal card of McGuinness

George McGuinness (6 October 1887 – 1 July 1916) was an English footballer who played as a forward for the Spanish club Real Sociedad,[1] teacher and soldier.[2] He is mostly known for his goals at the 1909 Copa del Rey to help Club Ciclista win the title for the first time, netting a then national record of six in a single tournament including a hat-trick against Athletic Club and the opening goal of the final.[3]

Early life

George McGuinness's father, Edward, was from Liverpool, but he was in Plymouth in 1884, where he married a local, Catherine (née Pitt). It was there that eldest son, Edward Jr. was born in 1886. By 1887 the family had moved to Liverpool, where Edward Sr., would follow a career in as a schoolmaster – eventually becoming a Head teacher – and George and younger brother James were born. In 1901 the family was living in Toxteth Park. McGuinness attended St Francis Xavier's College, Liverpool. Like his father and elder brother, he followed a career in education and by 1911 was an assistant-teacher, while the family was living in Seacombe, on the Wirral Peninsula opposite Liverpool.

Playing career

In Spain

In 1908, at the age of 21, McGuinness arrived in San Sebastián, where he taught English to Pedro Bea, the goalkeeper of the newly founded Club Ciclista.[4] Knowing that the young Englishman was a passionate footballer, Bea encouraged him to join the team.[5]

The newly founded Club Ciclista was far from the favorite to win the 1909 Copa del Rey, but they exceeded all expectations by winning the tournament, largely thanks to McGuinness, who scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 upset of the powerful Athletic Club in the quarter-finals, followed by both of his side's goals in a 2–0 win over Galicia FC.[4] However, he was injured during that game, and even though Club Ciclista managed to hold on to the win with just nine men, the concern was whether their star would be able to play the final two days later at Campo de O'Donnell. McGuinness's participation in the final was doubtful, but at the last moment he decided to play,[6] and with him on the field, Club Ciclista beat Español de Madrid 3–1 featuring yet another goal from McGuinness, who opened the scoring from the penalty spot (compatriot Charles Simmons and Miguel Sena netted the other two goals). It was the first Copa title won by a team other than Athletic and Madrid, while individually he also broke the record for the most goals in a single edition with six.[3]

A few months after this victory, the players who won the tournament founded the Sociedad de Futbol (now known as Real Sociedad) on 7 September 1909 and participated in the 1910 Copa del Rey under the umbrella of local club Vasconia Sporting Club (since the club was not a year old as the tournament statutes required); once again McGuinness proved to be the matchwinner with both goals in a 2–0 over Madrid FC, although they lost the final to Athletic 0–1, courtesy of a goal from Remigio Iza.[7] In the same year, King Alfonso XIII gave the club his patronage whereby it subsequently became known as Real Sociedad de Fútbol, and McGuinness went down in history again for netting the club's first goal as Real Sociedad, on 26 March 1910, in a 1–5 friendly loss to London Nodmans. At this point one of the other players in the side was Nicasio Goitisolo, an Anglo-Basque who was also from Liverpool and an 'Old Xaverian',[8] although the nature of the relationship between the two young men has not been confirmed.

Also in 1910, Sociedad participated in the inaugural edition of the Pyrenees Cup, and McGuinness netted once in the opening match of the competition, a semi-final clash against Stade toulousain at Ondarreta Stadium on 17 April, thus helping his side to an 8–0 victory,[9] Two weeks later, on 1 May, he featured in the final against FC Barcelona, and although he assisted Manuel Prast for the opening goal, they ultimately lost 1–2.[10][11] In total, he played nine competitive matches for Real Sociedad, scoring seven goals, six in the Copa del Rey and one in the Pyrenees Cup.[4]

On 2 December 1910, he played his last game for the Basque club, going off with a five-goal haul against Biarritz Stade.[5]

Return to the Wirral

At 23, he left San Sebastián, returning to England to take up teaching at St Laurence's Roman Catholic School in Birkenhead.[4] During his years as a schoolmaster, he resided with his parents at 28 Falkland Road, Egremont,Wallasey.[12][13] In Wallasey, George McGuinness played football alongside his brother, James, for Harrowby FC and was ″well-known″ as its outside right.[12][14] While McGuinness was part of the club, Harrowby played at the Tower Athletic Ground competing in the West Cheshire Association Football League.

World War I

At the outbreak of the First World War, McGuinness was one of the earliest to volunteer for the army,[2] enlisting with James in the Liverpool Pals[13][15] Private G. McGuinness was assigned to the 18th Battalion of the King's Regiment (Liverpool).[16] Fourteen months later, on 7 November 1915, McGuinness crossed the English Channel to France aboard the SS Invicta (1905),[5] with his battalion, as part of the 89th Brigade, 30th Division. At the end of December, the 18th Battalion transferred to 21st Brigade, but still in the same division.[17]

British battle line on the Somme, 1 July 1916. The 30th Division is in the bottom right opposite Montauban. The 18th Battalion was on the division's left adjacent to the 18th Division

On the 1 July 1916, the 30th Division was on the front line just north-west of Maricourt, when the British Army suffered its highest number of single-day casualties during the first day of the Battle of the Somme. However, the 30th's position was away to the south from where most of that day's 57,470 British casualties were suffered and the division took all its allotted objectives. Specifically, after initially advancing at Zero Hour (7:30 am) and then waiting for a scheduled lifting barrage to lift, the 18th Battalion carried the Glatz Redoubt, as part of the capture of Montauban.[18] Unfortunately McGuinness was killed in action, among that day's 19,240 British fatalities.[19][16] Two weeks later, McGuinness's parents received a letter from one of George's battalion pals, John Caulfield, who wrote that a bullet killed McGuinness during combat.[5] He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme[16]

Honours

Club Ciclista

Real Sociedad

  1. ↑ as Vasconia.

Harrowby

  • West Cheshire League Division One Champions: 1912-13

References

  1. ↑ "George McGuinness - Footballer". www.bdfutbol.com. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Borough Education Committee - Teachers in the War - Teachers' "Roll of Honour."". Birkenhead News. Cheshire, England. 2 September 1916. p. 6.
  3. 1 2 "Spain - Cup 1909". RSSSF. 13 January 2000. Archived from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "George McGuinness (Real Sociedad)". atotxa.org (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "HILO sobre lo que he averiguado de McGuinness" [THREAD about what I've found out from McGuinness]. Twitter (in Spanish). Lartaun de Azumendi. 9 April 2020. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  6. ↑ "Un siglo de futbol con el club ciclista como origen" [A century of football with the cycling club as its origin]. gara.naiz.eus (in Spanish). 6 September 2009. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "Spain - Cups 1910". RSSSF. 13 January 2000. Archived from the original on 15 October 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  8. ↑ "Nicasio Goitisolo, el primer español en el fútbol inglés" [Nicasio Goitisolo, the first Spaniard in English football]. futbolretro.es (in Spanish). 3 July 2019. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  9. ↑ "Copa Pirineos: partido entre Real Sociedad y Stade Toulousain (8-0) jugado en Ondarreta la temporada 1909/1910" [Pryeenes Cup: Match between Real Sociedad and Stade Toulousain (8-0) played in Ondarreta in the 1909/1910 season]. atotxa.org (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  10. ↑ "Copa Pirineos: partido entre Real Sociedad y Barcelona (1-2) jugado en Ponts-Jumeaux la temporada 1909/1910" [Pryeenes Cup: Match between Sociedad and Barcelona (1-2) played in Jumeaux in the 1909/1910 season]. atotxa.org (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  11. ↑ "1910 Pyrenees Cup". RSSSF. 4 May 2017. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  12. 1 2 "Roll of Honour - Local Officers and Men - More Wallasey Men Killed". Liverpool Echo. 12 July 1916. p. 5.
  13. 1 2 "Harrowby Footballer's Death". Birkenhead News. Cheshire, England. 15 July 1916. p. 3.
  14. ↑ "Bee's Sports Notes The Toll of Gallant Sportsmen-Fighters". Liverpool Echo. 13 July 1916. p. 3.
  15. ↑ "Some Who Have Fallen. More of the Stricken Brave". Liverpool Evening Express. 12 July 1916. p. 3.
  16. 1 2 3 "Private George McGuinness War Casualty Details 802936". cwgc.org. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  17. ↑ Wyrall, Everard (1928a). "XXIV The Second Winter in the Trenches to the Close of 1915". The History of the King’s Regiment (Liverpool) 1914-1919, Vol. 1. London: Edward Arnold. pp. 215–216. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  18. ↑ Wyrall, Everard (1928b). "CHAPTER XXVI THE BATTLES OF THE SOMME, 1916". The History of the King’s Regiment (Liverpool) 1914-1919, Vol. 2. London: Edward Arnold. pp. 263–270. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  19. ↑ Wyrall 1928b, p. 477, The King’s Regiment (Liverpool) - Casualties January 1st, 1916 to June 30th 1917.
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