George Cummings (footballer)

George Wilfred Cummings (5 June 1913 – 9 April 1987) was a Scottish footballer of the 1930s and 1940s, who played as a left back.[2]

George Cummings
Personal information
Full name George Wilfred Cummings
Date of birth 5 June 1913 – 9 April 1987
Place of birth Falkirk, Scotland
Date of death 9 April 1987(1987-04-09) (aged 73)
Place of death Birmingham, England
Position(s) Left back
Youth career
Thornbridge Waverley[1]
Thornbridge Welfare[1]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
– Grange Rovers
1932–1935 Partick Thistle 114 (1)
1935–1949 Aston Villa 210 (0)
Total 324 (1)
National team
1934–1935 Scottish League XI 2 (0)
1935–1939 Scotland 9 (0)
1944 Scotland (wartime) 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Cummings was the captain of Aston Villa's great post-World War II defence,[3] having signed for the club in November 1935 from Partick Thistle,[4] where he had made a total of 138 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal,[5] and won a Glasgow Cup medal with the Jags in 1934.[6]

At Villa Park, Cummings gained a Second Division championship medal in 1938 and a Football League War Cup tankard in 1944, also guesting for several teams (including hometown club Falkirk) during the conflict.[4][1] He was the Villains club captain from 1945 to his retirement in 1949, and was popular with supporters due to his never-say-die spirit and no-nonsense defending. He played 421 times for the club in total, including wartime competitions – his peacetime total being just over half of that.[1]

On retirement as a player he was a youth coach at Aston Villa for three years, and also worked for the Dunlop Rubber Company and Hardy Spicer Ltd. in Birmingham.

International career

Cummings represented both Scotland (nine caps, three while at Partick Thistle)[7] and the Scottish League XI (two caps),[8] also playing in an SFA tour of North America in 1935 and in one wartime international in 1944.[9]

References
  1. George Cummings, Aston Villa Player Database
  2. "George Cummings". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  3. George Cummings, The Real History of Aston Villa Football Club
  4. John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. Players C, Partick Thistle History Archive
  6. Partick Thistle Win The Glasgow Cup, The Glasgow Herald, 15 October 1934, via Partick Thistle History Archive
  7. George Cummings at the Scottish Football Association
  8. "[SFL player] George Cummings". London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
  9. "[Scotland player - including unofficial matches] George Cummings". London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  • George Cummings at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
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