George Wilbert

Career

He played his entire career for Gateshead, originally signing on 1 August 1942 from Tottenham Hotspur while serving in the Royal Air Force. At the time, he was a fast, goal-scoring left winger. Wartime service restricted his appearances to 43 games and 14 goals, until the 1947-1948 season, when he was demobbed and became Gateshead"s regular centre forward.

Bolton went on to play at Wembley in the famous Matthews final.

He left Gateshead in the 1954-1955 season to work for the Forestry Commission in Northumberland. He scored a total of 97 goals in 285 appearances in the league and

Achievements

• He played at Redheugh Park in the heyday of Gateshead"s FA Cup runs, notably in 1952 and 1953 when they reached the fourth and sixth rounds, but was missing through injury for the game against Bolton Wanderers in 1953 when Gateshead lost only to a disputed National Lofthouse goal. lieutenant was said at the time that if Wilbert had played, history may well have been different as he had played brilliantly in the previous rounds, particularly in the fifth against Plymouth Argyle, which Gateshead won 1-0.