In the second Former Players meeting of the New Year, it started off in the usual fashion as all the members gathered around FPA Chairman, Stuart Murdoch who mentioned upcoming events and also touched on some sadder news.
Last month, passed away at the age of 92. Those in attendance gave a minutes applause for their former teammate, and most importantly, a friend.
George started his football career at his local club Coupar Angus in Scotland before moving to Kilmarnock. He then moved to the Fylde Coast during his National Service with the RAF based at Kirkham and started playing for Blackpool’s reserve and A teams.
He was a regular in the Fleetwood side throughout the following eight seasons, making his final Fleetwood appearance at the end of the 1960-61 season. In total, George amassed 307 first-team appearances for Fleetwood, mainly as a left-back, scoring 20 goals.
This month, those who turned up to Poolfoot Farm were rewarded with two special guests. The first being Town's Technical Director, Jonathan Walters - who spoke to the group about his career, his new role at Fleetwood Town and Waterford FC, as well as how much he's looking to get involved in further FPA meetings.
The second guest of the morning was John McClelland - who in 1981 joined Glasgow Rangers and captained the side to two Scottish League Cup winners medals, before making the move south of the border to Watford Fooball Club.
McClelland represented Northern Ireland on 53 occassions and captained his country 16 times. The highlight of his career was playing in the 1982 World Cup Finals in Spain. He spoke about his career in non league, the move up to Scotland and his time working under Graham Taylor.
After two speeches, the group then grabbed another tea / coffee and continued talking about their memories, with some sharing old programmes and memorabilia, including the official programme from England's 1973 World Cup Qualifer against Poland at Wembley on Wednesday 17 October.
The FPA would like to thank everyone who attended the meeting. We are looking forward to seeing you all at Poolfoot Farm once again on Thursday 2 March 2023 at 10am.
