Biography
Scottish inside forward George McLaughlin joined Hull City in June 1926 and started the 1926/27 season as City’s first choice inside left. He scored his first Tigers goal in his second appearance, an August 1926 2-0 win over South Shields, but he soon lost his place to Scottish compatriot Patrick Lee. Returning to the first team in October, McLaughlin scored his second goal for City in a 3-0 win over Blackpool but returned to the Reserves at the end of the month. His final appearance came against First Division side Everton in an FA Cup replay, he left the club at the end of his only season at Anlaby Road.
George McLaughlin, whose last name morphed into several variant spellings during the reporting of his eight year football career, was born in the Bridgeton district of Glasgow and first came to the attention of senior footballing figures after impressing at junior league side Greenbank Thistle. In April 1923 George was signed by Scottish giants Glasgow Celtic, he made his only first team start six months later in September 1923 against Partick Thistle. He had loan spells at Clydebank and Stenhousemuir (it is also suggested he played for Clyde against Celtic in 1925’s Glasgow Cup Final, but that was a namesake) and remained in Celtic’s Reserves for nearly three years until offered a short trial at Darlington at the end of the 1925/26 season, during which he made one senior start.
In May 1927 McLaughlin joined Division Three North side Accrington Stanley and finally earned a regular first team start. He scored twice on his debut against local rivals Nelson in August 1927 and hit the net regularly throughout the season, missing only one League game and scoring ten times. He had a similar productive 1928/29 season, scoring 13 times in all competitions including an FA Cup brace against Spennymoor United in December 1928 and his only senior career hattrick against Doncaster Rovers in March 1929, taking his career record at Accrington to 23 goals in 81 starts. In June 1929 he joined divisional rivals Nelson, whom he had punished two years earlier on his debut, and scored twice in 30 starts before being released in the 1930 close season. Despite advertising his services as a footballer in the Athletic News, it wasn’t until November 1931 that he had a short spell on the books at Morecambe, which drew his playing days to a close. Returning to Scotland, McLaughlin died at East Kilbride in 1939, at the age of just 35 years.
Details
Nationality: Scotland
Date/Place of Birth: 18 January 1904, Bridgeton
Hull City First Game: 28 August 1926, Wolverhampton Wanderers H (Division Two), 22 years, 222 days old
Hull City Final Game: 2 February 1927, Everton A (FA Cup Fourth Round Replay), 23 years, 15 days old
Clubs
Greenhead Thistle (1922-1923), Glasgow Celtic (1923-1926), Darlington (1926), Hull City (1926-1927), Accrington Stanley (1927-1929), Nelson (1929-1930), Morecambe (1931)
Hull City Record
Career: 9 apps, 2 goals
George McLaughlin| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1926/27 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |